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One by one, the six Democrats running for mayor of Philadelphia gave their best pitches Wednesday night to about 300 members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, in an effort to secure the union's coveted endorsement in the May primary.

The meeting, in the sheet-metal workers' hall on Columbus Boulevard, was closed to reporters, but afterward the candidates talked about their prospects of having one of the city's largest unions on their side, and about their views on education funding, which has emerged as one of the top issues in the campaign.

"They know all of the funding does not come from the city," said PFT president Jerry Jordan, "but that there is a need for a mayor to work with the legislature and the governor in Harrisburg in order to make sure that the resources are there for our children."

His members, he said, want "someone who is honest and who will work to make sure the resources are in the classroom for them."

Most of the candidates said they told the union members they would work with Harrisburg for an equitable school-funding formula that would send more money for the district, which is facing an $80 million budget deficit for the next school year.

Some, however, said they would also try to get more money from local sources.

Former Common Pleas Court Judge Nelson Diaz said he would try to shift the tax base to increase the burden on real estate. If the wage tax is lowered, he said, more people will work here and more real estate taxes will come in.

Former District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham also discussed tax reform and how the city's fiscal decisions play a role in the school funding debate. "How we spend our money, and can we be more efficient with how we spend our money, so we can use some of the savings to give to the schools," she said.

Former city spokesman Doug Oliver said he would consider selling city assets that are not "a primary function of government." He listed the Philadelphia Gas Works, the Water Department, and Philadelphia International Airport as examples.

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Democrats running for mayor seek teachers' union backing

Relying on Republicans and going against the grain of his own party for his legislative successes has not been much of a go-to play in President Barack Obama's game plan.

Then there's international trade.

On Thursday, Obama stepped up his campaign for expanding exports and negotiating new trade deals in Asia and Europe, a rare spot of common ground with Republicans and a raw point of friction with Democrats. Obama pushed his trade themes in interviews with television stations from states represented by some of the handful of Democratic senators who may be willing to side with the president on his plans for new commerce agreements.

"There have been times in the past where some of the trade deals didn't work out for particular sectors in particular communities," Obama told KMBC in Kansas City, Missouri. "Which is why we're organizing trade in the Asia Pacific region, the fastest growing region in the world, to make sure you have strong enforceable labor provisions, make sure you have strong enforceable environmental provisions, make sure you have a level playing field."

Before cutting those deals, however, Obama wants authority to negotiate trade agreements that Congress can only approve or reject, but not amend. Presidents have had an increasingly tough time getting that authority from Congress; Bill Clinton had to buck his party to win it and George W. Bush got it by a single vote.

But Obama's task may be even tougher.

"He has a harder challenge because the last Democratic president (Clinton) who did this did it in the context of a historic economic boom, a period in which globalization still looked like it had enormous upsides with relatively little downside," said Rob Shapiro, a former senior Commerce Department official and economic adviser to President Clinton.

"The upsides are still there, but the downsides have become more apparent."

Critics, including labor unions, complain past trade deals have sent U.S. manufacturing jobs to countries with lower wages, have flooded the U.S. with cheaper imports and not helped U.S. exporters.

The Obama administration on Thursday released data promoting the role of exports in the economic recovery. According to the White House, exports supported about 11.3 million jobs in 2013, an increase of 1.6 million over 2009. While the U.S. posted a record $2.35 trillion in exports in 2014, it also posted a $500 billion trade deficit, higher than 2013 but lower than the $760 billion high recorded in 2006.

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Obama Steps up Pitch for Trade, Exports, Targets Democrats

TaskForceTV: The Road to Immigration Reform
Politini interviews Stacey Long Simmons of the LGBT Task Force and Carlos Padilla, of United We Dream about LGBT Immigrant rights.

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TaskForceTV: The Road to Immigration Reform - Video

Obama Pushing Immigration Reform Charles Krauthammer O #39;Reilly

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Obama Pushing Immigration Reform Charles Krauthammer O'Reilly - Video

The agency in charge of implementing immigration policy, among other duties, is scheduled to run out of funding Friday if the GOP-controlled Congress can't agree to a funding bill.

READ: DHS impasse down to the wire in Congress

"Instead of trying to hold hostage funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which is so important for our national security, fund that and let's get on with actually passing comprehensive immigration reform," Obama said at the event, aired on Telemundo and MSNBC, and hosted by Jos Daz-Balart, an anchor on both channels.

The meeting was announced in the days following a ruling last week from a federal district court judge that temporarily blocked Obama's executive action on immigration.The White House said it was a chance for the President to reach the Hispanic community, taking questions from online and members of the audience.

During the event, the President called on voters to make immigration reform a successful social movement -- and a key issue in the next presidential election.

"Every major social movement, every bit of progress in this country, whether it's been the workers' rights movement or the civil rights movement or the women's rights movement, every single bit of that progress had required us to fight and to push and you make progress," Obama said. "You don't get everything right away, and then you push some more."

The President also defended the legality of his executive action, but said that passing comprehensive reform in Congress should be the end goal. When asked about the failure of Congress to pass legislation he laid the blame squarely on the GOP.

"You do a disservice when you suggest that no one was doing anything, then you don't know who was fighting for and against you," Obama said. "The Democratic Party has been consistent. A few Republicans have supported it but let's be clear the reason why we don't have a bill is because [House Speaker] John Boehner wouldn't call a vote."

Obama offered praise for 2016 Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush.

"I appreciate Mr. Bush being concerned about immigration reform," he said. "I would suggest that what he do is talk to the speaker of the House and the members of his party."

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Obama defends immigration policy in Telemundo town hall