New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie won applause at the RNC with his zinger, “They believe in teacher’s unions. We believe in teachers.” Ditto for former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum when he said President Obama’s solution to a failing education system “has been to deny parents choice, attack private schools and nationalize curriculum.”

But with the convention winding to a close tonight, it’s interesting how much the suggestion of stark divisions between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on K-12 education has not been the norm – at least away from the main stage. Jeb Bush, who speaks tonight, said as much in his appearance with Michelle Rhee. And this is what son George P. Bush said yesterday when asked what’s the most important thing the federal government can do to improve education: No matter who’s elected president, he said, “Keep Arne Duncan … he’s been a fantastic education secretary.”

As we wrote yesterday, George P. Bush and Josh Romney, Mitt Romney’s middle son, also made interesting comments about teacher pay. And Josh Romney seemed to suggest large classes might be an issue when he said, “We sometimes have teachers that aren’t able to cope with the size of their classrooms.” (On a related note about crosscurrents, there’s a post on today’s Politics K-12 blog about the dwindling band of Republican U.S. reps who are backed by teachers unions.)

The political blurring will continue next week at the Democratic National Convention - at least at a town hall meeting organized by Democrats for Education Reform. AFT President Randi Weingarten and NEA President Dennis Van Roekel will be among the panelists, but so will Colorado state Sen. Mike Johnston, a Democrat who sponsored a bill reforming teacher tenure and evaluations, and North Carolina state Rep. Marcus Brandon, a Democrat who co-sponsored legislation this year (which did not succeed) to start a statewide program for tax credit scholarships. Closing remarks will be made by Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a rising star in the Democratic Party who wholeheartedly supports private school vouchers.

Mitt Romney hasn't talked much, if at all, about teacher pay on the campaign trail. But son Josh Romney raised the issue at an RNC event today, saying teacher pay has to rise in order to lure more top college graduates into the profession. Minutes later, George P. Bush, son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, hit on the same subject.

“I think you got to pay ‘em more. I think teachers need better salaries,” Josh Romney said in response to a question from NBC chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd. “I think you got to make it attractive for people who are coming out of college, the best and brightest coming out of colleges, who at this point say well there’s no way I can go into education, I can’t make enough money to feed my family or make a living. So I’m not going to go into education, even though I’d like to.”

When Todd followed up with a point about budget cuts, Josh Romney said this: “I think this is one of those areas where we can’t afford to cut back. Teachers need better salaries. And there’s obviously a lot of politics involved in there. There’s different ways to do it. But as long as it’s going to teachers … I think that’s the important thing.”

Josh Romney’s comments came at an event for young voters hosted by National Journal, The Atlantic and Microsoft. During a different segment of the program with a different moderator, George P. Bush also raised the issue.

“Teacher salaries have barely kept pace with inflation (while) administrative salaries have increased and exceeded that of the private sector,” said Bush, who lives in Fort Worth. “In Texas, what we’re witnessing is a true struggle between teachers unions and administrators over this issue. How is it that no one’s holding administrators accountable and yet we expect teachers to not only raise our kids but deliver superior results in the classroom?”

It’s unclear whether Josh Romney was referring to salary increases across the board or for pay hikes based on performance. His father’s education plan refers generally to rewarding teachers “who contribute most to student learning.” (more…)