A teacher with mixed feelings
Robert Owens is a public school teacher with mixed feelings about Christie’s budget insofar as it affects teachers. Read on:
Governor Chris Christie has taken on the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA). With education representing 40% of the state budget, reform cannot occur unless education is addressed. Christie is addressing education front and center. NJEA is understandably perturbed.
I support Christie’s moves. He’s frozen funds for districts and told them to spend their nest eggs surplus funds. He had the Legislature pass a series of pension reforms. Now he is battling for wage freezes for teachers. This is another item I support.
The problem I have is with how the governor is framing the issue.
Speaking to the Asbury Park Press editorial board the same day, Christie said a wage freeze and contribution of 1.5 percent of salaries toward health benefits would save taxpayers $800 million and nearly make up for all the state’s cuts in school aid. If it were “all about the kids,” you’d think the NJEA would support that idea, as it would keep more teachers in the schools and help keep taxes down during these troubling economic times.
Christie is trying to guilt teachers into opening their contracts in order to preserve jobs.
