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Biden’s lesson plan

'Instead of putting students first, Vice President Biden and this administration have stood with union bosses.' — Mitt Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg

‘Instead of putting students first, Vice President Biden and this administration have stood with union bosses.’ — Mitt Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg (AP)

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WASHINGTON — Vice President Biden yesterday accused Mitt Romney of carrying out a “full-blown assault” on educators, telling the nation’s largest teachers union that the Republican Party thinks they’re “selfish.”

The spirited defense of educators came as President Obama hopes to fire up working-class and union support in a bus tour that kicks off in Ohio right after the Fourth of July.

“There’s a pretty uniform view held by Mr. Romney and the Republicans in the majority in Congress today — they criticize and they blame you, they make you the fall guy,” Biden told the National Education Association’s annual convention in DC.

“They should be thinking of ways to make your job easier, not more difficult. Instead, they hector, they lecture, and they blame you,” he continued. “I can’t think of a candidate for president who’s ever made such a direct assault on such an honorable profession.

“They don’t understand why you chose to teach in the first place. Honest to God, I don’t think they get it,” he said, claiming that the Republican plan for public education “is to let the states use [federal] Title I dollars to boost enrollment in private schools.”

Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg hit back hard, saying Biden “doubled down on the same policies that have failed to fix our economy and help the middle class.”

“Instead of putting students first,” she continued, “Vice President Biden and this administration have stood with union bosses. Instead of creating good jobs for graduates, this administration has presided over one of the bleakest job markets for young people.”

Some NEA members have grumbled that Obama, who is spending an extended weekend at Camp David, didn’t attend yesterday’s conference, though Biden got plenty of applause during his remarks.

The three-million strong NEA was the first big union to back Obama’s re-election campaign, but there are still hard feelings over Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s school reform efforts, which have included competitive “Race to the Top” funding for schools, support for the charter-school movement and criticism of teacher tenure rules.

Last year, the NEA passed a resolution directing the union’s president “to communicate aggressively, forcefully, and immediately” to Obama that the group is “appalled” by Duncan’s comments and policies on school reform.

The union also sharply criticized Obama’s support for performance pay for teachers, even as they recieved billions of dollars in support through the 2009 stimulus law that kept many of them in their jobs.

Biden’s fiery rhetoric comes after last month’s failed union-backed effort to recall Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker.

While Romney was vacationing yesterday in Wolfeboro, NH, his camp hit back at Obama’s persistent attacks claiming that Romney helped ship jobs overseas when he ran Bain Capital.

“Spending millions of dollars on untrue ads won’t change the fact that President Obama’s policies have left more than 23 million Americans struggling for work,” said the Romney camp, even as Obama unveiled a new ad hammering Romney for “outsourcing.”

Obama today will preside over a naturalization ceremony for members of the military.