BY MICHAEL HAYNE

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Governor Christie was made famous for his Ralph Kramden meets Tony Soprano eruptions towards teachers, which were all conveniently caught on video and posted to his YouTube page. Heck--it could be said that he was a professional YouTube screamer during his first couple years in office, as his all out war against teacher's unions was something reminiscent of King Kong goes to Washington. Even though teachers haven't exactly been living the life of a Kardashian, they have been forced to contend with less pay and a degraded profession.

So here are 3 reasons why N.J. teachers are getting less pay:

1. Budget pressures of the 2 percent cap on property tax increases. According to a spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association, "The state is not a limitless source and districts can't look to property taxes for a large increase in funding."(Northjersey.com)

2. Chipping in more for health benefits. The Pension and Health Benefits Reform of 2011 that became law means that teachers have to contribute 2 percent of their salaries towards their pensions and health benefits. Some unions have also agreed to a range of concessions, such as adding an extra school day, lengthening the workday by 15 minutes, and shaving tuition reimbursements for taking outside courses. And, of course, the majority of teachers pay out-of-pocket for school supplies.

3. Fewer raises and wage freezes. 43 percent of districts have raises of 2 percent or less this year, including seven statewide, with a wage freeze, according to a study of 329 contracts. Patterson, for example, has been going without a contract for four years now and its Superintendent feels that low employee morale is hurting student achievement.