New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie has a flare for provoking controversy. In his recent State of the State address, he ignited a firestorm with his views on tough positions on education. Citing the need to improve schools while cutting back on governments spending, the governor called for the elimination of teacher tenure. In addition, he drew sharp criticism from parents, unions and legislators for his views regarding school vouchers and his plan to tie merit pay for teachers to student performance.

The president of a New York-based educational advocacy group says Christie’s proposals are not breaking any new ground. Other states have tackled these issues with mixed results. Bi-partisan efforts in Colorado, Oklahoma and Arizona have resulted in legislation that uses performance – not seniority – as a deciding factor in teacher layoffs. Other states have lengthened the probationary period before tenure is granted and some have tightened standards that have resulted in expanding causes both dismissal and contract termination.

However, because of his growing prominence in the national political stage, the governor’s speech created somewhat of a media storm and thrust New Jersey into the center of the national debate over education. In an interview with the New York Times, Christie stated that teacher quality was the single most important factor in the classroom.

“All the rest of the stuff helps, enhances the process,” he said. “Parental involvement, the atmosphere in the school, the level of technology, all the rest of that enhances it. But if you don’t have a good teacher in front of the classroom, all the rest of that stuff is a sideshow.”

In the interview the governor softened his stance on abolishing tenure, suggesting that teachers be given five-year contracts. “And at the end of five years, you know, up or down, are you kept or aren’t you, based on a merit decision,” he said.

Vouchers and charter schools are also part of the Christie education agenda, and the governor is in powerful company. Both the Obama administration and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have expressed interest in expanding student options by creating more charter schools. Under the Christie plan, students in poor performing schools would be given vouchers that would provide scholarships to be used at alternative schools. Funding would come from private corporations that would receive tax credits in exchange for participation.

But some experts argue that previous voucher experiments have had mixed results, with questionable evidence regarding actual improvement in student performance. In addition, many educators voice concern that voucher programs could result in draining vital resources from public schools. Governor Christie’s proposals to institute vouchers and to eliminate teacher tenure would need the approval of the New Jersey legislature and this might be difficult, considering the power of the teacher’s unions and other labor organizations.

Randi Weingarten, president of the influential American Federation of Teachers, noted that with more states undergoing severe budget shortfalls, teacher protections have come under fire.

“The governors that are trying to roll back collective bargaining or other kinds of workers’ rights are using their state budget crises as an excuse to do that,” she said.

In New Jersey, a spokesperson for the state’s largest teachers’ union reacted strongly to the governor’s initiatives. “All I can say is that this is very bad education policy, and very bad public policy,” he said.

However, don’t expect Governor Christie to roll to criticism. “Teaching can no longer be the only profession where you have no rewards for excellence and no consequences for failure to perform,” he said in his state-of-the-state address. “…The time to eliminate teacher tenure is now.”