Christie calls for unity in reforming education

DES MOINES – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told an Iowa education summit Monday that Americans need to set aside political differences that divide them and unite behind reforms that will provide the educational excellence that children need to pursue their dreams in a competitive global economy.

However, Christie did not duck controversy either by calling for an overhaul of the current tenure system for teachers, saying children should not be the victims of a failing system that does not reward excellence or enforce consequences for failure.

“You have to draw some lines in the sand, but you also have to leave some room for compromise,” he told reporters after delivering a half-hour address to about 1,700 participants in a summit called by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to brainstorm on ways to rekindle the state's once-proud tradition of educational excellence that U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said was “at the top of the mountain” in 1992.

Christie said he lent his voice to the Iowa summit because he shares common interests with Branstad, who he said has a reputation and a track record of bringing people together to reach consensus and a passion for education. He said the task at hand is maximize the use of available resources while focusing on areas that unite people and taking some political risks to ensure that all children are provided the educational opportunity to achieve their goals and better their lives.

“We can decide today that the interests of these children are more important than how we define political winning and losing,” Christie told summit participants. “We must find common ground on this issue because the clock is ticking everybody and children's lives are wasting as we dawdle. If we stay on the course we're on today there is a certain guarantee of failure for our children and for our country's future.”

During his brief stay in Iowa, the New Jersey governor also spent a few hours helping U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, to raise money for the 2012 campaign challenge from Democrat Christie Vilsack, a former Iowa first lady who recently took residence in Ames and is running in the new 4th congressional district that was reshaped via reapportionment and population figures that caused Iowa's U.S. House districts to shrink from five to four.

Christie told Iowa reporters that he continues to be encouraged by Republicans who want him to reconsider his decision not to run for the party's 2012 presidential nomination but that he does not plan to enter next year's race or to endorse a GOP presidential contender at this time.

“You have to feel in your heart that this is the moment for you to do this,” he said. “I can't imagine that changing. We're pretty late in the game.”

To date, Christie said he has not found a 2012 GOP candidate who he can back with “100 percent” of his support but he planned to continue following the campaign and for sure would support whoever wins the party's nomination for president.

Earlier Monday, there was a report that Christie was being sued over his administration's refusal to release correspondence between the president of Fox News and the governor or his staff after a report that the head of the network tried to persuade the first-term GOP governor to run for president in 2012 last summer. However, Christie told reporters late Monday afternoon that his staff had received word that the legal action was being dropped because his office had no records pertaining to the matter that had been sought under New Jersey's Open Public Records Law.