Filthy Rich Teachers

Chris Christie loves to talk about the "big raises" that teachers get.

Even though teacher contracts settled last year had average raises of 2.03% - and contracts settled later in the year averaged 1.58%.

We know that the Consumer Price Index for NJ is 2.1%. Which means teacher pay will not even keep pace with inflation.

But that's not surprising: historically, teacher wages haven't kept pace with the average NJ worker's wages.

Now, Christie wants to cut teacher pay another 12 to 20 percent. And raise the retirement age. And slash back pension benefits. And cut back health care benefits. And remove tenure, which is a benefit.

So let me ask all you teacher bashers something:

Can you name any industry - public or private - where EVERY employee in NJ is required to have a college degree but has suffered these kind of PERMANENT loses? Again: EVERY employee, not just a few?

Send me your documentation. I'd love to see it. But, until then...

Think about whether anyone is going to be willing to go tens of thousands of dollars into debt to get a degree so they can take this kind of deal. Is it a rational choice?

And then ask yourself if Christie is believable when he says: “I love teachers — I just can’t stand your union”?