An (Un)Fair Share

It seems John Kerry has lost, again. It was Kerry's job to prepare the President for his first debate with Governor Mitt Romney on Wednesday, but judging from the President's performance, Karen Lewis stole the show.

Though the President of the Chicago Teachers Union was never mentioned by name, Lewis's interests commanded Barack Obama's attention throughout the night.

Obama opened his plea for another term with a promise to "invest in education and training" by hiring "another 100,000 new math and science teachers." While there was much ado about taxes, President Obama suggested that with the revenue from higher rates on the wealthy, "we're also able to make the investments that are necessary in education or in energy."

By the time moderator Jim Lehrer said "good night" the President had mentioned "teachers" and "education" 14 times. Even though Obama declined to take any public position on last month's strike in Chicago, he made his loyalties known in Denver.

Now that members of the Chicago Teachers Union have ratified a contract, it is clear Obama stands with those who belligerently refuse to pay their fair share. Chicago Public School teachers, who were already the highest paid in the Nation at $76,000 on average, will now enjoy a 17.6 percent pay raise over four years. All the while, teachers will continue to contribute nothing to their health care coverage.

And so, it's no surprise President Obama repeatedly accused Governor Romney of proposing "drastic cuts" to education "by up to 20 percent." It's a charge Romney rejected outright: "I don't want to cut our commitment to education. I wanted to make it more effective and efficient."

Rather than standing with Karen Lewis and the unions, as Obama does, Romney threw his weight behind the taxpayer. Central to Romney's responses on education was choice: "I want the kids that are getting federal dollars...to be able to go to the school of their choice.

"So all federal funds, instead of going to state or to the school district, I'd have go, if you will, follow the child and let the parent and the child decide where to send their student."

The President would have none of that. "Budgets reflect choices," he quipped. But if the President's choice is to hire new teachers at Chicago-level pay or more, there won't be much left for the children.