Chris Christie Announces Plan To Privatize New Jersey Public Schools

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced a pilot program on Thursday that would allow private companies to run public schools in some of the state's chronically underperforming school districts.

The public-private partnership would authorize school management organizations to operate five schools, and would target some of the 100,000 New Jersey students now enrolled in 200 chronically failing schools, the governor's office said.

The state's teachers union, which has clashed with the Republican governor over cuts to school aid and other issues, said the plan was part of Christie's "ongoing effort to privatize public education in New Jersey."

Christie's proposal comes amid a contentious national debate over how to improve public schools and the role of the private sector -- including autonomous charter schools -- in the education of American schoolchildren.

School management organizations are involved with 700 schools in 31 states, according to Christie's office.

The New Jersey proposal comes on the heels of a ruling by the state's highest court that Christie's education cuts of about $1 billion last year were unconstitutional and had shortchanged disadvantaged students.

The court ordered the state to spend about $500 million more on its poorest schools in the next year.
Christie has called the ruling shortsighted, saying that school reform "goes beyond dollars and cents."
On Thursday, Christie said the pilot program would provide an "innovative alternative" to failing schools.

"Perhaps most importantly, through the knowledge that change is on the way, this program will begin to restore hope in communities where failing schools deny children hope and opportunity," Christie said in a statement.

Christie has appointed as his acting education commissioner Christopher Cerf, the former president of Edison Schools Inc., the country's largest private-sector manager of public schools. The company is now called EdisonLearning.

(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Jerry Norton)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[murfiani39]

02:48 PM on 08/09/2011

The courts order him to spend 500 million more on poorest schools... Looks like the private for profits want a piece of this ...Then they use fussy math to fix statistics ..... and you get ppor schools with out extra funding , still broken and below grade level

[mitsecl]

08:43 PM on 06/23/2011

Privatize as in for profit...as in focusing on numbers and capital gains...once private schools are privatized, these schools will be monopolized and education will be restricted for few...

[Kevin RN]

05:02 PM on 06/20/2011

Gov. Rick Scott has the same ideas down here in Florida and his approval ratings is only 29 % !!

We need a recall mechanism for governors.

[BoudiccaBlanc]

03:23 PM on 06/20/2011

Time for a recall in New Jersey !!!!

[econ1]

03:08 PM on 06/20/2011

It appears that this only applies to schools that have been failing for some time. It may be time to try something new. If it is monitored and doesn't work...then they should try again.

[bongoboy69]

09:24 AM on 06/21/2011

BAGGER FAIL

[econ1]

12:25 PM on 06/21/2011

Really.... is it better to just keep the failure going? If the new approach doesn't work then they should change that as well. Apparently these schools have been performing far below even the average for many years.

[SisterAnn]

02:44 PM on 06/18/2011

Christy will cut school taxes so he can privatise Public Schools. He and the other republicans aren't going to stop until they make a profit off of everything and pay us a dollar an hour.

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/scarce/chris-christie-its-none-your-business

[gurukalehuru]

10:23 AM on 06/15/2011

This proposal won Chris Christie the Evil Republican of the Week Award at www.gurukalehuru.com

[SisterAnn]

02:48 PM on 06/18/2011

That picture is almost porn. He needs a bra. You can tell he hasn't done a days work in his life.

[TruenoBoricua]

08:42 AM on 06/15/2011

For profit EMO's and for profit psudeo-colleges have no place in our countries education sphere. Those concepts should be eradicated.

[loki]

08:40 AM on 06/15/2011

I despise these public private ventures forced upon the tax payer. A good recent example is when the city of St. Louis put to a vote to raise the taxes to build a 14 million dollar Public rec center for the people in the city. It passed. They built it. And, when they were done, they then announced that they were handing it over to the YMCA to run. and now its just another high priced YMCA that the the tax payers paid for, and many cant even afford to go to now. This will happen with the schools. Its a scam between corporate American and Gov, to rape the money of the tax payer even more than ever. Why raise taxes, when you can get a direct forced feed funnel to suck the public dry. it takes out the middle man and gets the money right to the private sector. OH yeah.

[been2there]

05:45 AM on 06/15/2011

Here is the Republican plan:
1. Demonize education and educators.
2. Persuade people to defund education to the point that it cannot be fully effective.
3. Point out the problems, and persuade people that they stem from money being wasted.
4. Fool people into thinking that they can have a great education without work or resources.
5. Reap the benefits of an easily fooled, ignorant populace with no critical thinking skills.

And, naturally, send your kids to a private school with good resources and parent support.

[loki]

08:41 AM on 06/15/2011

you see it. I see it, some others see it. Why cant the rest of the population?

[pgutpgut]

03:50 PM on 06/15/2011

This is so right on the money...you articulated what I've been thinking far better than I could.

[Nicole Schulman]

09:55 PM on 06/14/2011

Privatizing public school will bring us that much closer to corporate dictatorship. It's time for people to stop buying into the big free-market lie. Only %17 of Charter schools perform better than public schools, about 30% are WORSE- and ALL put profit and test scores before the welfare of their students. SCREW Chris Christie and anyone who supports him!

[knott wrench]

03:08 PM on 06/14/2011

So the GOP Pre-Metabolic Syndrome, Crab (Tumor) Governor of New Jersey has found a "New" Way to attack Public school's and an "Underground Way" to take a "Payoff" of some sort.

If this becomes a reality, follow the paper trail.

"Privatization is 'Cheapier' or More 'Cost Effetcive'". Yep, For Profit Companies are Cost effective. My Foot! look at the Medical Insurance Companies.

[snesich]

01:40 PM on 06/14/2011

Let's see, he now wants to "privatize" New Jersey's public schools, ignoring the fact that in almost every case where it's been tried, the "privatization of schools" scam, has been an abysmal failure. These "privatized schools" schemes tend to put lots of money into the investors and executives of these companies that take over the schools, while spending less on school essentials, like decent classrooms and adequately paid and trained teachers.

The Big Bully Obnoxious Loudmouth (AKA "Chris Christie") has now done or said the following:
-Climate Change is a Hoax
-Teachers should be paid less
-School funding should be cut
-Medicare and Social Security must be cut
-Worker's pensions should be reduced or eliminated
-Federal assistance to modernize New Jersey's transportation systems will be rejected
-Abortion should be illegal under all circumstances and funding for family planning and birth control should be cut
-$400 million was cut from state clean energy programs
- A program to soften punishments for polluters who violate the law was created by Christie.
-Taxes should be reduced only for the already very wealthy

So, these are just some of the policies and beliefs of this extremist, mendacious, arrogant lowlife in Trenton.

I can't wait until 2013 when he's forced from office.

[Daryl Pienta]

12:20 PM on 06/14/2011

privatization won't work.... No child left behind is the culprit.... and bad management is the problem...

privatization is for profit, and when profit is involved you will get certain schools who can charge more and attract wealthier clients leaving the poor to scrape by with inferior schools that don't generate enough profit and therefore get a lesser teacher.

Privatization of our infrastructure is a BAD BAD BAD BAD idea. Children's education is a big part of our infrastructure, and for profit education won't make education better for everyone just the elite...

[peacegurl48]

12:06 PM on 06/14/2011

So now he can give federal and state subsidy money to his pals who will now own schools privately.This blatant monopoly capitalism, profit before people and economic terrorism.