Obama and the NEA

The Obama administration's policy regarding unions seems schizophrenic. As a senator, Obama voted for the Employee Free Choice Act. The stimulus package he signed contained language supportive of unions. The president proposed merit pay for successful teachers, a recommendation I support (Martin, Jonathan, "Obama takes on teachers' unions," Politico, March 10, 2009).

After weeks of pleasing Democrats by overturning policies set by the previous administration, President Barack Obama Tuesday for the first time confronted a powerful constituency in his own party: teachers’ unions.
Obama proposed spending additional money on effective teachers in up to 150 additional school districts, fulfilling a campaign promise that once earned him boos from members of the National Education Association.
“Good teachers will be rewarded with more money for improved student achievement, and asked to accept more responsibilities for lifting up their schools,” he said in a wide-ranging education speech before a meeting of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington.

It seems President Obama opposes unions in the industry he knows best, unions. Teachers' unions generally oppose merit pay.

Teachers’ unions say merit pay causes teachers to compete against each other, rather than collaborate, and is unfair to those who work in disadvantaged areas where it can be harder to boost student performance.