"School choice proponent Bret Schundler will be Gov.-elect Chris Christie's pick to serve as New Jersey's education commissioner.

A person with direct knowledge of the nomination says Schundler will join Christie at an afternoon news conference Wednesday. The person was not authorized to speak ahead of the announcement.

Schundler has taken on national and state teachers unions in the past. Like the incoming governor, he is a proponent of giving parents more choices on where to send their children to school.

The former Jersey City mayor launched an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for governor in 2005.

Schundler is chief operating officer of The King's College. The Christian liberal arts school is located in the Empire State Building.