Search
Close this search box.

NJ Governor Christie Furious Over Teachers Union ‘Death Prayer’


A furious New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie yesterday tore into the state’s teachers union for circulating a memo that featured a prayer for his death.

“To pray for my death” is “beyond the pale,” said Christie, who has long been waging war against the New Jersey Education Association.

The newly elected Republican governor made it clear that he was speaking about the union leaders, not the state’s teachers.

“I’m sure there are teachers all across New Jersey who . . . are going to be ashamed. Ashamed to be a part of a union leadership that would actually pray for the death of an elected official,” Christie said.

“I wonder what the children of New Jersey will think when the leadership of the teachers union is praying for the governor to die?”

The NJEA memo included a mock “prayer” suggesting Christie should suffer the same fate as Patrick Swayze, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and celebrity pitchman Billy Mays, all of whom recently died.

It was signed by NJEA field representatives and distributed to union members in Bergen County, The Record of Hackensack reported.

The note also was posted on an NJEA Facebook page called “New Jersey Teachers United Against Governor Chris Christie’s Pay Freeze,” which has 67,000 members.

Trying to blunt a public-relations disaster, NJEA President Barbara Keshishian condemned the inflammatory joke and apologized to Christie.

“Language such as that has no place in civil discourse. It was intended as humor, but it’s not funny,” Keshishian said in a statement.

“Our ongoing discussion with Gov. Christie is centered on serious issues of significant importance to the state, and that must be the focus of all our conversation. We deeply regret that the ‘prayer’ reference was included in the letter, and we apologize to Gov. Christie for both the content of the ‘prayer’ and the lack of respect it demonstrated,” she said.

One union official said the prayer was never meant to go public.

But Christie didn’t let union leaders off the hook.

“They have finally lifted their veil. I don’t think it’s a threat. I think it’s a wish. A wish in some ways might be more perverse than a threat,” Christie said.

“They said they didn’t intend it to be public,” he said. “So private prayer for my death would have been OK? Public prayer for my death somehow is not OK?”

Christie said the incendiary remarks confirmed his assertion that NJEA leaders are “the bullies of State Street,” where most state government offices are located in Trenton.

The governor said New Jersey’s educational system has been living large and costs must be reined in during tough times.

He said employment in Garden State schools shot up 16 percent the past eight years — five times more than the modest 3 percent increase in student enrollment.

“There’s work to be done, but candidly I don’t think the work needs to be done on my side. When you have the leadership of this place so out of touch that they’re praying for the death of an elected official . . . I think they need to re-evaluate who they are and what they’re doing,” Christie said.

In order to close a yawning budget deficit, Christie has proposed to slash state aid to school districts by $820 million and urged teachers to accept a one-year pay freeze.

The union rejects cuts and pay freezes, and is circulating another letter to members saying they have “no confidence” in Christie.

In his campaign for governor last year against Democrat Jon Corzine, Christie made it clear he wouldn’t be the teachers union’s pet and slammed the NJEA as defenders of a failed status quo.

(Source: NY Post)



9 Responses

  1. This is indeed beyond the pale, and it shows how political discourse has degenerated in this country. Just a few months ago, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn said in a speech during the health care reform debate, “What the American people ought to pray is that somebody can’t make the vote tonight….That’s what they ought to pray” with the inescapable conclusion that it was directed toward the 92 year old frail Sen. Robert Byrd.

  2. shame on the school union officials. this is absolutely ridiculous, they are stealing money outright.
    this is not at all uncommon throughout the entire country. unfortunately this seems official school union policy nationwide to steal as much money as they can through striking whenever they can with complete disregard for fairness.
    i hate to admit it but usa has the worst teachers and policies in the world. im glad its finally coming to light here.

  3. Go Governer Go.
    Get this monsters out of public shools. I wish every Governer of the USA was as strong as you are. I pray for your long health just keep on presing this monsters out.

  4. #1 – Where do you get this “inescapable conclusion” that Courbon was wishing Byrd dead? I would think he simply meant that short of a miraculous absence in the House of any one of the 60 Democrats, the Health Care Bill would pass.
    Sen. Courbon made a vague remark, that you have decided to interpret as a death wish directed, without naming anyone. The NJEA expressed a clear, specific, death wish upon Gov. Christie. How can you compare the two?

  5. FYI: Recently I spoke to a teacher in the teacher’s union who was fired because the Governor’s office failed to get the 400 million.
    That individual stated that realistically, all the teacher’s hate Christie, because he is trying to hold back money from public schools. His goal is that people will say “look at the schools they are run so poorely” eventually this altruistic governor will come and in a loud manner, deliver them the money he stole.
    He didn’t intend for his flaw with the 400 million to become so well known, therefore he played the blame game. First he blamed Washington and then he blamed and fired his School Chief?! So who’s fault is it?

Leave a Reply


Popular Posts