From an Audie Cornish interview with EdWeek editor Stephen Sawchuck on NPR:
CORNISH: Stephen, one interesting thing about Chicago is that its former schools chief Arne Duncan was tapped President Obama to be the U.S. secretary of Education. And of course, prior to being Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel was White House chief of staff. So, how is this issue in any way tricky for Democrats to essentially be going up against teachers unions?
SAWCHUK: I don't think I can overstate enough how politically fraught this is. And you really hit the nail on the head. A lot of the ideas that they have pushed and that we've talked about, such as revamping teacher evaluations, schools closures, has been strongly supported by the Obama administration. They have not typically been labor priorities. So, it is a little bit of a Nixon-goes-to-China moment in that respect, and it is making it complicated from that perspective.
But also, keep in mind that the election is coming up. Teachers unions tend to be very important donors to Democratic candidates, particularly at the state level. And, of course, they are the boots on the ground when it comes to canvassing and things like that. So, it's definitely safe to say that this will be very, very closely watched. You know, not just by we education geeks, but by politicos, basically by anyone who has a stake in the outcome of the election.