The Republican governor told The Associated Press that he might have overreached by expecting the Democratic-controlled Legislature to approve a contentious public worker pension/health benefits overhaul - then take up difficult education issues in a re-election year. He said he realizes now they were probably too fatigued politically to do both.
"I think they just became politically exhausted after pension and benefits reform," Christie said. "Even though we had some areas of agreement in May and June, I think they just became politically exhausted and said 'No, I can't do any more, Governor, I'm sorry. We can't take any more risks. We can't anger anyone else. We can't threaten anyone else. We're just tired and we need to go run for re-election.'"
In a look-ahead interview with the AP on Friday, the governor said creating pay systems that reward top-performing teachers and making tenure harder to get and easier to lose remain tops on his agenda.
"I think it's more realistic to imagine that this year could be the year of education reform," Christie said. "And maybe wanting to make 2011 the year of sweeping pension and benefit reform and education reform may have been a bit too much."
He said he looked at the Legislature's refusal to move on his proposals last year as a deferral, not an impasse. He said he remained hopeful that compromises could be reached with Democrats who control the Legislature, many of whom do not support his proposals.
"Hopefully, education reform won't get squeezed out by something else this year," he said. "I think everybody's focused on this right now, and that's good."
Christie said he's "willing to listen" to Democrats who support merit pay for schools but not for individual teachers. But since most other industries award raises based on performance evaluations, he said he doesn't understand why some remain adamant that a similar system wouldn't be good for public schools.
Christie gave a shout-out to his nemesis, the powerful public teachers union, for its support of the Urban Hope Act, a bill that allows nonprofits to open new schools in three failing districts, but expressed frustration that his nominee for education chief has had his confirmation hearing held up for a year.
The nomination of Chris Cerf is being blocked by state Sen. Ron Rice, D-Newark, through a process known as senatorial courtesy, which requires sign-off from senators in the nominee's home county. Cerf has been on the job for a year as acting commissioner.
"It's not accurate to say, as Sen. Rice has said over and over, that this doesn't affect him," Christie said. "Having (the word) 'acting' in front of your name implies a temporary-ness that makes permanent change more difficult to accomplish."
The most significant issue for Christie is revising teacher tenure because, he said, "the biggest difference-maker in a school is a great teacher at the head of the classroom." The governor wants to end permanent tenure and tie continued tenure to positive evaluations.
The teachers union has offered to require teachers to work for four years, instead of the current three, before being eligible for tenure; require mentoring for first-year teachers and make it easier to decide tenure charge cases.
