Gov. Christie attacks teachers' unions in front of a roomful of students.

[madfloridian]

When I read this I cringed. I have a feeling that Florida's new governor will be acting like this as well. They will get away with it because teachers' unions are a target of the DOE head, Arne Duncan. He is setting the atmosphere for this hostility toward public school teachers and their unions.

Gov. Christie tells Trenton teens teachers union is to blame for lack of school supplies, aid cuts


Martin Griff/The Times of TrentonGov. 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."

I found the article from April in which he really does accuse the teachers of using the students like "drug mules."

Gov. Chris Christie accuses N.J. teachers' union of 'using students like drug mules in school elections

A day ahead of school budget elections statewide, Gov. Chris Christie today escalated his war of words with the state teachers' union, accusing union representatives of "using the students like drug mules" to carry information about whether their parents planned to vote.

Christie cited what he called a "mandatory" homework assignment instructing children in the Monroe Township School District to interview their parents about whether and why they would vote on Tuesday.

"These are the typical kind of scare tactics that they involve themselves in," Christie said about the 200,000-member New Jersey Education Association, which has been critical of his proposed $820 million cut in school aid. "Scaring students in the classroom, scaring parents with the notes home in the bookbags, and the mandatory 'Project Democracy Homework' asking your parents about what they're going to do in the school board election, and reporting back to your teachers union representatives, using the students like drug mules to carry information back to the classroom, is reprehensible."

Steve Wollmer, a spokesman for the NJEA, said a third-grade teacher in Monroe distributed the homework as part of a civics lesson on voter participation, and it had nothing to do with how parents would vote.

It is sad day when a governor can go in front of a class of students and bash the teachers and their unions. It's worse day when he can claim that teachers are using them as drug mules by having unit of teaching on voting.

But that new day is here now, and it seems it is here to stay.

[eleny]

1. Did you ever hear Mike Malloy's prediction for people like Christie?

When he goes to hell, the devil will use his head for a soccer ball.

[madfloridian]

2. Had not heard that.

I like Malloy. :hi:

[50sBaby]

44. Gov. Christie

I think somebody already used his head for a soccer ball. He doesn't seem to be thinking.

[eleny]

51. That hits the nail on the head and welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Tansy_Gold]

3. O M F G

My son-in-law is a junior high history/social studies teacher in New Jersey as well as an active and (sometimes too) outspoken Dem.


Tansy Gold, who thought she felt the aftershocks all the way in AZ from that earthquake in Morris County, NJ. . . . . .

[bluestateguy]

4. I see where he is throwing his weight around to brainwash kids

nt

[madfloridian]

33. Yep, They are a captive audience.

[msongs]

5. gotta ditch the teacher union so corporations can hijack and strip mine public schools nt

[madfloridian]

15. Yes, that is true.

Easier to do that without the unions.

[EFerrari]

6. Disgusting. n/t

[Frances]

7. The DOE head could be a cat

and the Republicans would be against the teachers' unions

[chill_wind]

8. Just totally vile! n/t

[madfloridian]

12. Yep, vile is a good word.

;(

[Zephie]

9. The man is a slimeball

That is all. :argh:

[roody]

10. I hope a kid asked him how much his salary is,

and compared that to a teacher's salary.

[Starry Messenger]

11. "Drug mules"

That's going to take some time to absorb. Whoa.

[madfloridian]

28. That was awful.

I can't believe he said that.

[Hannah Bell]

13. christie is a bully. he'd make a good storm trooper.

[madfloridian]

14. He is acting like a bully.

It's awful.

[JCMach1]

16. That's why he's probably running in 2012

Media darling of the moment now that they have jilted Jindal.

[lib_wit_it]

17. Bullies are really popular with the Republicans. How sad.

[madfloridian]

19. Our Dems are pretty much bullies toward public school teachers as well.

Not in other areas, we can be pretty much wimpy in most areas. But our party is on fire against teachers in public schools.

[NJmaverick]

18. This is what happens when you let the GOP win

people need to do all they can to help the Democrats win

[Goblinmonger]

22. And what happens when you appoint Duncan head of the DOE n/t

[madfloridian]

20. Denies a prez run in 2012

Thanks goodness for little favors. He really must be popular??

http://www.thestatecolumn.com/articles/2010/11/05/christie_run_president_7433.php

[fascisthunter]

21. brainwashing students to mistrust teachers and their unions... sick!

[Brickbat]

23. This is poison.

[struggle4progress]

24. Christie rakes in nearly 3X as much as the average teacher

If he thinks teachers are paid too much for what they do, he's certainly paid too much to wander around badmouthing people who actually work for a living

[old mark]

25. Christie IS the model for the NEW GOP governors...he was here in PA to

support Corbett, our new GOP governor elect, who seems to have plans to emulate Christie as much as possible...The GOP also won nearly complete control of both houses of the PA state legislature as well as one of our US senate seats and many Representative seats.

I believe we are going to have a disaster here, and that there will be many more all around the country if they follow Christie's lead...


mark

[madfloridian]

26. And we have Rick Scott. He has disdain for teachers for sure.

I think you are very right. He's the model for bully governors.

[MissB]

30. He came to Oregon to campaign for the GOP gubernatorial candidate.

He even brought along Miss. Gov. Barbour. The Republican candidate (a former NBA basketball player who lost, btw, to a former two-term Democratic Gov) drew all of 400 people to that rally. On a weekend. In Portland.

Ha. He got 28% of the vote in Portland. Christie wouldn't make it into office here.

[defendandprotect]

79. Is PA also still voting on computers ... or do you have something better ... and ...

do you feel confident in the outcome of the elections as to their legitimacy?


:)

[Catshrink]

27. Well that was inappropriate.

He needs to keep the adult arguments out of the classroom. Typical repug with poor boundaries.

[madfloridian]

29. Looks like the GOP considers him their new hero.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/30/AR2010103005423.html

[butterfly77]

52. Scarborough and Msnbc..

do too they hype him up every morning.

[jpak]

31. Teachers have unions to protect them from assholes like Christie

yup

[DCKit]

32. Children know when they're being lied to, and they don't like angry, violent people.

He should'a stuck with the easy to manipulate teahadists.

[cynatnite]

34. Christie is a fucking douche. I've never liked him. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

35. What an asshole

[LWolf]

36. Drug mules. How precious.

The governor wages a public war specifically on teachers and teachers' unions. How far will the voters in New Jersey allow him to escalate his war?

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Dreamer Tatum]

45. Alerted

[moonbatmax]

38. Kids, here's your next assignment:

When you go home tonight, ask your mommy and daddy how much money they each make, and write it down.

Then, go on the internet, and look up the salary of the Governor of Florida.
I'll be showing you how to do that in class today.

Then, when you bring all three figures in to class tomorrow,
I will write my salary on the board for you to compare.



Well, Hey, why should Christie have all the fun?
Seriously, why does ANYONE stick with teaching in this society?

[Divine Discontent]

39. surprised the POS didn't tell them they need to confront their teachers about it! seriously, can

the people of that state seek to impeach this disgusting POS???

the citizens of the states that elected these types recently, Ohio and Florida, for example, are going to wake up in a year and realize they really goofed up. The ones that voted against them are gonna be saying, 'from now on, listen to me or don't vote because you're too damned naive and fall for propaganda!"

[Divine Discontent]

40. this post off the NJ paper's website suffices

DBRATT writes ---

So let me get this straight. Our Governor, who makes $175 k per year, whose family income is over a half a million dollars, calls teachers (because that's what the union is made of) greedy. A rich Mendham resident is calling an inner city teacher making a middle class wage money grubbing. Hmmm...

Our Governor, who forced teachers to sacrifice 1.5% of their income while refusing to ask for any sacrifice from those who make over $1 million, is saying that teachers are the ones cheating students.

Our Governor, who refused to go after the mob when he was a prosecutor is comfortable going after teachers, police, and firefighters.

Yeah, this makes sense...

Our Governor is once again showing that logic, reason, and intelligence are not required to be a politician in power.

[perdita9]

41. Republicans have bad manners

and use children like political footballs. Hope you're happy, Jersey, putting this clown into office.

[The Backlash Cometh]

42. Gov. Christie should give up his lunch money and donate it for school supplies,

'cuz he sure could miss a few meals.

[madrchsod]

43. obama-duncan are responsible for this...

and future generations will pay the price.

[LWolf]

46. Yes. And some of us are paying right now. nt

[Karmadillo]

50. Quite a legacy our team is building.

nt

[Tatiana]

65. Yep. This is what happens when Dems take Republican policies and make them their own.

a) They get absolutely no credit from Republicans.
b) They wind up implementing bad policy that is harmful to other citizens.

Every single time.

[boppers]

47. 8th in the nation, $48,734 - $59,213 in Newark

http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=High_School_Teacher/Salary

9th $46,648 - $59,500 in Trenton
11th $43,745 - $61,042 in Jersey City
12th $46,535 - $56,029 in Patterson

Compare to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States

[karynnj]

48. If you looked at cost of living, NJ would be up there as well

The numbers may look great to people from rural states, but the cost of living is high. http://www.trulia.com/home_prices/New_Jersey/

[Catshrink]

53. But to some people, teachers aren't allowed to make a living wage.

[Hannah Bell]

60. if uaw workers make $12/hr, why not teachers?

[boppers]

62. I'll assume that's rhetorical, but I'll answer it literally....

Teachers aren't manual labor, and their work product (an educated student) is infinitely more complex than a simple transport vehicle.

Much of their work is closer to management than labor: decision making, setting priorities, considering outcomes, acting as leadership, and multi-tasking.

[karynnj]

74. Very true - and so different than when I grew up

I was born in 1950 and some of the most respected people in my lower middle class/ middle class community were teachers. In general, they had more education than the average person with kids in school - and most parents absolutely did not want to do anything to challenge the teacher's position of authority in the classroom.

There were some wealthier people - doctors, lawyers, or businessmen, but there were far more who weren't.

My youngest daughter is a junior in an elementary education program in a far poorer red state. It is sad when she speaks of the excellent young teacher whose class she helps in for one of her class having already used her entire budget for copying things - who has used her own money to copy things useful to the class.

In NJ, a far wealthier state, it is wrong that our governor might not be unhappy if that were the situation in our state. He really should look at the REPUBLICAN towns that passed their school budgets even though they id not meet the governor's criterion. In my town, the school - cleverly, I think - included eliminating any subsidy of sports in the cuts. That an threatening to eliminate AP courses (major for getting into top schools and counting in many places as college credit) led to people deciding they really really needed good schools.

[LynneSin]

80. If that's what teachers are making in NJ it's hardly enough to keep yourself afloat in NJ

That state is so fricking overpriced for cost of living.

[MichiganVote]

49. You know, guys acting like are not public servants. He's going to get a teacher killed.

[gauguin57]

54. Governor Douchebag, I presume?

Jesus. What a cretin. Just because he was born stupid (and didn't manage to learn anything along the way) doesn't mean he should take away everyone else's education.

[Bozita]

55. Were permission slips required?

[The Wizard]

56. Make no mistake

Karl Rove is the puppeteer. He told Christie he could make him the next Reagan if he killed the teachers union. The puppet and puppet master are both ethically short-changed.
Everyone please send fried pork rinds to Governor Christie.

[DesertFlower]

57. he looks like a bully.

[dkf]

58. You really should pin it on Obama and not Arne Duncan.

It's not a mistake that Obama picked Duncan after all.

[onehandle]

59. Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot.

And so is this tool.

[Brother Buzz]

61. Chris Christie should stick to auditioning for 'Dancing with the Stars'

[bonnieS]

63. Horrifying

This is outrageous. The teachers' answer is less than enough and the parents should be yelling from the rooftops. This is "Hitler Youth" kind of propagandizing.

Teachers have to go back into the classrooms with these kids (and others Christie gets to--why should he stop?) and be told "Hey, you don't care about us; we have no books and supplies because of you." It undermines the student teacher relationship and the actual education of the students. It reminds me of when Christian German kids were set against their Jewish teachers.

By the way, Christie is my Governor. I went to the largest demonstration ever in Trenton (State capitol) to protest his policies and he blew it off completely. He does not care about the kids, education, the citizenry--naturally, he is being touted for President.

[Chan790]

64. When does that turdbag come up for re-election?

I'd work for his defeat.

I think we should revive the Activist Corps forums and create "working cells" to undertake strategic focused long-term projects. 20 DU activists working focused on one objective and only one objective so that we're not spreading ourselves too thin. Creating 10 such ongoing working groups could legitimately yield 8 good results in targets that are theoretically not-currently-possible, through focused daily attention to the goal.

I volunteer to coordinate one focused on taking down Christie.

[judesedit]

66. Hello, Florida. Do you think you're awake yet? Too late.

The Dumbing Down of America is alive and well and it's full steam ahead. So much for all of those elderly Floridians who were paying attention and would vote????? Way sad for Florida, N.J. and any other state with a republican governor. This country is well on its way down the tubes.

[madfloridian]

69. Republicans have a veto proof majority in both houses of the state now.

The media seems ecstatic.

[and-justice-for-all]

67. lying sea cow! nt

[RBInMaine]

68. This guy is a DISGUSTING FUCKING PIG !

[jp11]

70. Christie is so full of it.

I can remember many teachers who bought supplies or other things for our class/projects etc because they didn't have a budget or kept having it cut by the school board. None of them did it because they were rolling in cash and had nothing better to do with it than spend it on their students.

As far as the drug mule story, how dare teachers encourage children to interact with their parents, or speak about the democratic process in our country what parent wants to actually speak to their child or answer questions?

[Ticonderoga]

71. It should be mandatory that prospective

govenors be able to run a 100 yard dash in under 5 minutes.

[tilsammans]

72. Christie fancies himself as NJ's Rudy Giuliani

Another pompous, self-aggrandizing blowhard. :puke:

[Jakes Progress]

73. Sounds like he might be next in line

for this administration's Ed Secretary. This is one area where the WH will get full the full cooperation of the republicans.

[MikeMc]

75. Mad, it's possible

that the repugs hate public education, hate unions, and hate a brainy union such as the AFT and NEA even more. Just my humble opinion, as the husband of a long-time AFT member (#400, Pittsburgh), and as a member of an AFL-CIO ally (IBEW #5, Pgh). It's the considered opinion of a 'publicly-educated' ally, mind you, so it might not be worth much.

AFT-NEA locals should picket past the 180 day limit, when pushed to the point of finally striking. That's how the unions were founded. Millions of other unions' members will never cross. I know you're retired, but your viewpoint represents government and public employees, union members, and tax-payers who want something for their tax-dollars (like an education for their kids). Get Trumka involved, he's on our side. And we can leave representation of the drug-runners' interests for the repugs to take care of. They're quite good at it.

[sulphurdunn]

76. Classy guy.

People like Christie, Beck, Limbaugh and Hannity always remind of the pigs in George Orwell's "Animal Farm".

[midnight]

77. Govt. is targeting the teachers and the union that stands inbetween them...

I suppose removing this wall is the only thing that stands between the corporations next wave of watered down educational plans..... Hang tough teachers....

[defendandprotect]

78. Christie is GOP aggression unleashed .... and how NJ elected him I don't know ...!!

And how the nation is accepting this Obama/Duncan campaign to make teachers the

enemy and let them destroy more of the unions, I also don't get -- ???


Presumably, no one is challenging what the public is being told to think?