N.J. Gov. Christie's school budget cuts reflect waning support of public education, unions
By Bob Braun/Star-Ledger Columnist
March 18, 2010, 5:00AM
Gov. Chris Christie at the Statehouse in Trenton in this March 2010 file photo.The Republican governor faced the Legislature to warn of a crisis. Quick reform was needed. The issue was money for education. Salaries and benefits paid to teachers. Collective bargaining obstructed change, he warned, so new laws were needed.
Sound familiar? But — wait.
In 1984, lawmakers — despite misgivings and resistance from the New Jersey Education Association — gave Tom Kean what he wanted: A whopping, statewide increase in starting salaries for public school teachers.
How things have changed. The other day, another Republican governor — whose election was supported by Kean — blamed much of the fiscal crisis on money spent on teachers. The problems, Chris Christie insisted,