NJ gov Christie cuts 820 million from public schools, attacks unions, praises charters. [View All]

[madfloridian]

Yet the same progress will be expected from the public school sector in spite of the 820 million in cuts.

He is not cutting funds for charters, he says they already pay enough. I would love to know what he means by that because charter schools are publicly funded and privately run. His words to the charter school group are appalling in their contempt for public schools and unions.

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie leaves charter school budget untouched


Noah K. Murray/The Star LedgerNew Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks at annual Charter School Association conference, held at the Ocean Place Hotel.

Gov. Chris Christie renewed his support for charter schools today, telling a crowd of educators they can expect to see more charter schools opening next year despite the state’s fiscal woes. Christie said charter schools play a crucial role in proving districts don’t need to be heavily subsidized by the state to provide quality education for their students.

In his address to the annual conference of the New Jersey Charter Schools Association in Long Branch, Christie said he largely left the funding for charter schools untouched when he introduced his budget on Tuesday.

Then he called on the unions to sacrifice so charter schools could be untouched.

"We will do many good things for charters schools. In fact, I’ve held charter schools harmless in this budget because you already pay enough," he told more than 250 charter school educators. "There are going to be more charter schools a year from now than there are today."

Two days after introducing a budget that cut $820 million in education aid, the governor came out swinging against teachers unions he said have been flush with cash yet are still demanding raises for their members while private sector employees endure pay cuts or layoffs. He called on the unions to give back or forestall raises granted in new contracts and enlisted the help of charter schools in demonstrating quality education does not have to drain a municipal or state budget.

Wait until you read the reason he wants unions and public schools to sacrifice. It is almost contemptuous of them.

"You are the masters of doing more with less because you have been consistently underfunded by the statute that was passed to establish you," Christie said. To help keep down the cost of education, Christie said, public school teachers should forego their raises, contribute to the cost of their health care and contribute a market-based share of their pension.

Kind of surprising that with all of the Christie love for free market charter schools that NJ was not chosen as a finalist for Arne's money.

The finalists are: Colorado, Delaware, the District, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee.

..."These states are an example for the country of what is possible when adults come together to do the right thing for children," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement. "Everyone that applied for Race to the Top is charting a path for education reform in America."

He wants NJ public school teachers to give up their raises and donate them to the free market system of schools.

That is an absolutely arrogant and insulting thing to say.