Read the original story in The Asbury Park Press
NEWARK - Gov.-elect Chris Christie, the newly minted Republican chief executive of normally solidly Democratic New Jersey, made a visit to a Newark charter school the first official stop in his transition to power.
The raspy-voiced, sleep-deprived Christie said he chose to make his first gubernatorial stop at the Robert Treat Academy to draw attention to success at the school and emphasize his commitment to charters and city school reform.
New Jersey since 1996 has had charter schools, which are alternative public schools that now enroll around 22,000 students in the state. But Christie, in his campaign, criticized Gov. Jon S. Corzine for not doing more to expand them. The governor-elect says charter schools often get better results for less money.
"This is a model that we should replicate all over the state of New Jersey, everywhere. And there is no reason that it cannot be replicated," Christie said. "That's been my frustration over time with the educational bureaucracy in the state. It is not as if we're walking around in a dark room and saying, 'I wish we could just find the light switch.' The light switch is on. It's here."
During a news conference, Christie reiterated that his first executive order upon taking office will be to freeze all proposed new agency rules and regulations for 90 days, while a "Red Tape Review Group" headed by Lt. Gov.-elect Kim Guadagno reviews the state's codes to identify mandates on businesses and municipalities that can be repealed.
He also said he will be asking the state comptroller to audit all school districts in the state, starting with the ones with the biggest budgets, to examine what he suspects is "significant spending" on middle management.
"You have to figure out ways to make some priority choices, either to have more of that money find its way into the classroom and/or some of that money to find its way back to the taxpayers," Christie said.
Christie singled out the New Jersey Education Association, which resists the expansion of charter schools, for criticism. He said the NJEA spent $3 million in its effort to re-elect Corzine, through ads he says lied about his positions.
"This is a fight we're all going to have to stand up together and do, Republicans and Democrats who believe in this issue. Because the forces that are arrayed against us on this are significant and powerful - although I think they just learned in this last election, not as powerful as they think," he said.
NJEA spokesman Steven Baker offered a restrained response.
"It will not make any difference in our advocacy of great public schools. . . . We're willing to work with anybody who is willing to be an advocate of public education and great public schools," Baker said.
"We certainly did endorse Gov. Corzine in this election. He was an excellent governor, and he was a public-education advocate. We unabashedly supported Gov. Corzine," he said.
Christie's foray into the North Ward of the state's largest city came with a political backdrop. The Robert Treat Academy's founder is Stephen Adubato Sr., a Democratic power broker in the city who during the Assembly's introductions was hugging Christie around the shoulders and neck from the seat behind him.
The visit also attracted visits from Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a potential Democratic candidate for governor in four years, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and state Sen. Teresa Ruiz.
Christie said the only message Democratic lawmakers should take from the visit to Adubato's school is that "this administration will be about what works" - even if an idea comes from a Democrat or independent, he said.
Booker, who called Christie a friend and said the two exchanged text messages throughout the campaign, though never about politics, said he looks forward to working with Christie to fight crime, create jobs and lower property taxes.
"You will not see from this Democrat, and I know I speak for the county executive, this absurdity about Barack Obama that (people) hope he fails. The reality is, me and everyone on my team is rooting, cheering and willing to work with our governor-elect to make sure that he is successful," Booker said.
"I'm not interested in politics right now. I've had my fill," Booker said.
Christie made just two announcements about his transition team. David Samson, who was attorney general under Democratic Gov. James E. McGreevey, will chair the committee. Samson, 70, is an unaffiliated voter who lives in Caldwell.
Jeffrey Chiesa, 44, of Branchburg, a former executive assistant U.S. Attorney and counsel when Christie headed that office, will be executive director of the transition committee, heading its day-to-day operations.
