As Karoli at Crooks & Liars highlights, presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R) said Sunday on Fox News Sunday that the main federal role in education should be "to push back against the federal teachers' unions."

"Those federal teachers' unions have too much power," he said. "In some cases, they overwhelm the states, they overwhelm the local school districts."

Asked by Bret Baiers whether he would eliminate the U.S. Department of Education--which Romney said in a September debate he would do--Romney answered:

....the reach of the Department of Education into the states has to be pulled back. Education has to be managed at the state level, not at the federal level. Will there be any flow through of funds to the states? Yes. But the role I see that ought to remain in the president's agenda with regards to education is to push back against the federal teachers' unions.