Chris Christie is Bad on Common Core, Judges and Bridges

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie could have done something meaningful to address Common Core, but he didn’t.  Following the path of several Republican governors, he issued a do-nothing executive order instead that will create a commission tasked with reviewing the Common Core State Standards.

The commission which will be created as a result of this executive order will have to report its initial findings to Christie by December 31, 2015.  The final report will be issued by July 31, 2015.

There is no action plan after that.  The order doesn’t specify what type of people who will serve other than it will be “comprised of 9 appointees who have practical experience, knowledge, or expertise in the areas of education policy or administration and will serve without compensation. “  Also the commission the executive order states may (not shall) “consult with education stakeholders, practitioners, experts or other knowledgeable individuals in the public or private sector on any aspect of its mission.”  No public hearings… no ability for parents to weigh in that I can see.

The bill before the New Jersey Senate that was delayed for this garbage executive order would have established a task force under the control of the legislature, and it would have delayed the PARCC assessment by two years.  This does nothing of the sort.

In fact the point of the Commission, according to the Christie administration, is to ensure an effective implementation of the Common Core and PARCC.  They state in a press release sent out yesterday, “The creation of this Commission will also help ensure the effectiveness of the Core Curriculum Content Standards, including the Common Core State Standards, and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers (PARCC) assessments.”

There is absolutely no plan on replacing the Common Core whatsoever.

Jan Lenox of Concerned Citizens of Southern New Jersey told Caffeinated Thoughts, “After sitting in the Senate Chamber last Thursday for almost three hours waiting for our bill to be put for a vote for the third time; the result is what took place yesterday.  The Governor in a three-way, let’s cut a deal, with the senate president and the NJEA, completely dissed New Jersey’s children and their parents from a fair way to resolve the issue of Common Core.  This is a complete travesty.”

Here is the text of his Common Core executive order:

Top that off he’s bad on judges.  The Judicial Crisis Network has put an ad out in Iowa blasting Christie on a deal he made with New Jersey Senate President Steven Sweeney, a Democrat, to renominate Stuart Rabner – a very liberal activist judge to be the chief justice of a liberal activist New Jersey Supreme Court.

Here is the text of the 90 second ad is accompanied by a website – www.christiebadonjudges.com and the group is spending $75,000 on the three day ad campaign leading up to fundraiser he is doing for Iowa Governor Terry Branstad in Marion, IA on Thursday.

Here is the text of the ad:

New Jersey’s Supreme Court has been one of the most activist courts in the nation.  And the people of New Jersey have paid a heavy price.  The court’s liberal rulings have wreaked havoc on state finances, driven away business and jeopardized jobs.  Because of their lawless rulings New Jersey’s property taxes are the highest in the country.

One scholar called it the court that broke New Jersey.   Over and over, Gov. Christie promised he would fix it… remake the court with judges who respect the rule of law. Over and over, he broke his promise.”

Christie has had five openings on the New Jersey Supreme Court to build a new majority, but the court remains liberal. One Christie appointee, the Chief Justice, is a Democrat.  So liberal that he was mentioned as a Barack Obama nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Christie even endorsed Obama’ liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.  Important issues like Obamacare are at stake in our courts.  the next President of the United States may get to appoint as many as three U.S. Supreme Court nominees – a new majority.  Call Chris Christie – tell him to fight for judges who respect the rule of law.

You can watch the ad:

Some Republicans seem to have forgotten the whole George Washington Bridge scandal, as well as, a federal investigation into how Christie used Hurricane Sandy relief funds.  Some say that it pales in light of what President Obama has done, it doesn’t matter.  It is still a scandal.  It shows an abuse of power that Republicans wouldn’t tolerate in a Democrat, but we’re going to let it slide with Christie?

If I were Branstad I wouldn’t want to be seen in the same room with the man, and the fact he still chairs the Republican Governors Association (which has also poured a ton of money into the Iowa Governor’s race in the form of ads) shows me that organization has some major dysfunction.

The fact that some establishment Republicans still view this guy as a contender makes me think they’ve been making a lot of trips out to Colorado.  He’s DOA he comes calling for the Iowa Caucus.  After all this his Obama bear hug is the least of his problems in 2016.