On education, Gov. Chris Christie deserves an "F"
By Star-Ledger Guest Columnist
March 26, 2010, 5:27AM
Hundreds of teachers from picketed state Sen. Bob Gordon's office in Fair Lawn last week in protest of Gov. Chris Christie's proposed school budget changes.
By Jodi-Marie Masley/ Star-Ledger Guest Columnist
The unveiling of Gov. Chris Christie’s budget makes clear what so many teachers already knew: Behind all the teacher-bashing rhetoric lies a campaign to degrade the quality of public education in New Jersey.
New Jersey has been known nationwide for its stalwart schools. If Christie’s budget is allowed to pass, that will soon be a distant memory. His budget represents an outrageous attack from a man whose children are in private school and who has a bizarre vendetta against public schools.
Our school district, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional, is facing a 55-percent reduction in state aid for next year, in addition to what has already been cut from the current year. We simply cannot sustain that level of damage to the education we are obligated to provide our youth.
Christie’s cuts are not trimming off fat. They were already hitting the meat and bone of the public education system, and now they have gouged the marrow. His cuts are resulting in massive layoffs of teachers, causing the student-teacher ratio to rise dramatically. It is well known in education that the more class sizes grow, the less education can take place for each individual student. In this situation, the most self-sufficient will get by, but struggling students will be left behind. Teachers will be classroom