John Giotis, a Republican activist who heads a Catholic school in St. Petersburg, Fla., is among 15 people named to a new National Educators for Romney group.

The 15-member group is headed by Rod Paige, who served as U.S. Secretary of Education during President George W. Bush's first term.

Giotis, headmaster of The School of the Immaculata, was among the social conservates in Florida who sided with Romney in the Republican primary. He is the latest Floridian to assume a high-profile position in Romney's education circle. Jeb Bush wrote the forward to Romney's education plan. Former Florida Board of Education Chair Phil Handy co-chairs one of his education policy advisory groups. And Julio Fuentes, president & CEO of the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options (as well as a Step Up For Students board member), serves on an ed policy committee.

A Romney campaign said the new group will lead efforts to support "Romney and his bold education reforms that will put students first."

Paige said in the release: "I’ve worked with Republicans and Democrats to bring quality education to all of our children, and I can say with authority that Mitt Romney understands the reforms this country needs. For too long, we’ve watched as our most disadvantaged children have been denied the one tool they need to rise from poverty and live a successful life—a world-class education. Mitt Romney has proposed real reforms that will finally bring the change we need and that our children deserve. In Chicago, we are seeing again that entrenched special interests will oppose those efforts, but Governor Romney is a leader who can overcome that opposition. I am proud to support him in this endeavor.”

Beyond the boos for his vow to undo President Obama's health care overhaul, Republican president Mitt Romney stressed school choice in his speech to the NAACP today, talking up charter schools and suggesting Obama’s ties to teachers unions hampered his efforts to help disadvantaged kids.

“If equal opportunity in America were an accomplished fact, black families could send their sons and daughters to public schools that truly offer the hope of a better life,” he said, according to his prepared remarks. “Instead, for generations, the African-American community has been waiting and waiting for that promise to be kept. Today, black children are 17 percent of students nationwide – but they are 42 percent of the students in our worst-performing schools.”

“Our society,” he continued, “sends them into mediocre schools and expects them to perform with excellence, and that is not fair. Frederick Douglass observed that, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” Yet, instead of preparing these children for life, too many schools set them up for failure. Everyone in this room knows that we owe them better than that.”

Media coverage of today's event in Houston is focusing heavily on the negative reaction Romney received for his plans to scuttle "Obamacare." The Republican candidate got a more polite response to his education positions.

Romney noted his support for charter schools as governor of Massachusetts, despite opposition from teachers unions and Democratic lawmakers.He also pitched his plan to allow federal education funding to follow the student to the school of the parents’ choosing, including private schools “where permitted.”

The dig at Obama's education agenda came without mentioning the president’s name. (more…)