Reporting
Marcia Kramer

TEANECK, N.J. (CBS) ¯

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's take-no-prisoners demand for education cuts got him a whole lot more than he bargained for -- a death wish.

It was in a controversial e-mail sent by the Bergen County Teachers Union to its members asking that Christie be "taken" by the Lord.

In seven years as the Garden State's pugnacious U.S. Attorney, Christie got only two death threats -- from the bloods and the crips.

It took only three months as governor for an adversary to wish him six feet under.

"To have the leader of the Bergen County Teachers Union send out an e-mail to their 17,000 members asking them to pray for my death I think just goes beyond the pale," Christie said.

The e-mail in question was sent by Bergen County Education Association president Joseph Coppola in the form of a prayer, which said:

"Dear lord,' this year you have taken away my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael Jackson, and my favorite salesman, Billy Mays. I just wanted to let you know that Chris Christie is my favorite governor."

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Christie got a swift apology.

"While it was intended as a joke I recognize that it was in poor taste, bad taste and was definitely an error of poor judgment and I sincerely apologize to the governor," Coppola said.

Bergen County residents seemed stunned.

"That's a horrible thing. No one should ever wish for anyone's death," said Ayelet Forman of Teaneck.

"I mean what he's doing is wrong when it comes to school but the whole letter, that's just ridiculous. That's going overboard with it. It really is," added Fredricka McGill of Hackensack.

The governor agreed.

"I'm sure that there are going to be teachers all across New Jersey when they learn about this today are going to be ashamed," Christie said.

Apology or no apology, at the end of the day the governor and the teachers are still going to be at odds. He wants cuts that they don't agree with.

Among other things Gov. Christie wants the teachers to give up is a 4 percent raise they are supposed to get and make bigger contributions to health care. Teachers say they are willing to meet with Christie.