New Jersey, Camden | featured news

A month ago, Gov. Christie's senior staff members laid out the pros and cons of taking over New Jersey's worst-performing school district: Camden. Christie sat alone in his office afterward and came to two conclusions. First, "enough is enough." He had heard calls for a state takeover when he campaigned in 2009 in Camden; his education commissioner, Chris Cerf, had long advocated the move. "Enough waiting, enough excuses, enough of the blame game," Christie recalled thinking.

Officials in Camden, N.J,. say that their unionized police department is too expensive, so they are disbanding it to free up millions for a nonunionized force to safeguard the city.

A national study ranks the New Jersey city of Camden as the nation's most dangerous city in 2008.