BY CAROLYN WATERMAN

Vice President Biden spoke to the National Education Association convention recently in Washington, DC. He presented the difference between what Gov. Romney says about education, and what the Obama Administration thinks.

One thing VP Biden said stands out to me:

“They [Romney and Republicans] criticize you and they blame you. They make you the fall guy. They should be thinking of ways to help you make your job easier, not more difficult.”

The vice president said a President Romney would gut investments in public education and lead to more teacher layoffs. Romney claims that smaller class sizes don’t matter in student success.

At the end Biden said, “I can’t think of a candidate for president who has made such a direct assault on such an honorable profession.”

As a lifelong teacher, it’s so good to hear our VP stand up for us. We have been demonized and made the scapegoats for all the ills of the country since Ronald Reagan.

When there are no more public schools, there will be no more democracy. Private schools and charter schools stratify kids, so they never see anyone outside their economic level or color or class.

I feel particularly blessed to have attended public schools in Chicago and San Francisco where I attended with kids from all over the world, of all colors, of all religions, of all ethnic backgrounds. That sure does take away your fear of “the other.”

We need public schools, supported financially and mentally and emotionally by all. These teachers are doing the hard work many deride, and others just theorize about.

Romney went only to upper crust all white schools for the very rich. He has no idea about public schools, or people who attend public schools.

My brother-in-law has taught in such a school in California for 20 years. The clientele of that school are snobby and just plain nasty. Every year his job is on the line. That is why teachers need associations such as the NEA and AFT. Teachers cannot teach when they are constantly under threat.

I just hope the teachers will realize what the Republicans want to do to them and wake up and vote correctly for their best interests.

Go Joe!!! Thank you.

– Carolyn Waterman, a retired educator, lives in Oklahoma City and is an occasional contributor to The Oklahoma Observer