My position regarding the teachers’ union has been the same from the time I got into the race until today. And that is when they are willing to come forward and become participants in meaningful reform that will improve especially urban educational opportunities for our kids, I will sit at the table with them any time. If they want to continue to pass on to me warmed-over protections of a failed status quo, they can continue to stand outside my office and look in the window.
That’s Gov. Christie’s comment yesterday at Rider University (here and here), where he was joined by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. Juxtapose this with the NJ DOE’s far more conciliatory approach towards NJEA’s leadership, e.g. Deputy Commissioner Andy Smarick’s comment regarding our new pilot program for tying teacher evaluations to student growth: “Our purpose was to do this with teachers, not to them. We wanted this to be a great partnership.”
It’s not a bad strategy. Works on “Law and Order.”
