With time running out on his term as Governor, Chris Christie removed the president and vice-president of the state school board.
Critics said he was trying to lock in his control of the board long after his tenure in office. Christie has battled with the teachers union and favors privatization of public education. Although New Jersey is one of the top performing states in the nation, Christie regularly excoriates the state’s educators and public schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Top performing states in the nation by what gauge?
Standardized test scores?
I’d have to say that any state that repeatedly elects the likes of Christie to the governorship is not anywhere near the top when it comes to thinking.
Closer to the bottom. (And a very big one in this case)
Beg to differ. DESPITE the votes of the majority who voted for that wretched individual, NJ schools still are among the tops in the country. His most recent opponent was not backed by her own party–she lost the machine and she lost the votes. He is among the most unpopular governors in NJ, and the public has been against him for quite some time now.
In regard to the state BOE members he dismissed, they have been leading proponents of public education. They have worked closely with professional educators and have been very vocal in opposition to his shenanigans especially in regard to his forcing of PARCC down our throats. This move was purely political.
Tops in the country by what gauge?
NAEP scores?
If that is indeed the gauge, I would call it dubious at best.
But if there is some other gauge, I am all ears.
On NAEP, NUMBER 1 is Mass. tied for number 2: NJ and Conn.
Please remember that NJ Dem Senator Cory Booker agreed with Christie and he too loved the charter schools. They both worked with the Zuckerman donation for charters there.
Poet,
Which state do you inhabit?
Assuming that most of us reside in the USA, our leadership does not speak well for our collective intelligence.
Perhaps you should adopt a new metric.
Born and Bred in Jersey
I also grew up in NJ and agree that NJ schools are amongst the best in the nation by any number of metrics which I have posted else where. I never voted for Christie. In the last election cycle, the Democrats sabotaged and back stabbed their own candidate, Barbara Buono. To my knowledge, this is unprecedented in NJ history. The top Democrats openly supported Christie over Buono! Really shocking and despicable. Now Christie is totally reviled in NJ even the fools who voted for him.
I have no idea why poet is knocking NJ and bashing NAEP as if it’s so much garbage.
From NJEA web site: New Jersey is 1st in the nation in the average Advanced Placement (AP) score for public school students this year and 1st in the nation in the percentage of Advanced Placement (AP) exams taken by public high school students that result in scores high enough to qualify for college credit. Source: College Board. 2016 AP New Jersey Summary.
New Jersey ranks among the top 5 states in the nation in the percentage of graduating seniors who score high on the literature SAT Literature subject area exam. Source: College Board. 2016 College-Bound Seniors State Profile Report: New Jersey Source: NCES. Projection of Education Statistics to 2023. April.
New Jersey is among the top two states in the nation in the average daily attendance of its public school students. Source: National Education Association. Ranking and Estimates: Rankings of the States 2015 and Estimates of School Statistics 2016. May,.
New Jersey is 1st in the nation in the average Advanced Placement (AP) score for public school students this year and 1st in the nation in the percentage of Advanced Placement (AP) exams taken by public high school students that result in scores high enough to qualify for college credit. Source: College Board. 2016 AP New Jersey Summary.
Even Christie can’t fool the majoirty of voters forever. Maybe Abe Lincoln was right.
“After the start of his second term as governor, Christie’s standing was damaged by the Fort Lee lane closure scandal.[2][3][4][5][6] Since then, he has ranked among the least popular governors in the United States; for example, a September 2016 poll found that he was the third least popular governor in the country, with an approval rating of 29%.[7] By January 2017, this had slipped to just 17%.[8][9]”
MORE on “You (Christie) can’t fool all of the people all of the time”
In June 1017, a Quinnipiac poll of New Jersey voters found that 15% approved of Christie, and 81% disapproved. This was the lowest recorded approval rating of a New Jersey governor in history, and the lowest approval rating found by Quinnipiac for any governor in any state in more than two decades.[260] Christie said that he did not care about approval ratings because he was not running for office.[261]
From the NJEA site: New Jersey ranks among the top 3 states in Education Week’s “Chance for Success Index,” which measures a state’s ability to give its children the greatest chance for success and shows that it is doing more in preparing young people for the challenges they will face as adults. Source: Education Week. Quality Quality Counts 2017: Building on ESSA’s K-12 Foundation. January.
New Jersey public schools rank among the top 2 in the nation in academic achievement.. Source: Education Week. Quality Quality Counts 2017: Building on ESSA’s K-12 Foundation. January.
New Jersey is one of the top two states in the nation in the percentage of 3 and 4 year olds who are enrolled in preschool. Source: Education Week. Quality Quality Counts 2017: Building on ESSA’s K-12 Foundation. January.
New Jersey ranks among the top 5 states in the nation in the percent of graduating seniors who score high on the U.S. and World History SAT subject area exams. Source: College Board. 2016 College-Bound Seniors State Profile Report: New Jersey. Source: NCES. Projection of Education Statistics to 2023. April.
New Jersey ranks #1 in the “Education Dimension” of the latest Opportunity Index, which rates access to educational opportunities based on birth location. Source: Opportunity Nation & Measure of America. Opportunity Index: Summary of Findings for States and Counties.
New Jersey, public school students score higher than private school students on their AP exam. Source: College Board. 2016 AP New Jersey Summary.
I could go on.
The people of New Jersey deserve better than Chris Christie. People, still reeling from the 2008 meltdown, voted Christie in because he promised them tax relief. New Jersey is the state that pays the most in taxes and gets the least return on those taxes. I don’t think people intended to destroy their excellent public schools. What they got from Christie was a vindictive, dirty dealing bully. After his reign of terror, I hope there is a full, independent investigation into his dealings as I believe he is another untrustworthy kleptocrat.
There is plenty of animus toward public school teachers in NJ. I have heard people going off in Starbucks. On nj.com, one finds numerous comments posted against teachers. The general public has no idea what stresses teachers endure. The other day, I was frightened that one of my kindergarteners had left my area without permission. He turned up under the table. Although, he thought it was funny, I did not. In one minute, impressionable young people can make ill advised decisions, which can wreak havoc on the adults to be held responsible.
Lock him up!
On Bridgegate, he let his assistant Bridget Kelly (?) go to jail and take the fall for him. Single mother of four young children.
Lock him up!
The governor has fed this animus. When asked whom he would like to punch in the face, he said,”The the head of the teachers union.” Christie has repeatedly lied to the union and is partly responsible for the pension crisis. He did not make the pension payments as he promised. Not too many people will miss him.
Whitman and her successors did not make sufficient payments. Pension is scheduled to go bust in eight years. It is the most inadequately funded public pension in US.
Yes, Abigail Shure. Whitman egregiously balanced her budget (during GOOD economic yrs) by cutting pension payin 96%. Then came dot.com bust & no pension pmts at all by the string of PT govrs 2001-04. Corzine & Christie have made some dents, & now we’re hanging on by fingernails.
Retired teacher, correct, overburdened NJ taxpayers voted Republican in deep recession year against tax-raising Corzine. They were also voting against Corzine as a wealthy ex-Goldman-Sachs CEO who personally underwrote the most expensive Sen campaign in history & refused to release tax records or liquidate G-S holdings, during a time when casino bankers were seen as having caused the fin crisis & were being bailed out by his successor as G-S CEO. Meanwhile candidate Christie had had a notably anti-corruption run as US Atty.
So does this mean that the next Governor can seek the dismissal of their replacements or is this a fixed term that has expired.
From what I read, it is a six-year fixed term that has expired
Good GRIEF. Now this is totally SICK.