Kasich: 'Abolish all teachers' lounges'

LONDONDERRY, N.H. — While some Republicans have called for abolishing the federal Education Department, Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Wednesday set his sights on a smaller target: the teachers’lounge.

At an education forum here featuring several GOP presidential contenders, Kasich offered many kind words for teachers and teachers unions, but he also chastised their efforts to block changes in some parts of his state. And they spend too much time scaring teachers about their jobs.

“There’s a constant negative … They’re going to take your benefits. They’re going to take your pay,” Kasich told former CNN anchor Campbell Brown, whose advocacy news site “ The 74 million” hosted the forum along with the American Federation for Children.

“If I were, not president, if I were king in America, I would abolish all teachers’ lounges where they sit together and worry about ‘woe is us’,” Kasich told Brown.

Kasich said he gets that “teachers feel pounded upon.” He lamented the state of pay for teachers as compared to say, football coaches.

“But if you’re a terrible teacher, then you should be doing something else. You’re going to find more satisfaction doing something that you’re good at,” Kasich said.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten fired back on Twitter.

“ [email protected] -after u get rid of places teachers eat lunch,what’s next -getting rid of teachers’ chairs so they stand all day? #walkitback”

And Lily Eskelsen García, president of the National Education Association, bashed Kasich for his expansion of private school vouchers and past cuts to education spending.

“Educators will absolutely discuss how they can overcome these obstacles to help their students, as well as hold elected leaders accountable,” she said in a statement.

Kasich, by the way, isn’t among those who want to kill the Education Department like some of his fellow Republicans have said.

“You know what independent voters heard? ‘Oh, so the Republicans want to kill education?’” Kasich said. “We’ve got to be careful in the way in which we use our rhetoric.”