New Jersey Education Association president: 'Our governor is a liar'
By Star-Ledger Guest Columnist
May 02, 2010, 6:55AM
Barbara Keshishian, president of the New Jersey Education AssociationBy Barbara KeshishianNew Jersey’s teachers and school employees have come to an alarming, yet obvious conclusion.
Our governor — and there is no delicate way to put it — is a liar.
In a court of law, you stand convicted if the evidence points to your guilt “beyond all reasonable doubt.” So it is with our governor’s relationship with the truth.
The final straw came the day after 15,000 New Jersey students walked out to protest the governor’s budget cuts. Despite news reports proving the walkout was organized by students on Facebook, and despite NJEA statements urging students to stay in school and conduct protests during non-school hours, Chris Christie told a whopper.
Without offering any evidence, he said: “There were many factions across New Jersey led by the teachers union who were encouraging this.”
This was nothing new to pundits and political observers who have watched the governor’s obsession with punishing NJEA metastasize into an unprecedented attack on public education. From the day he took office, Christie has attacked public education, NJEA, our members and even our students in a series of often incredible assaults. Every day, I hear from teachers who cannot believe the vitriol and mean-spiritedness of this governor as he launches yet another broadside against the people who educate New Jersey’s children.
Teachers and school employees are justifiably outraged. Our public schools are, by any measure, at or near the top of all public schools in America. Yet Christie cut school aid by $475 million last January, and he wants another $1 billion in cuts this September. He has already signed legislation that cuts pension and health benefits for all future school employees and eliminates them entirely for many part-timers. Now he is proposing legislation that could force thousands of talented teachers to retire earlier than planned or lose a major portion of their pensions.
His context for these actions is to blame teachers and the NJEA for most of what is wrong in New Jersey. While NJEA and its members find that patently unfair — and often absurd — we are outraged at the misinformation campaign the governor has conducted along the way.
You be the judge:
• During the campaign, candidate Christie, in “An Open Letter to the
N.J. school board elections: Don't reverse gains on education funding
By Star-Ledger Guest Columnist
April 25, 2010, 5:38AM
By Barbara Buono/ Star-Ledger Guest Columnist Tuesday’s record turnout for school budget elections was a watershed moment, with voters across the state rejecting an astounding 58 percent of school budgets. The cries for relief from voters who have been overburdened by perpetually escalating property taxes were exacerbated this year by dramatic cuts in state school aid. With the... Full story »
New Jersey voters should look at more than teacher salaries before deciding on school budgets
By NJ Voices Guest Blogger/For NJ.com
April 18, 2010, 7:00AM
By Jim O’Neill/Star-Ledger guest columnist There is a social compact that obliges every generation to help the next. A quality education is a critical component of that compact. If ever there was a year that responsible adults should vote yes on the school budget, it is 2010. Further cuts cannot be sustained and fairness dictates that students should not... Full story »
Gov. Chris Christie: Vote against school budgets that don't include shared sacrifice
By NJ Voices Guest Blogger/For NJ.com
April 18, 2010, 6:55AM
If your teachers union has taken the freeze and your school board had budgeted responsibly, support them with your vote. Vote against budgets that don't include shared sacrifice. Full story »
A N.J. teacher's argument against merit pay
By NJ Voices Guest Blogger/For NJ.com
April 02, 2010, 1:29PM
By Donna Testa/ NJ Voices Guest Blogger How much pay would I merit if I broke up a fight between two girls bent on scratching their opponent’s eyes out? Would I get extra money if I actually got injured? Can I have extra money to compensate for every parent who doesn’t come to Back-to-School Night or respond to my request for a conference? What is the going rate for a college recommendation these days? Full story »
On education, Gov. Chris Christie deserves an "F"
By NJ Voices Guest Blogger/For NJ.com
March 26, 2010, 5:27AM
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... Full story »
Gov. Chris Christie's teacher bashing: A veteran N.J. educator responds
By NJ Voices Guest Blogger/For NJ.com
March 24, 2010, 1:37PM
By Jason E. Jones/ NJ Voices Guest Blogger I have been an elementary teacher for 14 years. In light of Gov. Chris Christie’s attack on unions and the people who belong to them, I felt the need to refute some of the “points” that he’s made in recent weeks-- points that he made either directly, or which are the results of his smear campaign on public education. If only Christie would sit down, talk, and negotiate instead of dictating, maybe some compromises could be reached. I know that we live in the Soprano state, but being bullied and lied to by elected officials is not conducive to reaching a middle ground. Full story »