NJEA’s Communications Director Stephen Wollmer sat down with NJToday’s Managing Editor Mike Schneider to respond to Gov. Chris Christie’s attack on the union and the governor’s call for Executive Director Vincent Giordano to resign.

The controversy stems from comments Giordano made Sunday on NJTV. Giordano was discussing options for parents of children in failing school districts, saying that all parents have the opportunity to take their children out of those districts. When it was brought up that many in urban areas couldn’t afford other options, Giordano replied, “Life’s not always fair and I’m sorry about that.”

Gov. Christie pounced on Giordano’s statement yesterday after a town hall meeting in Westfield, saying “I cannot express how disgusted I am by that statement by the head of the largest teachers’ union in our state.” He added, “He [Giordano] should resign today.”

Wollmer said the governor has been attacking teachers and the NJEA since he came into office because they stand in the way of the governor’s agenda to privatize education.

Wollmer attempted to clarify Giordano’s controversial statement, saying it was uttered within a broader discussion of school vouchers. According to Wollmer, Giordano meant to say “the only way to give these kids the help that they need is to stay working in those public schools.” Wollmer called vouchers a strategy for abandoning public schools because resources are taken away from schools that are already disadvantaged.

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When it comes to discussing who’s done what for urban kids, Wollmer said it was “time to set the record straight.” The NJEA, he said, has for decades supported adequate funding, Abbott decisions, programs that help kids in the urban districts, and invested $4 billion in the Center for Teaching and Learning which has helped kids in Newark, Paterson and Jersey City.

The governor, on the other hand, has done nothing other than cut $1.4 billion in his first year and freeze over $3 billion in school construction and modernization money, said Wollmer

Christie has claimed that the union’s leader earns $500,000. But Wollmer said the correct number is $310,000.

When it was pointed out that the governor makes less in salary, Wollmer said “We don’t want to talk about the governor’s compensation. We don’t want to talk about the governor’s wife’s compensation. We’re not going to do that today.”

Wollmer refused to be pressed on the issue of salary, saying “it’s not about how much you make, its about what you do.” And the governor’s outrage on behalf of urban kids rings hollow to Wollmer. “He has done nothing but take money away from them. And now he’s trying to sell himself as the champion of urban education. That dog will not hunt.”

Related: Christie Calls for NJEA Executive Director’s Resignation