In a surprising move, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo hired New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s chief political strategist as his chief of staff.

Governor Christie is term-limited and will soon leave office. His popularity rating is at a historic low, about 20%. His presidential campaign blew up after the scandal called Bridgegate, in which his staff coordinated the closing of a major bridge (the George Washington Bridge) between New York and New Jersey to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee (where the bridge is based in New Jersey) for not supporting Christie’s re-election bid.

Christie has been a disaster for public schools. Although New Jersey has one of the best records in the nation for public school performance, Christie treats the public schools with disdain and favors charters and vouchers. He put a salary cap on administrators, causing many to retire or relocate. He has fought publicly with the teachers union and disparaged its leadership. He never had a good word to say about public schools, even though New Jersey schools consistently rank either 2nd or 3rd in the nation on NAEP tests.

Let’s hope that Governor Cuomo’s new chief of staff does not share Governor Christie’s hostility to public schools.