UPDATE: I posted this about 12 hours ago on a late Saturday night, and already it has over 30K hits. I've never seen blog traffic like this, especially on a weekend. Is it not obvious that there has been an enormous amount of frustration and anger building up over Chris Christie's condescension toward teachers, parents, and students? And that all it took was one brave act by one brave teacher, Melissa Tomlinson, to finally break the dam?
I, and many others, have not given up. I proudly support Barbara Buono for Governor of NJ, because she would never engage in this thuggish, bullying behavior toward any constituent, let alone a teacher.
New Jersey's governor, Chris Christie, has a long history of teacher bashing - not just teachers union bashing, but teacher bashing. Even when he's clearly in the lead, he can't help himself: he has to take a swipe at teachers whenever he can. It's almost pathological: even when he's up by a sizable margin, Chris Christie just can't turn down a chance to bash a teacher who gets too uppity - as he proved today:
In an exclusive, I am privileged to present an account of what happened today from Melissa Tomlinson, the brave South Jersey teacher who showed up at Christie's partisan political rally in Somers Point this afternoon and dared to ask her governor a question - as is her right as a citizen and a taxpayer of New Jersey. Here, in Tomlinson's own words, is what happened:
Well, I was in a crowd of all Christie supporters with my sign. They were all eyeing me apprehensively. A few tried to stare me down. Some of them even blocked me from the crowd.
When his bus arrived one of his henchmen went on the bus to speak to him. I was right at the door. It was like he was told to deliberately turn away from me when he got off of the bus.
I went to listen to him speak. I stood in the front of the crowd that was standing towards the back. I know he caught sight of me. He stared at me a few times during his speech. I left right as his speech was over to position myself right at the door of the bus. He came out, shaking everyone's hands as he was getting on the bus. I asked him my question, expecting him to ignore me but he suddenly turned and went off.
I asked him: "Why do you portray our schools as failure factories?" His reply: "Because they are!" He said: "I am tired of you people. What do you want?"
I told him I want money for my students. He fought back with the amount that he has spent on education. My response was along the lines of the fact his amount was not actually an increase from the previous years, given the rate of inflation and other factors. (I think I got that from one of your blogs). [Maybe, but if you don't believe me, ask these guys. - JJ]
The crowd started arguing with me. He screamed at me to just do my job. The crowd cheered for him. I just looked at them and told them: "Hey, this is my life. I had to do this." I tried to follow him to Atlantic City to continue the conversation but the roads were blocked by police when I got there.Chris Christie to teachers: "I am tired of you people!"
Chris Christie on our public schools - and the performance of the students in them: Failure factories!
There is really nothing left to say. If you vote for this man, shame on you.
"I am tired of you people!"
ADDING: Want to do something about this? Oh, Marie:
ADDING MORE: Is it possible to be less self-aware?
ADDING EVEN MORE: Mark Naison, godfather of the Bad-Ass Teachers network, has posted a letter from Melissa Tomlinson that has further details about their encounter:
EVEN MORE: The Star-Ledger's Jenna Portnoy picks up the story:
Hours after Barbara Buono branded him "The Prima Donna," Gov. Chris Christie today responded by criticizing the tenor of her campaign and calling state Sen. Jim Whelan "an animal."Yes, this is the same campaign stop where Christie bullied Melissa Tomlinson and called New Jersey's great schools "failure factories." He really is that clueless.
"She's now in the last four days of a campaign that is fueled by anger," Christie said at the Somers Point VFW. "Beware of campaigns that are fueled by anger instead of hope, cause now you know she'll call me every name in the book. It's hard me to to keep count of every name she's called me in the last few days. I feel badly for her supporters because they deserve better than that." [emphasis mine]
ADDING EVEN MORE: Mark Naison, godfather of the Bad-Ass Teachers network, has posted a letter from Melissa Tomlinson that has further details about their encounter:
But let's put money aside for a moment. What do I want? What do 'we people' want? We want to be allowed to teach. Do you know that the past two months has been spent of our time preparing and completing paperwork for the Student Growth Objectives? Assessments were created and administered to our students on material that we have not even taught yet. Can you imagine how that made us feel? The students felt like they were worthless for not having any clue how to complete the assessments. The teachers felt like horrible monsters for having to make the students endure this. How is that helping the development of a child? How will that help them see the value in their own self-worth. This futile exercise took time away from planning and preparing meaningful lessons as well as the time spent in class actually completing the assessments. The evaluations have no statistical worth and has even been recognized as such by the NJ Department of Education. I am all for evaluation of a teacher. I recognize that I should be held accountable for my job. This does not worry me, as long as I am evaluated on my methods of teaching. I can not be held wholly accountable for the learning growth of a student when I am not accountable for all of the factors that influence this growth. Are you aware that poverty is the biggest determination of a child's educational success. If not, I suggest you read Diane Ravitch's new book Reign of Error. Take a moment and become enlightened.Read the whole thing - it's great.
EVEN MORE: The Star-Ledger's Jenna Portnoy picks up the story:
Melissa Tomlinson, a teacher at Buena Regional Middle School, said she asked the governor, “Why are you portraying our schools as failure factories?” He responded, “What do you want? I’m tired of you people,” according to Tomlinson. They had a brief argument over public school funding before she said, “He told me to do my job and turned around and got on the bus.”
The exchange was witnessed by a crowd of Christie supporters who had just listened to him give a campaign speech inside the VFW. The Republican governor faces Democrat Barbara Buono in Tuesday’s election.
“I wanted to have a conversation with him,” Melissa Tomlinson, a teacher at Buena Regional Middle School, said in a phone interview today. “I want people to be aware of the truth of what’s going on in education.”
Christie cut more than $1 billion in state aid to schools in his first year in office. He has since touted his administration’s attention to public schools. He supports expanding charter schools and instituting a voucher program called the Opportunity Scholarship Act, which would give students in low-performing money for tuition in private schools. [emphasis mine]And you're really going to vote for him? Really?
Melissa Tomlinson is an intelligent and incredibly brave person to stand up to that loud mouth bully with all his allies around. She would definitely qualify as a hero teacher and should be honored on Diane Ravitch's wall of hero educators. Bravo and kudos to her.
ReplyDeleteLove Light is a talented and dedicated teacher. A tireless and brave advocate for her students and a hardcore, diehard BadAss Teacher. She speaks for the teachers who have been denied a voice, and marginalized through the corporate funded attacks on students and teachers. She is not alone. We are very proud of her and lucky to have her as a leading member of BAT. Thank you for writing this article.
ReplyDeleteI have made the pic my profile pic on FB. It has already gotten attention, I suggest others to do the same.
ReplyDeleteI'm not by no means I Christy supporter,although I'm a constitutional conservative ,and have many teachers as friends. The schools are failing because we are given the money back with strings attached.. I'm sure he is frustrated there is no money .the problems are more than I can list common core standards are the problem and teachers if you want to help ,join us in the stand against common core standards that take the power from the parents and give it to the state....
ReplyDeleteJal, When making an argument for, or against, public school policy, it's rather important you be able to write above a 4th grade level. Idiot. Constitutional Conservative, my ass.
DeleteThe schools? Which ones? All of them? Speaking in absolutes is sophomoric at best.
DeleteHow much is enough money per pupil? $20,000? $50,000? How about $100,000 per year per pupil? When are "you people" going to realize that throwing money at our school system is another democrat failure? The dems have been in control of our schools for over 60 years now and somehow, its never a democrats fault. "You people" ought to be ashamed of yourselves.
DeleteWhen Christie was yelling at the lone woman holding the protest sign, I was hoping that steam would start coming out Fat Boy ear's and his had would pop off. I also agree with Jal... all this common core stuff and "Achieve NJ" are frauds inflicted on public schools and public school teachers.
ReplyDeleteChris Christie is best and anyone who thinks he is not the next president is an idiot. Christie Rules!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Melissa Tomlinson. This failure factories rhetoric has to stop. I am wondering if charges can be brought against Christie under the Anti-Bullying Act that all schools are required to enforce. Under the law such bullying can occur to a student or a teacher off of school grounds.
ReplyDeleteI had my own take on Chritie's use of "failure factories here:
http://russonreading.blogspot.com/2013/10/chris-christie-and-failure-factories.html
@Jal: Sorry to hear you spouting this nonsense about our supposedly failing schools. Our schools are not failing, quite the opposite. NJ schools always rank in the top tier of schools in the nation, they are doing quite well (overall and on average). The schools that do have problems are located in cities with high poverty and high crime rates. If you located an elite private school in Camden and then forced it to accept all kids and to abide by all the same rules imposed on the public schools, the private school would do no better than the inner city public schools. The NAEP scores have IMPROVED over the past decades for all groups of students. Our schools are not failing; the society is failing the poor and seems to have abandoned the cities beset by crime, violence, gangs, homelessness and decaying schools (the actual physical buildings).
ReplyDeleteIf that's the case, then why are you so opposed to school voucher programs, to get these poor minority kids out to better schools? Has nothing to do with unions or money, I'm sure.
DeleteHow cute.
ReplyDelete"Partisan political rally"? Is there another kind?
"As is her right"? Were her rights in any way denied? despite the slanted portrayal of the situation, she ended up face to face with the Governor.
A school system which does not teach children that failure is a possibility is setting them up to fail when they hit the real world. That makes them failure factories.
No one had the guts to tell Obama that the healthcare website could not possibly go live on schedule. If you do not face reality, you will fail.
Wow, look at all the trolls spouting garbage. @Brett: The elite private schools throw all kinds of money at their schools with tuitions ranging from $28k to $37K and that's not even counting the fund raisers and other gifts from rich alumni. Those private schools feature class sizes of 12 or 15 pupils plus they can be very selective and they can expel trouble makers. I decry both Christie's and Obama's educational policies, they are an abomination. Last time I checked, the solidly middle class and wealthier school districts are doing quite well. Gee, Camden is one of the poorest and most crime ridden cities in the country and people are surprised that the Camden schools have problems with all the poverty, crime, gangs, violence, murders, homelessness and unemployment.
ReplyDelete@kblakecash: You are unaware that NJ schools always rank in the top tier of schools in the country. NJ schools always get top marks for performing very well and for high graduation rates. The people in Princeton, West Windsor and South Brunswick Township (and hundreds more like them in NJ) will be surprised to hear that their schools are failing. The schools in the urban and inner city districts have huge problems because of poverty, crime, violence, gangs, unemployment, shattered families, tired parents working 2 or 3 part time jobs just to survive. But the fools want to blame the urban schools for all the problems that surround the schools. kblakecash said: "A school system which does not teach children that failure is a possibility is setting them up to fail when they hit the real world. That makes them failure factories." Schools have to teach kids that failure is a possibility??? That's an utterly idiotic statement. Schools teach reading comprehension and critical thinking skills which would cover whatever kblakecash was trying to say.
ReplyDeleteThere's really no reasoning with these jackass trolls because they have been brainwashed by people like Christie and Jim Gearhart. They have made up their minds that NJ schools are failing even though all the data and tests show that NJ schools are a success story (overall and on average). Those inner city schools are not failing, they are struggling with huge problems that do not exist in the more affluent and solidly middle class school districts. These anti public school goons have no idea about what is going on in the schools and how hard teachers work to help their students. They hate teachers and bash all public schools.
ReplyDeleteGiuseppe, you've been a staunch supporter of this blog, and I really appreciate it. Your comments are always insightful and often witty. You and the other regular commenters here make me a better blogger, and for that, you will always have my thanks.
ReplyDeleteYou are, of course, free to respond to any of the trolls here. But I don't. I do respond to substantive, well-formed criticism, but I gave up long ago on the gainsayers.
Again, write whatever you want - I always appreciate what you have to say. But feel no obligation to respond to obvious trollery - I certainly don't. Thx.
"I, and many others, have not given up. I proudly support Barbara Buono for Governor of NJ, because she would never engage in this thuggish, bullying behavior toward any constituent, let alone a teacher."
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right. Unlike Christie's passion when trying to improve things in the state, Buono would calmly, unfeelingly, burn it to the ground.
Irony is Brett Sontag having a Thomas Jefferson icon. Thomas Jefferson the founding father of free public education.
ReplyDelete"Headdesk for when facepalm is just not enough."
This just sounds ridiculous....!! I am amazed that the teacher "victim used the word Henchman, I blew snot and wine out my nose laughing at the absurdity. sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me...who are these people?? Christie...teacher lady dork??
ReplyDeleteI'm not on either side but there seems to be a disconnect. For example, Newark gets a lot of funding, but is still having trouble with attendance and drop out rates. I don't think giving more money is going solve much if it isn't being used properly. I also feel like there is some corruption somewhere along the line that we aren't hearing about.
ReplyDeleteThere absolutely is more... I am a teacher in Newark and much of the money that is not going into the classrooms is being utilized to pay for consultants. The Newark school district has more consultants than who knows what. That is just 1 thing there are so many more its a shame.
DeleteI graduated from a NJ school in 2011... and they are absolutely horrible. Especially compared to Maryland and such. They push students through, and dont care if they pass! And this is in more than one school district in WEALTHY towns in South Jersey. Its garbage these teachers thinking theyre great. They arent.
ReplyDeleteTake heart Jazzman. These pre-election anti-teacher postings mean you touched a nerve. Keep on touching it. Also, the data you publish is attracting a growing audience, and isn't blogged intelligently anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteIn other news, it's interesting to note that Christie privatized the NJ Lottery too - and NOT because they're a failure factory. To the contrary, the state has requested funding for a variety of projects over the years and the Lottery ALWAYS complied. Till they were privatized. I'm thinking he will get another 4 years and that his actions will catch up with him while he's still within reach.
In brief, Christie is systematically pitting one group against another in NJ while he drains the state coffers for his presidential bid AND I posted this here just to tick him off. NJ teachers rock!
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher of a tested subject (5th gr math) I have spent more time creating assessments, testing and re-testing students to see what they don't know, reviewed and reviewed data to fill out paperwork and create matrices for evaluations all for 15% of my overall evaluation. Next, I have to create new assessments so that I can have my students take "benchmark" tests to see where they are in their learning process. This will happen at least 2 more times before the Final Assessment.
ReplyDeleteHere's my question: When do I get to teach?? Again, this is all for only 15% of my annual evaluation and it is only on 1 main skill set!! NOT THE WHOLE YEAR OF LEARNING! And this is supposed to determine if I am an effective teacher or not. Learning is no longer fun for students and they are disengaged and turned off by all this "extra testing" they are forced to endure!
Stop the madness, let us teach and let our children learn!!!
Yeah, Your stinking union is so great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMvDqQw1ocQ
ReplyDeleteLook at the picture. His wife is smiling as good old Chris is yelling at Melissa. She's just as disgusting as her husband. I voted by paper ballot - for Barbara Buono. I hope all teachers vote and vote this bully out!
ReplyDeleteChristie had no problem helping out a private school. He gave over 10 million to a male-only yeshiva and doesn't require the school to teach secular subjects. That's where your tax money is going, folks - to sex-segregated yeshivas and madrassahs. If you can't vote for Buono, write in Mickey Mouse or Elmo, b/c Christie doesn't deserve the vote.
ReplyDeleteThis also got picked up by Maureen Downey at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/nov/03/nj-governor-asks-teacher-what-she-wants-teach/
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteget rid of the unions, schools will improve.
ReplyDeleteChristie suffers from the same weakness as do other self-righteous, bombastic Republican politicians and pundits:
ReplyDeleteHe regards any constituent -- especially a member of the public labor sector such as a teacher -- who has the temerity to hold him accountable for his previously-stated comments and political positions to be unworthy of a civil response, to say nothing of his respect.
Based on this pattern of behavior, it would appear to be a Republican character trait to treat non-fawning constituents with contempt.
These traits are not Rep or Dem. However, they are commonly exhibited by sociopaths. (don't ask how I know this). Regardless of your political leanings, the only way to make a dent is to respond to his exact words. For example the correct reponse to "I'm sick of you people, what do you want from me?" is "We want you to do what you said you would do. You said you would bust the union and instead you gave them another year to hold untenured teachers hostage and collect dues." Then DUCK. He's got issues w/conservatives and he may take a swing at you.
DeleteI can't help but wonder why, if New Jersey teachers are doing such a "great" job teaching, why only 20% of last year's graduates took the ACT, ranking near the bottom of all the states in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteThank You for bringing peoples attention-Wolf in Sheeps clothing. Beware NJ.
ReplyDeleteTo Barbara: Perhaps because they are taking the SAT instead and their scores are improving.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/09/nj_sat_score_leaps_10_points_class_of_2013_outpaces_national_average.html
Teachers have to wake up. The entire country, except for teachers themselves, are now against teachers and their unions and it is all because of teacher greed and union greed. We're tired of our tax dollars going to foot the bill for free health care with no co-pays for teachers, tenure and the impossibility to rid the schools of horrible teachers, their exorbitant salaries and hearing over and over how hard teachers work (for 9 months out of a year with summer's off). Try talking to a construction worker and compare how hard your job is. It's ridiculous. There are a million excuses why kids aren't learning and doing well, it's NEVER the teacher's fault even thought that is their job. Let any other occupation have those horrible results and they would be out on their ear. America is done and it's only a matter of time before you guys are treated like any other occupation that fails.
ReplyDeleteVouchers give public money to private and religious schools. Will rich people be able to use vouchers to send their kids to the elite private schools with tuitions of $35,000? The poor parents will no be given vouchers of $27,000 to $36,000 for those elite private schools. Private schools are selective about whom they accept, they can pick and choose and they can eliminate the bad behavior kids and keep the tuition money. That's a nice scam. Then there is the bussing miasma (caused by the voucher plans) which will drain additional funds from the public schools.
ReplyDeleteGiuseppe, I happen to live in Princeton. The High School has been caught twice falsifying attendance records. Kids are allowed to sleep and go on face book in class to keep them from being disruptive. Exception after exception is made to allow poor students to graduate.
ReplyDeleteSo yes, they look great on paper. When those kids try to get a job and find out they actually have to work and show up on time, they fail.
Oh, and blogs can edit trolls, so if you want to comment on mine, you'll have to leave a valid email address or I'll just trash it. I don't care what you say, but I won't publish anonymous rants.
With all due respect, Mrs. King's students, you should read more of the blogs. It is open season on teachers.
ReplyDeletePoliticians' tactless contempt for teachers is typical of Democratic and Republican politicians. Whereas Democrats Rhee, Duncan, Obama, Cuomo, Emanuel, Booker express themselves with more grace, at least Chris Christie is being forthright and visceral with his contempt for teachers. At least he's honest.
Hey Geo. While his contempt is visceral, it's just a means to his real end which is his deep-seated belief that EVERYONE OWES HIM. He's got nothin and nowhere is that more apparent than in Camden. Don't think for one minute we're the only group under attack. We're just the only ones with a widely read respectable blog/central distribution point of info - thanks to Jazzman.
DeleteCall me a dreamer, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Christie becomes the unwitting catalyst for REAL REFORMS in education and the self-perpetuating NJEA in the near future, and this blog becomes the battleground. It's already got the nod from the Times of Trenton.
@kblakecash: I graduated from PHS many eons ago when Mrs. Burke was teaching math, Mr. Drewry was the social science teacher and William H. Rhodes was the principal. I lived in the borough for decades and your evaluation of PHS is biased garbage. So PHS is full of sleeping students, they are all failures and you are the typical lying liar. Thanks for your very skewed anecdotal bilge.
ReplyDeleteChristie is honest?!? Really? Go to the top of the Jazzman site and read what Christie lied about in 2009: "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.
ReplyDeleteChristie eliminated the COLA for all current and future retirees.
Of course Giuseppe, anyone who disagrees with you must be lying.
ReplyDeleteYou make your alma mater proud, stuffing your head in the sand.
What I find offensive is that you, kblakecash, are smearing all the teachers and all the students at a highly rated HS by many different metrics based on a couple of incidents. Are those students sleeping in class special ed students with behavior problems? What percentage of students are goof off drudges? 1%, 25%, 88%???? You have of course made a scientific study of this to back up your claims? It is a public high school and they do have to accept all students and that's as it should be.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
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