Christie at the Latino Coalition

Gov. Chris Christie, speaking at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., said the Latino community must be willing to "start offending people" in order to improve the nation's education system. (Christopher Baxter | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

(Christopher Baxter | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

WASHINGTON — Burnishing his own inroads with Latinos in New Jersey during his re-election bid, Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday urged the community's most powerful business leaders to flex their political muscle and "start offending people" to fix the country's education system.

"This can't be an intellectual conversation alone, everybody," Christie told the Latino Coalition at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington D.C.. "You've got to decide you want to stand up and fight for better schools for your kids. That's going to mean breaking some china."

Christie, fresh off a victory over the state's unions in a major public employee pension court case, said the country's fast-growing Latino community needed politicians on their side in order to ensure their children did not get lost in an ailing public education system.

He touted his fights with the New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, which he said was a symbol of everything that stands in the way of ideas such as extending the school day and school year, and giving parents more school choice.

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"It's not going to be a croquet match, everybody," Christie said. "This is going to be more like rugby. So if you're ready to start offending people in order to achieve a greater goal, you've found the right guy. I'm here to offend people with you."

A spokesman for the NJEA, Steve Baker, said if Christie wanted a symbol of what was wrong with public education in New Jersey "he should check in his mirror."

"Gov. Christie has underfunded public schools — and particularly urban schools — by nearly $7 billion since he took office," Baker said. "He's doubled down on a disastrous high-stakes testing regime that disrupted weeks of instructional time and alienated parents across New Jersey this spring."

Christie, who is widely expected to announce a run for president in the coming weeks, made no mention of immigration or his recent reversal on Common Core education standards, which he supported during his first term but which he has since declared are not working.

Instead, he offered the crowd an explanation of what he did to earn 51 percent of the Latino vote in New Jersey, speaking of meetings with community leaders who he said asked him to reduce government regulations, increase access to capital through local and state banks, and bolster the ranks of Latinos in politics and state government positions.

The governor, as he has on many occasions, fashioned himself as someone who was willing to engage with people who may never support him and to talk with the Latino community in a way that was more welcoming than the Republican Party has been in the past.

"My party, quite frankly, has been guilty in some respects of speaking in a way that doesn't sound very welcoming to new members," Christie said.

Christie's courtship of Latinos in New Jersey hasn't been without disagreements.

His relationship with one of his primary allies, Martin Perez, hit a bump earlier this year when the well-known Garden State Latino activist and president of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, accused Christie pandering to the "extreme right of the Republican Party" after he joined governors in three states in a court brief opposing the federal government's request to implement executive orders seeking amnesty for some unauthorized immigrants.

Christie has brushed off the remarks, saying he and Perez don't agree on everything.

Gov. Chris Christie speaks about academic standards in N.J., May 28, 2015 17 Gallery: Gov. Chris Christie speaks about academic standards in N.J., May 28, 2015

Christopher Baxter may be reached at cbaxter@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cbaxter1. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.