Chris Christie in Forbes Magazine

On Education: Supports both charter schools and vouchers

He was met outside by hundreds of teachers in red shirts from around the state who gathered for a "truth to power" rally. Their handmade signs read "Christie: fat chance" and "Liar, liar, extra-large pants on fire." I know a lot of New Jersey teachers and I have yet to meet one who has anything nice to say about Christie, whom they see as denigrating public schools and endangering their pensions and benefits. They also fume over his support for charter schools and vouchers.

As a local school board member when Christie took office, I know that he is the only reason that some costs were reined in. He instituted a cap on outrageous superintendent salaries and demanded that teachers and other school employees pay something towards their previously free health-care premiums. Christie told the crowd in the high school gym that he didn't care about being popular. "I'm not running for prom king," he said.

Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series Jun 30, 2015

On Education: Speak the truth to the teachers union; then reform tenure

Christie on teacher tenure: "We reformed the oldest teacher tenure law in America so that now teachers that get a failing grade can get fired and not have a job for life in front of our children's classrooms." -- Faith & Freedom Coalition "Road to Majority" conference, Washington, D.C., June 2015

Christie on education reform: "They said it was impossible to speak the truth to the teachers union. They were just too powerful. Real teacher tenure reform that demands accountability and ends the guarantee of a job for life regardless of performance would never happen. For the first time in 100 years with bipartisan support, we did it. We believe that the majority of teachers in America know our system must be reformed to put students first so that America can compete. Teachers don't teach to become rich or famous. They teach because they love children." -- Republican National Convention, Tampa, Florida, August 2012

Source: Forbes Magazine on 2016 Faith & Freedom Conference Jun 30, 2015

On Education: Extend school until 6 PM daily; and 12 months per year

Christie said at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics' Politics and Eggs, "We need to approach education different in different areas. There cannot be a one-size-fits-all. How are we still teaching everybody almost the same way that we taught them in the 1800s? Lines of desks, facing forward, looking at a black board or a white board, one person standing in the front of the room from 8:30 or so to 2:30 or so in the afternoon eight months a year. Source: Forbes Magazine on 2016 Faith & Freedom Conference Jun 30, 2015

The above quotations are from Forbes biweekly business magazine. Click here for other excerpts from Forbes biweekly business magazine. Click here for other excerpts by Chris Christie. Click here for a profile of Chris Christie.
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