NJ's Bully Governor Will Not Be "Bullied:" Declares War on Teachers
New Jersey consistently ranks among the top performing state education systems in the U. S. in terms of student performance, and it has a very strong union. Maybe it is just coincidence, or maybe it has something to do with the morale, self-efficacy, and performance of teachers who have basic human needs met, such as health insurance, retirement plans, and a decent living wage. Whatever the connection, none of it seems to matter to the corpulent Governor Christie, who appears to have gone on an eating binge since his election as he plans war against the NJEA.
Having just announced slashes of over $800 million to the state education budget as a way to force concessions from the teachers (see video), Governor Christie has left untouched the budget lines for the cheap non-union charter chain gangs that provide an increasing amount of the penal pedagogy used in containing and segregating children of the urban poor:
Graduating from college is a great feeling. Not so great: being saddled with $23,200 in student loans, the average debt owed by graduates of the class of 2008, according to the Project on Student Debt.
Reforming the for-profit student loan system, which allows finance giants like Virginia-based Sallie Mae to make virtually risk-free returns thanks to government subsidies, was a top priority of President Obama. His idea, supported by most Democrats, was to take out the middle-man: Instead of subsidizing private lenders, the feds would completely take over origination of student loans.
The result: The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which the Office of Management and Budget estimated would save over $80 billion over 10 years (critics point out the number is inflated, because it didn't include money lost from defaults; but that's neither here nor there, because the government currently absorbs private losses anyway). Savings would be plowed back into Pell Grants -- much easier on students on the long-term -- and other higher education initiatives.
But as The New York Times writes today, this week six senate Democrats have threatened to derail the Act, writing in a letter to senate majority leader Harry Reid that "provisions of contemplated student lending reform that could put jobs at risk."
Having just announced slashes of over $800 million to the state education budget as a way to force concessions from the teachers (see video), Governor Christie has left untouched the budget lines for the cheap non-union charter chain gangs that provide an increasing amount of the penal pedagogy used in containing and segregating children of the urban poor:
In his address to the annual conference of the New Jersey Charter Schools Association in Long Branch, Christie said he largely left the funding for charter schools untouched when he introduced his controversial budget on Tuesday.
"We will do many good things for charters schools. In fact, I’ve held charter schools harmless in this budget because you already pay enough,’’ he said, "There are going to be more charter schools a year from now than there are today."
Who are the 6 Democratic senators poised to kill student loan reform?
Reforming the for-profit student loan system, which allows finance giants like Virginia-based Sallie Mae to make virtually risk-free returns thanks to government subsidies, was a top priority of President Obama. His idea, supported by most Democrats, was to take out the middle-man: Instead of subsidizing private lenders, the feds would completely take over origination of student loans.
The result: The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which the Office of Management and Budget estimated would save over $80 billion over 10 years (critics point out the number is inflated, because it didn't include money lost from defaults; but that's neither here nor there, because the government currently absorbs private losses anyway). Savings would be plowed back into Pell Grants -- much easier on students on the long-term -- and other higher education initiatives.
But as The New York Times writes today, this week six senate Democrats have threatened to derail the Act, writing in a letter to senate majority leader Harry Reid that "provisions of contemplated student lending reform that could put jobs at risk."