ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - Members of New Jersey’s largest teachers’ union cheered Gov.-elect Phil Murphy on Friday as the Democrat promised a kinder relationship than the union had with Republican Gov. Chris Christie.
Murphy spoke at the annual New Jersey Education Association convention in Atlantic City, and said voters have demanded a different direction.
“They want an end to the name-calling and the disrespect,” he said. “As a state and nation, we are better than this.”
Christie’s eight years in office were punctuated by sparring with the union.
Murphy promised that his administration is going to stop underinvesting in public schools. He has vowed to increase state aid to schools by applying a funding formula established in 2008 but not fully paid for by Christie. Some details of the plan have been ambiguous.
He has called for new tax revenue of $1.3 billion, including higher rates on millionaires and the legalization and taxation of marijuana, to fund public pension and school costs.
Murphy did not address how he will work with state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, who the teachers’ union spent millions of dollars trying to unseat. The Democrat won re-election on Tuesday.
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