I will protect your pensions. Nothing about your pension is going to change when I am governor. - Chris Christie, "An Open Letter to the Teachers of NJ" October, 2009

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Tipping Point?

I have always hoped - maybe naively - that a sustained war with teachers was a losing political strategy. Have we reached the tipping point?

ATLANTIC CITY — At least one member of the state Board of Education today questioned whether Gov. Chris Christie pressured his education chief to reject an invitation to speak at the annual New Jersey Education Association convention in Atlantic City.
[...]
"She may have signed (the letter), but I honestly don’t think she wrote it," said board member Edithe Fulton, a former NJEA president who said she has known Hendricks for 25 years. "She’s between a rock and a hard place, and she serves at the pleasure of the governor. It’s unfortunate that she was not allowed, I believe, to come to this convention because she would have had wonderful things to say to our teachers." 
[...] 
State Sen. and former Gov. Richard Codey (D-Essex) said Hendricks’ decision is a missed opportunity for the Christie administration to speak directly to teachers about its school reform agenda.
"I’m not sure every governor has had the support of the NJEA, but that didn’t stop them from reaching out directly to the teachers at this convention," Codey said. "If the administration thinks it has a solid case for reform that is being stopped at NJEA headquarters, then the smart move would be to have the commissioner take it directly to the rank and file."
This really does look small and petty. I know the posters at nj.com love that stuff, but normal people have got to see this and wonder what is up with this guy.

Maybe.

1 comment:

thinker said...

Duke, you are riding for a fall. I keep telling myself that surely, "normal people" MUST see the obvious hypocrisy/agenda/inconsistency of this administration, only to be disappointed again when they do not. I keep seeing things and thinking "oh, this is so blatant, so outragous, that surely citizens will scream about it!" and all I hear is crickets.

Was I home sick the day the NJ brainwashing occurred?