Major teachers union endorses Obama's re-election

CHICAGO (AP) - In a statement, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel says Obama and the union share a vision and members wanted early and strong support to help his election...

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

CHICAGO (AP) — The nation’s largest education union has endorsed President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.

Members of the National Education Association voted to support Obama on Monday at their annual convention in Chicago.

In a statement, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel says Obama and the union share a vision and members wanted early and strong support to help his election.

The endorsement comes a day after Vice President Joe Biden addressed thousands of educators at the convention. The association has 3.2 million members and bills itself as the largest labor union nationwide.

Biden’s speech largely praised teachers and he took jabs at Republicans, saying they don’t share the same views on public education.

But Biden drew applause when he briefly acknowledged there’s widespread unhappiness among teachers for the Obama administration’s education policies.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press

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