Gov. Chris Christie renewed his support for charter schools today, telling a crowd of educators they can expect to see more charter schools opening next year despite the state’s fiscal woes.
Christie said charter schools play a crucial role in proving districts don’t need to be heavily subsidized by the state to provide quality education for their students.
In his address to the annual conference of the New Jersey Charter Schools Association in Long Branch, Christie said he largely left the funding for charter schools untouched when he introduced his budget on Tuesday.
"We will do many good things for charters schools. In fact, I’ve held charter schools harmless in this budget because you already pay enough," he told more than 250 charter school educators. "There are going to be more charter schools a year from now than there are today."
Two days after introducing a budget that cut $820 million in education aid, the governor came out swinging against teachers unions he said have been flush with cash yet are still demanding raises for their members while private sector employees endure pay cuts or layoffs.
He called on the unions to give back or forestall raises granted in new contracts and enlisted the help of charter schools in demonstrating quality education does not have to drain a municipal or state budget.
"You are the masters of doing more with less because you have been consistently underfunded by the statute that was passed to establish you," Christie said.
To help keep down the cost of education, Christie said, public school teachers should forego their raises, contribute to the cost of their health care and contribute a market-based share of their pension
Earlier in the day, Education Commissioner Bret Schundler told the same crowd that funding for New Jersey’s charter schools is expected to remain flat next year, requiring school officials to work cooperatively with their public counterparts and rein in increasing health benefits and salary packages.
Schundler advocated having charter school students’ test scores count toward the scores of the entire district. He also encouraged charter and public schools to share buildings to reduce costs. He said the state will encourage districts to cap their tax levy increases at 4 percent.
Steve Baker, a spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, said Christie’s criticism of the unions is the governor’s attempt to deflect criticism about his cutting the education budget.
‘‘He’s trying as hard as he can to set up teachers and school employees and the villains in this scenario,’’ Baker said. ‘‘We’re in this situation because he said he’s going to cut and slash public education funding.’’
Baker said Christie wants teachers and school employees to make a market-share contribution to their pensions when the state hasn’t contributed its share in 11 of the past 15 years. And Christie has said he has no plans to make a state contribution next year.
"We don’t apologize for the salaries and benefits we get," Baker said. "They’re not extravagant."
He said renegotiating settled contracts to give back or forestall raises is something local teachers unions would have to take up individually.
Carlos Lejnieks, chairman of the charter schools association, said charter schools have long worked with less money than state law has required.
"Now we’re positioned to work with the new administration to work on creative measures to help us increase the impact that we have in our communities," he said.
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