In 2010, New Jersey’s RINO Governor Chris Christie declared that Common Core was “one of those areas where I have agreed more with (President Obama) than not.” Five years later, with his eyes set on the Republican Presidential nomination, he’s changed his mind.
On Thursday, Christie reversed his 2010 decision that made New Jersey one of the first states in the nation to adopt the Department of Education’s Common Core Curriculum Standards. His solution: More bureaucracy, of course. His office will develop yet another bureaucratic committee to “measure state standards and provide recommendations for instructional practices,” by the end of the year. And he’s not cutting ties with the controversial PARCC assessment, either.
“We must continue to review and improve that test based on results, not fear or speculation. I will not permit New Jersey to risk losing vital federal education funds because some would prefer to let the perfect get in the way of the good,” he said. “We must test our children because federal law requires it and because it is the only way to objectively judge our progress.”
PARCC is directly tied to Common Core, rendering Christie’s bureaucratic ambitions to rewrite New Jersey’s curriculum rather, well, a load of hot air. The PARCC assessment has come under fire, not only for it’s difficulty in implementation and the questionable contract with Pearson, the company administering the test, but for the cost to New Jersey’s taxpayers: $22 million per year.
This is the second big decision Christie has flip-flopped on since his wife quit her Wall Street job to help him run his campaign, apparently using the John Kerry playbook. Which means that currently there is more consistency coming out of Selina Meyer’s office than the New Jersey Governor’s. Watch out: Perhaps this Jersey boy is really eyeing VEEP status.
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