Hillary Clinton Picks Up Teachers Union Endorsement [View all]

[OKNancy]

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/07/11/hillary-clinton-picks-up-teachers-union-endorsement/



The endorsement from the American Federation of Teachers was not a surprise. The group is led by Randi Weingarten, a longtime ally of Mrs. Clinton, and it backed her in her losing primary battle against Barack Obama in 2008.

But the union is giving her its support again at an opportune moment for Mrs. Clinton, just before her first major speech on the economy, scheduled for Monday, which is seen as an attempt, in part, to neutralize the criticism leveled at her by her leading challenger, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Mr. Sanders has surged in the polls by appealing to the populist anger of many Democrats over economic issues.

Education policy remains one of the few areas of unsettled debate within the Democratic Party. President Obama’s education agenda has often infuriated the teachers unions, and last year, the head of the National Education Association, another union representing teachers, called for the secretary of education, Arne Duncan, to be fired.