How many times have I read stories about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie blowing his stack when the subject is education or teachers?
Just yesterday he blew up when a stranger made a passing remark about his education policy.
Is it a sign of a guilty conscience?
Governor Christie is doing everything possible to privatize public education: promoting online charters (even though they have not been authorized by the State Legislature), expanding charter schools, flirting with vouchers. And, he has famously attacked the New Jersey Education Association, throwing choice epithets their way.
It is easy to forget that Governor Christie is a graduate of Livingston High School, where he received an excellent public school education. It is easy for him to forget that New Jersey is one of the highest rated states in the nation on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. In other words, it has an excellent public school system. If New Jersey would focus on improving the districts marred by intense poverty and segregation, it would the “Garden State” of public education.
Maybe New Jersey readers could explain the governor’s antagonism to anything related to the public schools that benefited him.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I watched two episodes of John Stossel’s show on Fox Business that discussed education. (I think he’s done two education shows). Of course, it talked about how bad public schools were and how charters are the best solution to the problem. At the end of each episode, he asked the studio audience members to raise their hands if they went to public school. Most of them did. Then he asks them to raise their hands if they believe they received a good education. The vast majority of the audience raised their hands.
So, the very people who spent the entire episode applauding at every negative statement about public schools indicated that they received a good public education themselves. It’s like those surveys you hear about people having a general concern about the quality of public education, but when asked about their children’s public school, they are satisfied. I don’t get it.
I should say that after the majority of Stossel’s audience raised their hands saying that they received a good public education, Stossel replied by stating that they don’t know how much better it could of been had they had competition. Go figure…
LikeLike
John Stossel is an ideologue who hates public education.
LikeLike
From what I gather anecdotally, many people think that they received a good public education, but that its quality has somehow declined over the decades. I suspect they also had to walk to school five miles through the snow uphill both ways when they were young…
LikeLike
Yes, he is. He jumped on the anti-teacher, anti-union, anti-public education band wagon years ago.
LikeLike
I totally agree and have taken on Stossel and Van Susteren for reporting misinformation when ever they bring up the subject of “failing schools.” I’m not afraid to correct them on their blogs and send them emails. I really let Stossel have it when he criticized the SOS March in DC. I think they (FOX) are gearing up for another round of public school bashing, so I’ve been doing some research on Christie, Jeb Bush and Romney this past week. I came across your piece “The Miseducation of Mitt Romney” at NYR. It is excellent!
LikeLike
John Stossel also went to public school–New Trier High School, to be exact. (One of the top–if not the top–high schools in IL.& in the U.S.) A few years ago, New Trier was the subject of a Chicago Tribune editorial–“New Trier’s F.” Why? Because New Trier didn’t make AYP! Why? Because its special ed. subgroup missed the %age meets/exceeds by about 2 %age points! (This was one of the highest sp.ed. subgroup scores in the state.) I believe that this happened the next year, as well. BUT–did the New Trier community panic, responding to the mandatory school choice letter RE: transfer
to a presumably better, “passing” school? You bet not! Everyone in
the community knows what a good PUBLIC school New Trier is.
John Stossel, would you like to privatize New Trier?
LikeLike
Yes. At least he’s equal opportunity hate everything public unlike some of our politicians who want to cut cut cut in areas and then spend spend spend in others. Nevertheless, I do disagree with him on education policy.
LikeLike
NY Gov Cuomo uses deceiving stats to claim NYS schools are failing. He likes to state NY is 38th ranked in US, This stat is % of adults who graduated from HS according to census data. Of course many of the adults in NY is this situation never attended a NY school, so the stat Cuomo banters is not valid. Do we have a HS grad problem? Yes, in cities and rural areas in deep poverty.
LikeLike
I do not think our Governor has a conscience, or if he does it is buried by a fragile ego and anger at the world. What he does have, as you have pointed out, is a mission to destroy public education in New Jersey. And what is so frustrating is that the people in DC do not have a clue as to how the Obama administration’s education policies are allowing Christie carte blanche to go in and take over our schools. Just this week, the Superintendent of Newark overruled the advisory board there (a non-binding board there since the state took over the Newark schools almost 20 years ago) and allowed for charters to co-habit or take over public schools buildings. Wednesday we face a vote on regulatory changes that would allow the Acting Commissioner not just to open virtual charter schools but to open ‘satellite charter schools’ without formal applications that local communities and districts could respond to. And no school district should feel safe – in the high performing district of East Brunswick the Acting Commissioner has put the middle school and junior high school on his Focus list due to what he says is an unacceptable achievement gap (thanks a lot NCLB waiver…..) even though the high school is not a focus school and does not have this perceived problem – which suggests our school system corrects for it during those hard, transitional years. He is going after the urban and suburban, so we had all better get together and fight this before we allow our angry Governor to destroy one of the best public school systems in the country. Thank you Diane for your coverage, as always.
LikeLike
Someone shoud review the anti-bullying laws with Christie. Whenever he doesn’t like a question he just insults people. He acts like a fool in public and he is just plain mean. One would think while getting an ice cream cone with your children on a summer’s night he would set a better example. NJ should all pitch in for anger management classes for this man.
LikeLike
Linda,
It is a classic case of self insecurity. When he lashes out and insults people it makes him feel superior. A feeling he undoubtedly missed out on early in life.
LikeLike
Sounds like the definition of a bully. He seems to take particular pleasure in bullying women. Or am I misinformed?
LikeLike
Diane, Chris Christie’s misogyny is very well documented:
http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/commentary/christie-attacks-nj-women-with-budget-cuts-and-cutting-words
http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2012/01/gov_chris_christie_must_stop_t.html
http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2012/03/war-against-teachers-war-against-women.html
Christie has gone after a profession where 3/4 of its professionals are women. Tells you something.
LikeLike
What a repugnant man! How did he become so rude and crass? The quotes stated in those articles are quite disturbing. Who knows how he really treats his wife?
LikeLike
Linda, in all fairness, Christie is, by all accounts, a loving husband and father. I have little doubt he cares deeply for his family. His oldest son was just accepted to Princeton, a testament to the good character of that young man and the fine work of his parents. Christie and his wife have done a very good job of shielding their kids from the spotlight of public life.
That said:
All of the Christie kids attend elite private schools. Like the Obamas and the Emanuels, the schools they send their children to have very high per student costs, and no standardized testing:
http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2012/04/christie-more-moneys-good-for-my-kid.html
If that’s good enough for the Christies and the Emanuels and the Obamas and the Gateses, why isn’t it good enough for the rest of us?
LikeLike
Jersey Jazzman,
Then what in the world is wrong, his temper and rudeness I mean? Why doesn’t he have any self control or respect for others?
LikeLike
Linda, as you probably have guessed, I – and many other teachers in NJ – have been wracking my brain trying to figure this out. People have all kinds of theories, many of them related to his weight.
Personally, I think that’s way too facile. I think this man would act this way now matter his size.
So I don’t know what brought him to this point, but I do know this: he has been rewarded for his cheap, boorish, bullying behavior. He gets lots of TV time and nods toward being the VP and adulation in the press precisely because he lacks self-control and respect. Imus loves him. Morning Joe loves him. Fox loves him. They think he’s like Fred Flintstone or Ralph Kramden – a lovable lout.
Too many people have decided it just fine to yell at teachers and yell at constituents and call legislators jerks and laugh about taking a bat to a 76-year-old grandmother. They think it’s “refreshing.”
But then they expect those of us in the classroom to teach in a societal environment that condones this nonsense. The cognitive dissonance is, unfortunately, all too typical of America these days.
Thanks for the comments.
LikeLike
Do you think, Linda, there might be a seat for some others? Would there possibly be a seat for Jindal?
LikeLike
Yes, group classes are being held on the boardwalk next to the ice cream joint led by Snookie and the Situation. Jindal only needs to arrange transportation, preferably a one way trip.
LikeLike
One way ticket is fine with me. However, it may be “unacceptable” to him. 🙂
LikeLike
Somebody should arrange for a 1:1 contest with Rob Ford, the Mayor of Toronto, for the title of “Political Asshole of the Americas”. Christie is quite clearly a small man of substance but no class, a classic schoolyard bully, who in an ideal world would be dumped on his posterior by somebody in public, and informed that he is actually the whole ass, not just an asshole.
LikeLike
You just made me laugh. I have been alive over 50 years and I have never heard that expression before. Yes, he is and it is very large.
LikeLike
And, New Jersey schools have very strict and effective regualtions about bullying. CC would find it difficult to perceive the inconsistencies in comparing his actions to legislation regarding bullying. How could such a smart guy go so wrong?
LikeLike
Everything he does speaks of a small (ironically), mean-spirited, unhappy, black-hearted pig. Why doesn’t the whole world see him for what he IS? There are so many other examples. . . Andrew Cuomo (who is most emphatically NOT his father). . . the billionaire boys’ club, Jindahl. . .is America REALLY this stupid? This racist? This gullible?
Ms. Ravitch, you are a personal hero of mine. I read you every single day, read your last bestseller, and get very excited any time I see someone with sense interviewing you. THANK YOU for speaking for students, teachers, and sane administration.
LikeLike
I thank you!
LikeLike
I wonder the same, Juliet. It seems so obvious that Cuomo and Christie are working very hard, and successfully, to destroy public education. And yet, many talk of Christie as VP or our next Pres. And Cuomo must be working in that direction. Why?
LikeLike
Mr. Christie is someone who can make Mr. Cuomo look good. He is crass bully but Mr. Cuomo is a slick operator who is selling his state down the river. He is as crooked as they come. Christie sounds like the jerk that he is; Cuomo does a good fake out to end up at the same point for their respective state.
LikeLike
Hypocrisy in action. My guess is that one or more of Christie’s financial benefactors has an interest in a charter school management company. This is all about PROFIT and not education. I truly believe that some people do not want to provide a quality education for all students.
LikeLike
Or it could be another move out of the ALEC playbook…
LikeLike
In my position after retiring as a high school principal I’ve had the opportunity to visit many NJ schools without getting the dog and pony show of administrators. Of the many NJ charter schools I have visited over the past few years there was only one that I would have been comfortable sending my grand children. There are many urban public schools needing improvement as well.
The answer is to get better leadership and to retrain the teaching staff. Not the stuff that the Christie/Cerf gang is doing. They have set that education sector back 20 years or more through corporate greed and political expediency.
There are many very successful retired educators that ran great NJ schools that could be tapped to assist those principals struggling to improve their schools. No one has asked for this inexpensive solution.
LikeLike
Back in 2010, the Star-Ledger went back to Christie’s old school district in Livingston to talk to his old teachers. I wrote about it at the time:
http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2010/08/such-nice-boy.html
He had, by all accounts, an idyllic childhood in which public education played a huge role. His old teachers were stunned by his current attitude.
You don’t have to be a psychologist to see that something profoundly negative happened to this man between then and now. It’s perplexing and disturbing. And it’s increasingly likely that the voters of New Jersey have reached their limit in indulging this nonsense.
LikeLike
Christie is, like Cuomo, carefully laying political foundation and making alliances. Christie has no class, though, and can’t pull off political weaselry as neatly as Cuomo. Stossel is a pretend libertarian who continually claims that free market and competition are our saviors, and gov’t restricts everyone’s freedom to be inside traders, corporate raiders and market monopolizers. Public employee unions and public schools are among his favorite targets. Apparently, dedicated public employees shouldn’t be free to organize to protect their low-paying long hour dedication to the good of all, but privateers are true Americans utilizing their constitutional right to exploit and use others for their own benefit.
LikeLike