Opinion

Chris Christie’s teaching moment

Let’s see if we’ve got this straight.

Chris Christie is headed back to his campaign bus when a member of a group that calls itself “the BadAss Teachers Association” confronts him. The teacher, Melissa Tomlinson, asks him why he calls New Jersey public schools “failure factories.” Leave aside that Christie does not call all New Jersey public schools “failure factories” — it’s a term he uses for rotten, inner-city schools where children aren’t learning.

In any case, the two get into it on education spending. An unflattering photo of the governor waving his finger is snapped. The teacher tells a reporter she was left “shaking.” Hesto presto, “Christie, the bully” becomes a national news story, and the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, piles on with a letter calling on the governor to “open up a dialogue with teachers around New Jersey.”

This is rich. Tomlinson herself says “there is never enough money spent on education.” That doesn’t seem to leave room for dialogue. In fact, people like her complain about Christie’s “cuts” (forced by the deficit he inherited when he took office) even though he has since increased overall education spending to record levels.

While we’re on the subject of spending, let’s remember the millions the teachers unions have spent trying to defeat Christie, to prevent charters and to stop a reform requiring teachers to begin picking up a mere 1.5 percent of their health-care costs. Let’s also not forget the teachers union leader who once e-mailed a mock prayer calling for Christie’s death.

And these are the people who tell us the governor’s not open to dialogue?