President Obama's campaign released a new television ad Wednesday blasting Republican opponent Mitt Romney over public education.
The 30-second spot accuses the presumptive GOP nominee of disregarding classroom size and supporting cuts to education funding.
"The Romney-Ryan plan could gut investments in education by 20 percent and risk as many as 65,000 educators’ jobs to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. The Romney-Ryan plan denies what every parent knows: Class size matters, education funding matters, and, most of all, teachers matter," said a statement from the Obama campaign released with the ad.
The ad features Kevin and Caroline, who praise smaller class size and blast Romney for not being able to "relate" to the struggles of education.
“These are all issues that really he personally cannot relate to. To be able to afford an education, to want the very best public education system for your children," says Caroline.
The ad, titled "Children," will air in the battleground states of Virginia and Ohio on Thursday. The president made a campaign stop in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, and Vice President Biden spoke in Blacksburg, Va., last week.
The Romney campaign fought back against the president's claims and accused Obama of being "at odds" with Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
“President Obama’s latest ad puts him directly at odds with his own Education secretary, who has promoted teacher quality — not class size — as the most important factor in a good education. President Obama and his campaign have put misleading and hypocritical attacks ahead of a real discussion about education policy," said Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg in a statement. "As president, Mitt Romney will pursue genuine education reform that puts parents and students ahead of special interests and gives every child a chance to succeed.”
On the campaign trail Tuesday, Obama accused Romney of proposing cuts to education investments.
"Since I took office, we have helped more than 3 million additional
students afford a college education with grants that go farther than
they did before. The economic plan my opponent has would cut our
investment in education by nearly 20 percent," said Obama at Capital
University in Columbus.
