Presidential nominee Mitt Romney proposed dramatically expanding school choice for low-income and disabled children by calling the nation’s falling educational standards “the civil rights issues of our time.”

Before members of the Latino Coalition at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Romney said that millions of American children were “getting a third world education.”

“America’s minority children suffer the most. This is the civil rights issue of our era,” he added.

In his speech, Romney attacked the teachers union by suggesting that those who sought to bar school choice might consider a different profession. Romney also accused President Barack Obama of being beholden to the powerful union lobby.

“The president can’t have it both ways,” Romney said. “He can’t be the voice of the disadvantaged public school kids and the protector of the special interests.”

The Obama re-election campaign criticized Romney’s education proposals on Wednesday with Ben LaBolt, the campaign’s press secretary, saying Romney’s remarks were “vague” and “detail-less” on a conference call with reporters, reports CNN.