By Amanda Carey - The Daily Caller
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie gave the keynote speech at the Jeb Bush Excel in Education Annual Summit in Washington D.C. Tuesday night. In his 50-minute speech on education reform one of Christies most passionate topics the governor
left no room to question how he feels about teachers unions most specifically the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA).
In short: he doesnt like them.
Hosted by the Foundation for Excellence in Education the audience was comprised of a wide range of VIPs in the education world state lawmakers former Florida Republican Governor Jeb Bush and Bob Bowdon director of The Cartel" to name a few.
As always Christie was in his usual form.
I am often called impatient by folks in my state and I plead guilty. I plead guilty to impatience" said Christie when talking about his now infamous fights with the NJEA. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue" he continued before calling education reform the seminal civil rights issue of our time."
Ive said to those folks in the Democrat Party that represent some of the most ill-served children in our state…that theyre ignoring the issue. Its unacceptable."
But while Christie had plenty to say to bad teachers and corrupt lawmakers he reserved his finest moments for talking about the NJEA telling the audience that it is time to do what the teachers unions say they do everyday put the children first."
On the current struggle with the NJEA over superintendent pay caps Christie had this to say: This conspiracy among superintendents is extraordinary. And youre watching it play out in New Jersey right now because weve imposed a cap on superintendent pay. To be the super of the schools thats a hard job they say…but Ill tell you this its no harder than my job. And I make $175000 a year. So I said How bout this? You dont make any more than me."
When talking about the financial wealth of the NJEA Christie said But what strikes you when you go down State Street as a new governor is that there are all these small buildings except for two. The State House and right across the street the palace built by the NJEA."
And I mean a palace" Christie went on built with $130 million in dues they collect a year. $130 million in dues a year. So you say to yourself Well with $130 million dues a year they must contribute to their members salaries."
No" said Christie.
They must be contributing to their members pensions" Christie said before indicating that wasnt the case.
$130 million a year all right theyre kicking it for their members health benefits" he continued.
Again Christie said No."
He went on to say that the NJEA collects $730 in mandatory dues per member per year. The fee is deducted from teachers paychecks by the state of New Jersey then wire transferred directly to the NJEA. Because we want to make this as convenient as possible" Christie said with a smirk.
