Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said that President Obama has “chosen [the] side” of the striking Chicago teachers union, even though the union has “made plain that their interests conflict with those of our children.”

“President Obama has chosen his side in this fight, sending his Vice President last year to assure the nation’s largest teachers union that ‘you should have no doubt about my affection for you and the President’s commitment to you,’” Romney said in a statement. “I choose to side with the parents and students depending on public schools to give them the skills to succeed, and my plan for education reform will do exactly that.”