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Welcome to Laurie Goodman's blog. I use this space to share news and opinions about education and schools in Ridgewood, the state of New Jersey and the nation, in addition to other issues I'm personally interested in. I invite you to share your thoughts, feelings, questions or opinions, too, by posting comments on any blog entry. Please observe basic courtesy -- keep your comments focused on issues, no personal attacks or bullying, please. Contact me directly at: lauriegood@mac.com

Monday, January 11, 2010

Governor Christie's education plans

We've all been wondering what's coming for schools under a Christie governorship. I'm sure all will be revealed (as much as anything is revealed in Trenton) in due time, but I just stumbled on this story from back in November that predicted New Jersey will become an "education battlefield." The author lists all of the education-related passages from Christie's platform. I read through it all and can't help but notice that pretty much none of it applies to Ridgewood. And I'm not sure how I feel about that. Sometimes a little "benign neglect" isn't such a bad thing.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, The Huffington Post as your primary source. Now there's a publication that provides two sides to every story--not. Careful, your bias is showing, and it's so early in the year.

By the way, wouldn't it be nice if you extended some respect to our newly elected chief executive and referred to him as Governor Christie, at least for your initial reference?

Anonymous said...

Do you think Christie will relax some of the regulations on schools in NJ?

Laurie said...

The Huffington Post is an opinion site -- op-ed columns and blog posts (opinions) from a variety of people. I know that, and you probably know that, too. This particular opinion piece quoted Governor Christie's platform, and that's what I was referring to.

I've never been secretive about my personal opinions (this is my personal blog, after all). In addition, since this is a blog and not a news source, I'm not working as a journalist. When I see something interesting, I pass it on. Sometimes when I have time I'll double check sources on things I read, but this time I just passed it along quickly. No big deal and no grand conspiracy. (but I did smile because I knew the Huff Post citation would get your attention!)

That being said, I found the text of Governor Christie's platform on his website (http://www.christiefornj.com/about/88-ways-chris-christie-will-fix-nj.html), which qualifies as a primary source, and can confirm that the Huff Post quotes were correct.

And finally, no disrespect was intended to Governor Christie. I revised the headline accordingly.

Laurie said...

To Anonymous 11:18, I have no idea. So far I've seen mixed messages. I've heard that Governor Christie wants to leave successful schools alone to continue what they're doing, but I've also heard that schools need to be more accountable to the state. This is what I was referring to...it's a big unknown right now.

Anonymous said...

Whatever one may think of the Huffington Post, I have known the author of the article for over 25 years. Tom Carroll is a conservative advocate for education reform and a great guy.