Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Chris Christie vs. NJEA; Move N.J.'s elections; Gay marriage isn't a right | Letters to The Star-Ledger - NJ.com

Chris Christie vs. NJEA; Move N.J.'s elections; Gay marriage isn't a right | Letters to The Star-Ledger - NJ.com:


"I applaud Gov.-elect Chris Christie’s intention, in theory, to institute merit pay for public school teachers as well as the desire to create more charter schools ('With NJEA, Christie comes out swinging,' Jan 14). He is correct that the kids and the parents are the customers here, and only by introducing competition and performance reviews will we see individual teachers and schools start to service the customer better.

I only wish his idea didn’t come with federal strings attached to the money. I’d prefer to see this done on a state-by-state basis, because anything having to do with a Washington bureaucrat will not be done in the best interest of our kids. I went to public schools in the 1960s and ‘70s when there was no Cabinet-level Department of Education, and we probably got a better overall education back then."