Teachers union e-mail touting Obama scorned

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By Michael Drost

An e-mail distributed by a Virginia teachers union encouraged members to bring politics into the classroom by wearing blue in support of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama and simultaneously suggested that the union's voter registration efforts include those "you teach."

The Virginia Education Association (VEA) e-mail drew strong criticism Wednesday from elected Republican officials and some residents after the state Republican Party obtained a copy. The author of the e-mail conceded Wednesday that the e-mail should have been worded differently.

The VEA is an affiliate of the National Education Association, the country's largest teachers union.

"Schools should be perfectly neutral," Virginia resident Julie Aurora said Wednesday. "They should teach students how to think, not what to think."

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The e-mail said teachers should wear blue Tuesday for "Obama Blue Day" and to "register two voters or talk to two people who may be on the fence/or a McCain supporter and sway them to become a Obama supporter."

The e-mail also states: "There are people out there not yet registered. You teach some of them."