The Obama Diary

Vice President Joe Biden hugs his wife Jill Biden before speaking at the National Education Association convention at the Washington Convention Center on July 3

ABC: …. Vice President Joe Biden today warned the nation’s public school teachers that they are “under full blown assault” from Mitt Romney and the Republican Party.

“Gov. Romney and his allies in the Congress, their plan for public education in America is to let the states use Title One dollars to boost enrollment in private schools,” Biden told a crowd of more than 15,000 delegates at the National Education Association convention in Washington.

“I’m not looking for boos,” he told the crowd, which was reacting to mention of Romney. “I think we should just have a straight honest to God talk about the difference between… how President Obama and I view education and how our Republican colleagues today view it.”

…. Citing the House Republican budget, Biden said a President Romney would gut investments in public education and lead to more teacher layoffs. He hit Romney for recent comments opposing additional federal aid to states to boost teacher hiring and claims that smaller class sizes don’t matter in student success.

“If you really want to know how fundamentally out of touch he is with what made you choose your profession go to his website,” Biden said. “Here’s what he says about you, and I’m quoting. ‘When your cause in life,’ referring to you… ‘is preventing parents from having a meaningful choice, or children from having a real chance, then you’re on the wrong side.’ That’s what he thinks of you. Pretty astounding,” Biden said.

“Your cause in life is preventing parents from seeing their children have an opportunity to dream? Your cause in life is preventing children from having a real chance? Is he serious? He is though,” he added. “I believe he means what he says. I can’t think of a candidate for president who has made such a direct assault on such an honorable profession.”

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