IT'S GETTING CROWDED AT THE BACK OF THE BUS:

Teachers' unions uneasy with President Barack Obama (NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, 10/17/09, Politico)

A skirmish between powerful teachers’ unions and President Barack Obama over nearly $5 billion in education spending is shaping up as a preview of the battle to come over No Child Left Behind in Congress early next year.

But the tables are turned: now the unions are worried that Obama, a Democratic ally, is going to be just as tough on them as President George W. Bush, a longtime foe.

The dispute adds teachers’ unions to a growing list of key Democratic constituencies that have been frustrated by Obama’s lunges toward the political middle...