New Jersey currently ranks fourth among the states in student achievement. Chris Christie is looking to change this. During this economic crisis, Governor Christie is looking for an enemy, and he found a vulnerable one in New Jersey’s public school teachers. Most school districts, regardless of their demographic, are feeling the sting of these cuts.
The Governor has not only drastically slashed state funds for public education ($475 million this year and a proposed $1 billion next year), he has managed to take advantage of the current partisan divide in America and has turned middle class New Jersey tax payers against New Jersey’s public school teachers. He has made the claim that New Jersey’s public schools are failing New Jersey’s students. He has made the claim the teachers and their unions are the core reasons for New Jersey high property taxes and the deep education cuts, and the worst thing about it is that New Jersey’s taxpayers are buying it. Comments are spackled all over the websites for New Jersey’s newspaper’s websites stating teachers are "greedy" or "money hungry." I am sure if you surveyed all of the teachers in New Jersey on the reasons they chose public education for a career, they would say "because of the $40k starting salary" or "I spent 6 years in school to earn my masters degree in order to make $68k a year in 20 years." The irony is that by slashing state educational funding, property taxes will sky rocket. Governor Christie called this "shared sacrifice," however; he conveniently allowed the $1 billion corporate tax as well as the $1 billion tax on the wealthiest in New Jersey to expire.
The governor called high school students protesting in the streets outside of their schools "pawns of the teachers’ union." Currently, Governor Christie has made partially restoring funding to schools contingent onschool districts negating collective bargaining agreements and creating a wage freeze. Most uninformed voters hear this and draw the conclusion, yeah, I haven’t gotten a raise in years, why should our teachers?" While I empathize with their frustration with their stagnant wages, the blame for the current economic situation is at the feet of New Jersey’s teachers. New Jersey’s teachers did not feel the economic boom of the late 1990’s. They did not see the bonuses, the overtime, or extreme return on investment. Why should our educators (and other New Jersey public employees) be responsible to fund the budget shortfalls?
In this time of crisis, New Jersey’s educators and those who value a vibrant, diverse, and robust public education are fighting for and on behalf New Jersey’s students. Outside of various groups showing up on various social networking sites, there are multiple protests scheduled from now until late May. New Jersey’s taxpayers will also go to the polls on April 20th to vote on their districts’ proposed budgets. Most budgets, due to the dramatic cuts in funding include tax increases as well as slashes in staffing and valuable programs. It is estimated that 40,000 public employees, including educators could lose their jobs as a result of these cuts. It is imperative that these budgets pass. The results of a "no" vote will ultimately lead to the implementation of school vouchers program and the death of public education in New Jersey.