Once powerful teachers union faces tough times with Christie

By Josh Margolin/Statehouse Bureau - Star Ledger/The Record 

December 05, 2009, 8:30PM

It was August 2008 and the New Jersey Education Association, the powerful teachers union, was at the zenith of its influence.

The union’s then-president was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, hobnobbing with the country’s political elite: senators, business leaders, would-be cabinet members. At the same time, Gov. Jon Corzine publicly defended the union and his close ties to it after agreeing — without telling lawmakers — to a controversial NJEA-favored pension maneuver.

Today, after two decades at the top of New Jersey’s political establishment, the world has turned upside down for the NJEA. 

Corzine lost the election to Republican Chris Christie, who waged a public battle against the NJEA and other public-sector labor unions during the campaign. He says his mandate to bring a new era to Trenton will include a clampdown on the teachers union and education agenda that may advocate changes the NJEA will not welcome,

So the 200,000 member union now finds itself in the unusual position of trying to make nice to someone it was tearing apart only a month ago.

Shortly after the election, NJEA president Barbara Keshishian, who has never met Christie, said the union contacted his office to offer congratulations and set up a meeting.

None has been scheduled.

"The NJEA and groups like it had a very good run for the better part of a decade or more," said Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), who chaired Christie’s campaign. "It’s going to change."

"The jury’s out," he said, "as to whether they’re the second-biggest loser (behind Corzine), but there’s at least a tie and they’re in the running," said former Republican state chairman Tom Wilson, who advised the Christie campaign. "After this last election, they shouldn’t expect to have the door of the governor’s office open to them."

Keshishian said the union "looks forward to sharing our thoughts" with the new governor. "We certainly care about the future of public education and we believe Governor-elect Christie cares about that also," she said.

Christie’s feelings toward the NJEA are no secret. He attacked the union during campaign debates and stump speeches and refused to ask for its coveted endorsement.

In return, the NJEA targeted the Republican with hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising designed to aid Corzine by demonizing Christie. According to a presentation obtained last week by the anti-union website NEAExposed.com, the NJEA also ran its own campaign office for Corzine at its Trenton headquarters and organized visits to schools to persuade undecided teachers to vote for the Democratic incumbent.

In that presentation, the NJEA boasted that its efforts succeeded in damaging Christie’s favorability among women under 45 years old, though it could not offset the Republican’s lead among other voting demographics. In the end, Christie beat Corzine by 86,000 votes.

It was the latest example of how the NJEA has long flexed its political muscle. But it was far from the first. One of the most expensive demonstrations of the union’s clout came in the summer of 2008, as Corzine was preparing to run for re-election. After the Legislature adopted controversial pension reforms over the objections of the NJEA and other public-workers unions, Corzine intentionally held off on enacting the package because the NJEA insisted it needed more time to notify its members.

Even Democratic allies of the governor were livid at the maneuver, given the tough fight they endured to pass the measure. But Corzine, standing in the arena where Barack Obama was given the Democratic presidential nomination, said he had no problem going along with the NJEA’s request.

"Frankly, these pension reforms don’t produce dramatic savings," he said at the time, though he prodded the Legislature to enact pension changes. "They’re important steps in the right direction and I’m supportive of them, but … this is a very small piece of that (total savings)."

With loyal and well-educated members across the state, the union is always at or near the top of the Trenton’s list of biggest lobbying interests. Its army of volunteers has staged massive Statehouse rallies and raised wads of campaign cash for favored candidates.

The union’s headquarters, with its large NJEA sign, sits across the street from the Statehouse, in plain view of politicians who steer away from things it opposes, such as school vouchers.

It is clear Christie intends to pursue an education agenda NJEA would oppose. He is a vocal advocate of school choice and favors offering vouchers to parents who want to take their kids out of public schools and send them to private ones. He also wants a streamlined process for the state Education Department to approve charter schools. And he favors holding school board elections in November.

"When it comes to improving our education system, Governor-elect Christie is going to consistently put New Jersey’s children first and not anyone else," said spokeswoman Maria Comella. "The only way to make any real progress in our inner-city schools, ensure our tax dollars aren’t being wasted in our suburban schools and guarantee our education dollars actually follow the child is to stop the blatant pandering and kowtowing to special interests that has created the mess we’re currently facing."

Keshishian said she’s "not aware of many of the details of what he believes is important." She defended her union’s efforts in the campaign, but acknowledged the NJEA has some work ahead.

"I don’t think we’d be worried about it haunting us," she said. "We make no bones about it: Everyone knows where we stood in the election. We believe Gov. Corzine was a terrific education governor and we wanted to see him get a second term to finish the work he started. That was in the past. We have to now look to the future. We represent over 200,000 people who know what it takes to make public schools work. I think we need some time to build a relationship."