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After $400 Million Oops, Christie Fires Education Commish
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 27, 2010
Modified Aug 27, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 27, 2010
Modified Aug 27, 2010
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Days after an error on NJ's Race to the Top application for hundreds of millions in federal education funds became widely publicized, NJ Governor Chris Christie has fired his education commissioner, former Jersey City mayor Bret Schundler. In fact, Schundler's photograph has already been taken off the NJ Department of Education website (but you can see it via Way Back Machine). Schundler apparently refused to resign, so Christie canned him, because Schundler seemingly lied about what happened during the RTT presentation.
Some background: NJ fell short of receiving federal funds; it trailed Ohio by three points, and Ohio won $400 million. The Star-Ledger pointed out that NJ lost 4.8 points on a section asking for 2008 and 2009 budget numbers because NJ submitted budget numbers for 2010 and 2011. After asking Schundler what happened with the error, Christie came out swinging after the Star-Ledger's report, saying the Schundler corrected the mistake during the presentation and accused President Obama and federal DOE officials of bureaucracy.
However, a video of the presentation showed that Schundler never corrected the mistake. According to the Star-Ledger, "After Christie and other top officials on Thursday watched the video of Schundler and other officials' presentation to the U.S. Department of Education, and the video contradicted Schundler's explanation, the governor said, 'He can't lie to me,' the source said." Christie directed his chief of staff to asked Schundler to resign; Schundler reportedly initially agreed, but Christie never got a resignation so by this morning, "Christie grew tired of waiting, and ordered Schundler fired, the source said."
Christie said, "As I have said before, I never promised the people of New Jersey that this would be a mistake-free administration. However, I did promise that the people serving in my administration would be held accountable for their actions.” It's also suggested that NJ lost points in its application because of his poor relationship with the teachers union.
Tagged
BRet Schundler
Chris Christie
error
governor christie
nj
race to the top
Race to the top funding
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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