Education funding should be a priority

To the editor:

It is simply outrageous to see Chris Christie touting his education record as governor of New Jersey. This is a governor who time and time again has played political football with education policy, all to benefit wealthy corporations at the expense of hardworking students.

Case in point: instead of investing in public schools and students' futures, in 2010 Gov. Christie opted to gut more than $1 billion from New Jersey public schools, a move that clearly violated the state's school funding formula. Gov. Christie's decision to substantially underfund New Jersey schools put thousands of low-income students at a disadvantage. To make matters worse, while he was slashing education funding, he was giving handouts by the billions in unnecessary tax breaks to big businesses. Prioritizing wealthy corporations before disenfranchised students is reprehensible, but that's the real education record he's come to tout. Iowans ought to know better. Fellow Iowans, proud of our public education history, get out there and hear the candidates. Support the ones that support all our children, regardless of their Zip code.

Kristi Keast

Mount Vernon