Rhee the Union Buster Might Be Welcome in Christie’s New Jersey

As Dave Barry might have written, I swear I’m not making this up. It’s from the Washington Examiner:

Christie’s penchant for the spotlight and union-busting attitude is likely what made Rhee an attractive choice to replace Bret Schundler, whom Christie fired over a failed Race to the Top application, said political consultant Chuck Thies.

“I’m wondering if this isn’t a ploy to get his name attached to the rising star Michelle Rhee and further his national profile — but that said, I think he wants her,” Thies said. “He’d be seen as not just a GOP union crusher, but he can take on unions from the school reform point of view.”

Christie is an outspoken opponent of teachers unions, recently mocking the union’s argument that teacher pay raises improve education quality as “the garbage I’ve got to listen to in New Jersey.”

New Jersey Education Association spokesman Steve Baker said that Christie fired Schundler for his cooperation with the union on the $400 million Race to the Top application; Christie allegedly told Schundler it “was not worth it” to collaborate, and initiated a new application that failed to receive the grant.