This [Robert Treat Academy Charter School] is a model that we should replicate all over the state of New Jersey, everywhere. And there is no reason that it cannot be replicated. That’s been my frustration over time with the educational bureaucracy in the state. It is not as if we’re walking around in a dark room and saying, ‘I wish we could just find the light switch.’ The light switch is on. It’s here.

Governor-Elect Chris Christie speaking yesterday at the Robert Treat Academy, a charter school in Newark with over 1000 kids on the waiting list, superb test scores, and a cost per pupil of $11,833. (Cost per pupil in a traditional Newark public school is $17,978.) See also the Foundation for Education Reform & Accountability’s Thomas W. Carroll in the Huffington Post. Carroll speculates on whether Christie’s election will make N.J. a more serious contender for Race To The Top funds (Corzine approved only 1 out of 22 charter school applications in 2008, which definitely gets in our way in the education reform arena) and how Christie’s win will effect Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s gubernatorial ambitions.