Teachers’ unions back Kratovil

This morning, Democrat Frank Kratovil’s campaign announced he has received the endorsement of the National Education Association Fund for Children and Public Education in his race for the First District congressional seat.

Backing KratovilThis endorsement for the general election made no mention of the Feb. 12 primary.

Kratovil was recommended to the national organization by the Maryland State Teachers Association’s campaign fund.

A letter from NEA Fund chairperson Reg Weaver to Kratovil said, “The NEA Fund will recommend your candidacy to the NEA members residing in your Congressional District and will urge them to play a leadership role in helping you achieve victory.”

The NEA has a national membership of 3.2 million while the MSTA has 70,000 members in Maryland and is the largest union and professional association in the state.

In accepting the endorsement, Kratovil took a shot at President Bush’s landmark No Child Left Behind law, saying, “We need to return control of our classrooms to the experts, our teachers, and stop allowing the bureaucrats in Washington to dictate how to best educate our children.”

This is the second union endorsement Kratovil has picked up, having received the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Ironworkers’s seal of approval in November.