The New York Times looks at “the ruptured relationship between teachers’ unions and Democrats like Rahm Emanuel” and the consequential shift in where the unions are putting their campaign contribution. While Democratic politicians still get a big share of the money, this year the proportion of money going to Republicans, including Tea Partiers, increased by a fair margin:
Over the past few years, lawmakers who have previously been considered solid supporters of teachers’ unions have tangled with them over a national education agenda that includes new performance evaluations based partly on test scores, the overhaul of tenure and the expansion of charter schools.
As these traditional political alliances have shifted, teachers’ unions have pursued some strange bedfellows among lawmakers who would not appear to be natural allies.