Christie Appeals Again For NJ Education Overhaul

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is planning another big push on education reforms that have gotten much discussion but not much action in the Legislature.

In his State of the State speech Tuesday he called for using "quantifiable measures of student achievement" in evaluating teachers. Under his plan, low-performing teachers would lose tenure protections, making it easier to fire them.

He also will keep seeking to establish merit pay for educators and to change charter school laws to attract the best out-of-state school operators. And he wants to make it possible for low-income students in struggling districts to use publicly funded tax credits to attend public schools in other communities — or private schools.

The New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union, opposes most of his proposals