Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took on a familiar foe this week, bashing teachers unions for their reluctance to return to in-school learning.
In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Christie implored the Biden administration to “follow the science, not the teachers unions.”
“Unions in California are demanding shots before returning to work and some say they may not return even after vaccination,” he wrote. “How do we square that with the hundreds of thousands of essential workers who have continued to work through the pandemic despite the dangers?”
“Again adults are placing their own interests ahead of the interests of the children. It’s the unions and their leaders who are doing this, not the rank-and-file members. Numerous courageous teachers have spoken out against the union position.”
“Schools have reopened in Europe and some U.S. states, both red and blue, without any major outbreaks caused by in-school transmission. The CDC is being used as a political tool, flip-flopping on the science under pressure from the national unions and their Biden administration allies,” he continued.
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Christie’s complaints against teachers unions have helped him gain national media attention in the past, and some are speculating that he may be going back to the well to drum up support for a possible 2024 presidential run.
Christie told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in December that he would not rule out another go for the White House — even if former President Donald Trump decides to run for reelection.
Christie, Trump’s one-time rival-turned-confidant, has broken rank in the past several months and publicly criticized the former president. The move might have endeared him to Democrats but didn’t do much for his popularity among Republicans.
His comments about the teachers unions just might.
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Christie has had a hate-hate relationship with several public employee unions for years but seems to have extra vitriol for teachers unions.
In fact, his rise from a New Jersey politician to a national political figure was fueled in part by his public spats with teachers unions.
He has called the unions “political thugs,” said they deserve a “punch in the face,” and claimed they are the “single most destructive force in public education.” He has long lamented that the unions only care about higher wages and benefits, putting their own needs ahead of students. There have also been heated face-to-face confrontations between Christie and union members, with neither side backing down.
“The unions pack a lot of financial muscle,” he wrote in the Wall Street Journal piece. “I still have the bruises from my battles with them. But President Biden promised Americans an end to these games. This betrayal of our children and their families must end. The long-term mental-health effects and educational deficits created by continuing this policy will be devastating. It’s time to put our children’s interests first in this pandemic.”
One Democratic strategist in Atlanta told the Washington Examiner that Christie’s refusal to give in to powerful unions tells his base, “he’s not afraid to go after them with all he’s got.”
“Christie became famous for his tangles with the teacher unions,” Republican strategist John Feehery told the Washington Examiner. “Perhaps he was ahead of his time because this issue is finally reaching the breaking point for many families across the country. Whether it’s enough to put him in the top tier of presidential candidates remains to be seen. But nobody is better when it comes to taking on these unions.”
Whit Ayres, president of North Star Opinion Research, told the Washington Examiner he, too, wasn’t positive that Christie was throwing his hat into the 2024 ring but that his fight with the teachers unions, especially now amid the COVID-19 crisis, puts him back in the spotlight.
“He obviously made a national name for himself going after teachers unions earlier in his career, and there is no question that the teachers unions have made themselves exceedingly vulnerable during the pandemic,” Ayres said. “Virtually everyone agrees that in-person learning is better than online learning, especially for the youngest students, and by resisting going back to in-person classrooms, the teachers unions make themselves look like they are far more interested in teachers than in the education of students they are dedicated to serve.”
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But Christie isn’t the only Republican taking a swing at teachers unions.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said recently that the primary roadblock to reopening schools is “the rich, powerful unions that donate huge sums to Democrats and get a stranglehold over education in many communities.”
Rep. Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told NBC News, “It’s the teachers unions that want to keep the schools closed. Democrats are ignoring the science, and they’re standing with their special interest donors instead of the students.”
While it’s still too early to tell if Christie is capitalizing on his decadelong beef to further his political aspirations, a new survey on possible GOP contenders seems to show he could use the publicity.
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The Morning Consult poll showed Christie didn’t register among 600 Republican voters surveyed as a 2024 candidate. In fact, his name didn’t even show up on the list of “other” candidates, which included former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sens. Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley, Tim Scott, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.
