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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Jersey Jazzman: The Battle of Jersey - Opening Salvos

Jersey Jazzman: The Battle of Jersey - Opening Salvos:

The Battle of Jersey - Opening Salvos

And so it begins: with the mid-term elections out of the way, the war over education reform commences in Trenton. I hope those of you who follow me from other places around the country forgive me over the next few weeks for becoming so Jersey-centric.

But understand that this battle does have national implications, much as the Wisconsin protests or the sleaze in Illinois did. Chris Christie is a darling of the right; they practically begged him to run in the primary. And he has staked all of his reputation on his ongoing war with the NJEA. What happens here will certainly ripple across the nation.

At the NJEA convention last week, Acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf tried to put on a reasonable facein contrast to his boss (here's a great account of what happened, courtesy of Blue Jersey). His attempts at