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| Governor Chris Christie Photo By Delonte Harrod |
By: TNNJ Writer Delonte Harrod
On May 20, Governor Chris Christie, “the new kid on the block” gave a 25 minute speech at Princeton University’s McCosh Hall. The event was scheduled to start on time at 5:45, however Christie and some of his administration arrived late. [K1] McCosh Hall was filled neither with reporters, nor photographers though they were present. The majority of the audience were college students, parents, and maybe some teachers. This, in my opinion, set the context for the speech that Christie gave.
Because of the make-up of the audience, at times the speech seemed like we were in a business meeting. Christie sounded like he was trying to convince the audience that what he was doing was the right thing to do. Sitting, there I imagined that we were some board members of a big corporation; in this case that big corporation is the state of New Jersey. We are not all rich, but each individual has a share in the New Jersey stock. Christie is our CEO, and he came to explain to us what the vision was and is, to make sense of what seems to be a mess, and to convince us at some level that he is doing the right thing the hard way!
Toward the beginning of his speech Christie contextualized his defense by telling a metaphor. Christie likened his situation to going to a dinner with all the past governors,they are all sitting around eating, having a merry time. Suddenly, they all get up and leave the table, sticking him with the bill! By this he implied that the situation our beloved corporation has found itself in is a result of past governors spending and spending without a conscious. At one point Christie mentioned that he had a conversation with former Governor of New Jersey Tom Kean about the amount of money he spent during his time in office. Christie politely joked, that “Tom Kean answered in typical Tom Kean fashion”, saying that Kean replied,“ the people wanted me to spend the money.”
The crowd laughed, and Christie proceeded on to his speech. He gave an explanation of why he made the cuts that he made. At this point he painted himself in light of former Governor Brendan Thomas Byrne, who was sitting in the front row with his wife. Christie praised Byrne for his sternness as a governor in the “Soprano State.” Christie said during Byrne’s time in office he made a statement that he cannot be bought, correlating this statement to political corruption that plagues the state of New Jersey. Christie also praised Byrne for making hard financial decisions for the state. Christie places himself right alongside Byrne; like Byrne he has had to make some “unpopular” decisions that not everyone is going to be happy with.
Christie also mentioned that they are facing some problems. He mentioned that they have had an increase in private sector jobs, yet a decrease in public sector jobs. Because of the loss of public sector jobs, Christie says this is why the unemployment rate in New Jersey is still high. The results of the decline in public sector jobs, is that many are living in the in-between stages. Those who have lost their jobs have to rethink their careers; some are going back to college, some are looking for jobs, not to mention those who are undereducated and therefore cannot find work. In this Christie sounded like Obama when his administration said that the economy is getting better. Obama was saying this because jobs were being offered. My question for Obama is the same for Christie, who qualifies for these jobs?
After Christie’s address there was time for questioning. The questioning was limited to Princeton University students only. The press was not allowed to ask questions. There arose a question from the audience about Christie’s reform on education. Christie answered with passion going from one who was defending his decision-making as governor to one being on the defensive. He answered with swiftness, laying out his plan for education reform and why. In Christie’s view he is up against a system that “does not benefit students,” and one the neither “rewards teachers nor holds them accountable.” His reform consists of putting into place a system that holds teachers accountable by judging them on, as he put it, teacher practice and performance.
“I understand that teaching is still a craft,” said Christie.
Christie, as he so clearly stated, will evaluate if teachers are “team players” and if they are “contributing to the overall welfare of the school” “We can no longer evaluate teachers based on test performance” Christie said. Even though he mentioned later that test scores would still be a contributing factor to the evaluation process. He also mentioned that compensation for teachers in his reform will be different. According to Christie, his plan is better because if a teacher is doing poorly then they are not eligible for tenure. They would have to have three approved good years according to the evaluation process in order to receive tenure.
In addition, a teacher would have to maintain that level of performance in order to keep tenure. If according to Christie, that teacher somehow has a bad year in performing as a teacher, they could possibly lose tenure. However, tenure would be still available to the individual(s) if they have three great consecutive years again.
“People say they are afraid because this reform will cause competition among teachers.” Christie admits that his reform of the education system does cause competition amongst the teachers. He likens this reform system to major corporations or businesses that pay their employees based on performance and they are still able to work together for a common goal. In Gov. Christie’s mind we are able to reward teachers while at the same time holding them accountable; creating competition while maintaining a healthy work environment.
While Christie was addressing the questions regarding education he began to throw his own story into the mix. He talked about how he grew up in Newark, New Jersey. His parents borrowed $2,000 from his grandparents to buy a house in Livingston, New Jersey. “I am convinced, that if my parents had not borrowed that money I would not be standing here today as Governor of New Jersey.” Christie made the claim that the urban schools in Newark were, and continue to be, so bad that they would have hindered him from fulfilling his aspirations, “I am convinced of that,” he said.
After this very long answer to this very short question the crowd clapped. But I don’t know if they were applauding the passion that came along with the answer or due to agreement to his reform. Here is my question: it was noted that Christie gave a speech at Harvard University, and then yesterday at Princeton. He gave a soothing briefing to us, the “shareholders,” in the state of New Jersey, of which he is the CEO. My question is then, why hasn’t he gone to the urban areas to provide these same soothing words that were afforded to us? Those people are feeling the pinch, the poor are getting poorer and one can argue there is a small, albeit rare, group of middle class people in the inner city. I guess I will never know because I would have to be a Princeton University Student in order to ask those questions.
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