Gov. Christie tells Trenton teens teachers union is to blame for lack of school supplies, aid cuts
Published: Friday, November 05, 2010, 8:45 PM Updated: Saturday, November 06, 2010, 8:29 AM
Gov. Chris Christie answers a question during a question and answer session with the Governor at the Boys & Girls Club of Trenton & Mercer County in Trenton.TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie took his fight with the state’s largest teachers union directly to the kids today, telling a room full of Trenton students their schools were short on supplies because of greedy teachers union officials — not state aid cuts.
"There’s a lot of really great teachers in the state," said Christie. "But their union cares more about how much they get paid than they care about how well you learn."
A spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association said the remark was ironic considering the governor’s April statement that teachers were using students as "drug mules" by discussing state aid cuts with them.
"The governor apparently has a double standard, because he claimed that teachers were using kids as drug mules," said NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer. "Now he’s speaking directly to children about matters political."
Christie spoke to about 100 teens at a Trenton Boys & Girls Club, which he visited in 2009 and promised to return to after the election. The kids asked pointed questions, most often about the