Protesters slam Christie policies at Statehouse rally

 Protesters rally outside the New Jersey State House in Trenotn to call attention to budgetary priorities they say are out of kilter. (Phil Gregory/WHYY)

Protesters rally outside the New Jersey State House in Trenotn to call attention to budgetary priorities they say are out of kilter. (Phil Gregory/WHYY)

A small, but vocal, group of demonstrators rallied outside the New Jersey Statehouse today to protest the policies of Gov. Chris Christie.

 

 

Trina Scordo, executive director of New Jersey Communities United, said the governor puts the needs of Wall Street ahead of the people of New Jersey.

  • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

“Public schools continue to be taken over by charters and private money is funneled to private charter schools as opposed to making sure that public schools are solvent,” Scordo said. “He also just cut a sweetheart deal with Exxon that puts certainly the needs of Exxon ahead of the needs of those communities that were damaged by that deal.”

Protesters from Camden and Newark say state-appointed public schools superintendents are not listening to residents’ concerns.

Moneke Ragsdale, the co-founder of Save Camden Public Schools, is upset with the way the Christie administration has dealt with residents’ concerns about public schools.

“He had privatization. He appointed people who don’t listen to us,” Ragsdale said. “So we wanted to send him that message, we are the people and he’s elected by us, he’s supposed to work for us.”

The event in Trenton was part of demonstrations held across the nation to question government budget priorities.

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal