Christie Among Guests to Appear on Live MSNBC Broadcast from FLHS

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will be at for a “special town hall meeting” Friday morning as one of many guests on the live broadcasts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and Way Too Early, according to producers.

Gov. Jack Markell, D-Del., Gov. Dannel Malloy, D-Conn. and Students First founder Michelle Rhee, among others, will join Christie on the live broadcast from the high school gymnasium.

The discussion will focus on education reform.

“The show will also look at the Fort Lee school district’s student achievement improvements and innovative use of technology to drive instruction,” according to producers. “The panel will also address the steps needed to combat the bullying epidemic among children and teens.”

According to the Morning Joe website, guests will also include Mike Barnicle, Harold Ford Jr., Rev. Al Sharpton, Mike Allen, Howard Dean, Jon Meacham, Cami Anderson, Randi Weingarten, Deborah Kenny, Elaine Wynn, Melissa Harris-Perry and Jose Diaz-Balart.

Fort Lee’s Interim Superintendent of Schools, Steven Engravalle, who’s also scheduled to appear on the show Friday, said he’s been “a very big supporter of the education reforms that we’re attempting to undertake on a national, as well as a local level, to improve our practice and improve our profession and what I feel is the most important profession in the world.”

“I guess that didn’t go unrecognized,” Engravalle said, adding that the governor’s office reached out to him, asking if he would appear with Christie on the show.

Engravalle said he was honored, and that the governor’s office then reached out to MSNBC, which scouted the high school auditorium and gymnasium, “and they loved it” he said.

“One thing led to another, and we now have a full television studio set up in our gymnasium,” Engravalle told Patch Thursday. “We’re proud to showcase all the great things that are happening in Fort Lee High School and all of our efforts to improve education for our kids.”

He added, “I couldn’t be prouder to represent New Jersey education, and to be there to be a face for what is great about Fort Lee.”

Way Too Early with Willie Geist airs on MSNBC from 5:30 to 6 a.m.; Morning Joe follows from 6 to 9 a.m.

Attendance at the live broadcast at the high school is by invitation only.