Christie may clash with teachers unions
Monday, November 9th, 2009
By: Fit Staff
mcampbell@whyy.org
By Phil Gregory
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New Jersey Governor-elect Chris Christie says improving the quality of the state's schools is one of his top priorities. But he'll likely face push-back from the teachers union – over exactly how he plans to do this.
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New Jersey Education Association spokesman Steve Baker says the union does have some concerns.
Baker: Scaling back the commitment to pre-K education, pre-school education, we think would be a real mistake. If he follows through on what he talked about in the campaign and scales that back, we're going to continue to fight for that and push for that.
Christie has said he wants to eliminate the waiting list for charter schools and would appoint an Education Commissioner whose priority will be approving high quality charter school applications. Baker says while the union has never been opposed to charter schools, it's wise to proceed cautiously to maintain high standards.
