Gov. Christie to NJ Teachers Union: 'You Punch Them, I Punch You'

It’s not every day you hear a governor laying the smack down on a group of thugs like the New Jersey Education Association, but that’s precisely what Gov. Chris Christie did before a stuffy crowd of education reformers recently.

Christie didn’t mince words. He said when he was elected and “arrived on the playground,” he found the administrators and school board laying on the ground bleeding. “That meant there was a bully,” he said.

So his message was simple:

“You walk onto the school yard and you say punch them, I punch you.”

[youtube Pn4_0IV0JME]

Here’s a governor who is impatient with awful schools and the snail’s pace the Education Establishment travels because adults’ perks and comfort may be disrupted.

But he’s on a mission to explain to his citizens the state of the education system. He’s telling them about the union’s penchant for “protecting lousy teachers” and “free health benefits from the day they’re hired till the day they die” and the union’s opposition to pay freezes.

Christie is serious about reforming New Jersey’s education system and will plow through any vested interest that is blocking necessary reforms. Other governors would be wise to follow his lead.