[REDWOOD99]

CA voters knew of the coming budget issues and STILL voted the dems back in. What the hell tea leaves is this guy smokin’? What benefit could he gain from throwing the teachers union under the bus?

Weird. Even by CA standards.

[Rockingham]

Education is prized by immigrants, with Latins no exception. The poor quality of many public schools and teachers is known to Latins to be a serious impediment to their success, with the teacher unions increasingly recognized as an obstacle to reform. Since the preferred Democratic approach of more money for public education is no longer possible because of severe financial constraints, so the teacher unions must be confronted, at least rhetorically.

On this issue of course, Republicans and conservatives are the genuine reformers. Unfortunately, the Bush and Rove strategy has had the GOP establishment pandering to Hispanics and cheap labor business interests on immigration instead of fighting hard for public education reform and making a determined assault on the teacher unions and touting those issues to Hispanics.

With the politics of the issue now changing for Hispanic Democrats, Republicans would be wise to recast their approach as well. The teacher unions and the public education political machine are far more vulnerable than they have ever been.