Note to Gov. Christie: Those who live by the accountability sword will die by the accountability sword.

From the moment he was sworn in four years ago, Gov. Christie has been on a personal jihad against public education, unions and teachers. Labeling us “greedy” and “selfish”, and our apartheid schools in high-poverty districts as “failure factories”, he’s done everything possible to brainwash the general public into thinking our schools are overrun with bad teachers who must be held accountable.

He succeeded in getting a new evaluation system passed (my district uses Danielson)* that now tracks every pencil stroke of a student against their teacher. No stone is left unturned as administrators evaluate everything from how a teacher greets her students at the door, to whether students are able to solve their own social problems. And forget about expecting to be found ‘highly effective’ (a score of 4 on a 1-4 scale). Every teacher in New Jersey has been spoon-fed the mantra, “live in 3; vacation in 4”. To be highly effective, students pretty much have to teach themselves and solve their own problems. So, if you are a highly effective teacher, you essentially teach yourself into obsolescence. And yea, that’s totally reasonable, especially with kindergarteners.

Oh Charlotte, what have you done?

But no matter how hard teachers are trained in the new evaluation system, there are some things in our students’ lives that are simply beyond our control; that not even the best teacher in the world can fix.

WE CAN’T STUFF KNOWLEDGE INTO KIDS’ HEADS WHEN THEIR HOME LIVES ARE DYSFUNCTIONAL!

But for no-excuses Christie, that’s no excuse. Teachers must be held accountable! It’s our fault kids struggle to learn because they’re poor. It’s our fault their parents are going through a bitter divorce that keeps them up at night with worry. It’s our fault they have an undiagnosed learning disability. If we can just hold teachers to unreasonable standards, slash their budgets, and test kids til their brains turn to Jello, we will banish those bad teachers once and for all!

And while Gov. Christie gets to hire his staff, I, on the other hand, have no choice which students I teach. I MUST take them all regardless of what baggage they bring with them, and yet I MUST be held accountable for their academic performance.

Well, those who live by the accountability sword will die by the accountability sword. Gov. Christie unleashed the accountability monster, so it’s time for him to have a taste of his own medicine: he must be held accountable for Bridgegate.

I hereby declare Governor Chris Christie ‘ineffective’ on the Danielson rubric for politician effectiveness!

Gov. Christie, you are accountable to the people of New Jersey for surrounding yourself with a bunch of —(to use a word you admitted your mother used, and you called Assemblyman Reed Gusciora)—‘numbnuts’.

You are accountable to the people of New Jersey for hiring not one… not two… not three… but four incompetents. Talk about a failure factory! You hired them. You created a work environment that fostered this type of behavior. That speaks volumes about your ability not only to lead a state but—heaven forbid—a nation. I can just see it:

“Hey, Mr. President, that despot dictator won’t back down, so we created some traffic problems on his border with some Bradleys.”

It doesn’t matter that you looked at the camera all puppy dog-eyed and sad and told Diane Sawyer,

“I’m certainly disappointed in myself that I wasn’t able to pick up these traits in these people. I’m disappointed in myself that I didn’t look closer, that I trusted too much.”

You are accountable.

It doesn’t matter that a bogus investigation, paid for with $1 million of taxpayer money, exonerated you and slut-shamed Bridget Anne Kelly. You, sir, are accountable for her actions. (Oh, and can I deduct my portion of that $1 mil from my income taxes ‘cause I’d really like a refund.)

You must be held accountable for the millions of people who were late for work or school, and for the ambulance that could not answer a call in a timely manner because of your poor judgment. Four people behaved horrendously because of your poor judgment.

The buck stops with you, Governor. You can point your finger all you want. You can spray yourself with Teflon all you want. You can trash Bridget Kelly and deny being friends with David Wildstein all you want, but they didn’t act in a vacuum.

‘I didn’t know’ is right up there with ‘the dog ate my homework’. You are ineffective. You need to go.

* If anyone has a link to the Danielson rubric that shows all the domains, please send me the link. I’ve only been able to find a PDF.

How does Gov. Christie sleep at night?

As governor, Chris Christie has done a lot of truly awful things to the people of New Jersey in the past 5 years, but even more egregious than promulgating the myth of ‘failing schools’, demonizing teachers and other public employees, leaving Sandy victims sinking without a life boat, calling a Navy Seal an ‘idiot’, telling the press to ‘take a bat out’ on a 78-year old grandmother (who just happens to be the Senate Majority leader), turning his back on the poor, minorities, the middle and working classes, seniors, the LGBT community, commuters, and the homeless, surrounding himself (there are still no dots connecting him) with irresponsible, vindictive, selfish and, dare I say anti-semitic, staff who would put millions of George Washington Bridge commuters at risk for juvenile, political sport, is the report out of the New York Times and picked up by Rachel Maddow Tuesday that he actually gave away pieces of the World Trade Center as political carrots to the top 20 mayors on his  ‘must-get’ endorsements list.

Governor Christie cares so much about winning that he’s willing to trade off pieces of hallowed ground—a burial site—for political favors. It's like FDR giving away pieces of The USS Arizona.

Everyone who lives in the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut metro area has a 6-degrees of separation story about 9/11. Everyone knows someone who knew someone who lost someone or saved someone. When that anniversary rolls around, millions of emotional scabs get ripped off. On any given day, the site of the two reflecting pools, edged with the names of all the victims is quiet and somber. Flowers and other mementos are left on the perfectly engraved names by friends and family who never forget and who will never fully heal. For all intents and purposes, it’s a sacred site for many who never got closure, whose loved one’s remains were never found. And every piece of wreckage should be treated as if it, in some way, is imbued with their spirit.

Ever walk past FDNY Ten House? Engine Company 10 Ladder Company 10 is right across the street from the World Trade Center site. They lost 5 members on 9/11. On the front wall of the newly re-built firehouse is this enormous bronze tribute to the fallen heroes of that day: New York's bravest.  Wonder how they feel knowing that the governor of New Jersey has treated their fallen brothers and sisters with such disrespect?

                                

Three years ago while on the campaign trail, I stopped at a firehouse in the 16^th district where, unbeknownst to me, a piece of the World Trade Center had been presented a few days earlier. (I'm trying to find out whether that mayor was on Christie’s list.) I walked into the room and saw a hulking piece of twisted steel and immediately knew what it was. That’s the kind of unconscious hold those buildings had on the tens of millions of us who took them for granted every day. They were our beacon on the Turnpike, guiding us home from a long day’s journey or a long day’s commute. They were the watchtowers of the tri-state, standing guard over commuters and travelers alike. They were our Mt. Everest and K-2. They simply were… Until they weren’t.

I took this picture back in the '80s. It's been on my refrigerator for years.

And in a slow motion split second, they were replaced with smoke and ash and fire, and screaming and running, and tangled piles of twisted steel and broken glass, broken bodies and broken hearts, fighter jets chasing after ghosts, the acrid smell of jet fuel mixed with so much death… and all that fluttering paper.

And then came the eerie silence that enveloped us like a tomb. With so many airports, the sound of airplanes is like white noise to those of us living in this part of the country. When it stopped for several days afterward, the silence was deafening. And with it came the smoldering pile, the shattered lives, the numbness, the nation at war, and the thousands of brave men and women who would sacrifice their lives—and continue to do so—in a war that was started in the wrong country for the wrong reasons.

I grew up in the shadow of the World Trade Center. I watched it get built every day as I walked to St. Stephen’s School along Chestnut Street in Kearny, rising higher and higher over the New York skyline before the view of lower Manhattan was partially obscured by the garbage dumps that claimed the meadowlands.

My very first day of teaching ever was 9/11. I sat at the front door of the school signing students out all day. From where I sat, I had a clear view of rt. 78, and I watched as police, fire and rescue vehicles raced east to an unknown fate. I wonder how many of those brave men and women made it back home to hug their spouse or their children?

Governor Christie gave away pieces of our collective souls to win political favor, to win an election. How can anyone in their right mind call this leadership? How does Gov. Christie sleep at night?

Excuse me, as Rachel Maddow suggested, I have to go take a shower.

Note: I did an online search to find the list of mayors, and emailed Matt Flegenheimer, one of the writers of the NYT story, to see if he has a copy. As of this posting I have not heard back.