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10-6-10 p.m. 'Ex-education chief says Christie was focused on battle with NJEA in Race to the Top application'
Star Ledger "The Race to the Top application has been about an accidental clerical error that cost the state $400 million. A deeper look at the state’s application may tell a different story..."

Star Ledger ‘Ex-education chief says Christie was focused on battle with NJEA in Race to the Top application’

Published: Wednesday, October 06, 2010, 8:25 PM     Updated: Wednesday, October 06, 2010, 9:56 PM

Star-Ledger Staff
The Race to the Top application has been about an accidental clerical error that cost the state $400 million. A deeper look at the state’s application may tell a different story.

Fired education commissioner Bret Schundler said, in interviews as he prepared to testify before the state Senate Thursday morning, the bigger problem was Gov. Chris Christie’s insistence on perpetuating his battle with New Jersey’s leading teachers union. If Christie had permitted Schundler to submit a Race to the Top application endorsed by the New Jersey Education Association, the state would have racked up more than enough points to win money in the competition for federal education reform dollars — despite the mistake that Schundler has taken the blame for.

"We have an opportunity to win here, with union support, which is a rare thing," Schundler said he told Christie. "He said he didn’t care about the money … He said he hadn’t gone through hell with (the NJEA) so he could then cave in to them now."

Schundler’s remarks shed new light on the controversial events of Memorial Day weekend when he and the NJEA announced a surprising agreement on the federal grant application’s proposals. Almost immediately, the governor reneged on the deal and filed a different submission in Washington, one which the teachers union opposed. At the time, Schundler took the blame for acting without the governor’s approval, a mea culpa that allowed him to keep his job even as some Trenton insiders suggested Christie would dismiss him right then.

Christie spokeswoman Maria Comella would not comment on Schundler’s statements.

NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer said the union had been willing to make concessions.

"But that wasn’t enough for the governor," Wollmer said. "The governor made clear that he wasn’t interested in any of that collaboration. He basically said, ‘I don’t care.’"

The Race to the Top application and ultimate loss has been the most damaging controversy to hit the young Christie administration. It preoccupied the governor and his top aides both in the run-up to the June submission and then took up weeks of their attention after the loss was announced in August.

New Jersey lost the federal aid competition by three points. And days later Christie fired Schundler, saying the former education commissioner had misled him about information requested by federal reviewers during an in-person presentation of the state’s grant application.

Christie has since declared the Race to the Top saga over, but the state Legislature -- controlled by opposition Democrats — doesn’t see it that way. Lawmakers have held two hearings so far, and what may be the most explosive session is scheduled to being at 9 a.m. Thursday when Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) calls Schundler to testify after he was subpoenaed to appear. The Senate has also subpoenaed Wireless Generation, a consultant paid to assist in drafting the application.

"We want all the circumstances surrounding the application, the events leading up to it, the process, everything involved in the application and the aftermath. And when the governor pulled the rug out from everyone," Buono said today.

As Schundler begins testifying, Wireless Generation and state officials are scheduled to be in state Superior Court after Wireless today filed a motion to kill or delay the deadline on the Senate’s subpoena.

Schundler said he will tell senators the changes by Christie’s team in the final application made it impossible for the NJEA to sign on but made little substantive difference. Christie balked at Schundler’s deal with the NJEA on merit pay for teachers and layoff rules.

Christie was livid, saying he had not been briefed on what Schundler was doing and the then-commissioner was not authorized to work out such an arrangement. Schundler, however, said he will testify Thursday that he briefed Richard Bagger, the governor’s chief of staff, on nearly all of his discussions with the NJEA, except for the final terms on the rules governing teacher layoffs in which the state softened its public position. Even so, Schundler said, Bagger was told about that before it was announced. Plus, Schundler said the deal was a good one for the state because it allowed the NJEA to endorse the application — something that could have been worth 15 additional points in the final judging.

"It seemed like a no-brainer," Schundler said.

Christie became enraged after hearing radio host Jim Gearhart on New Jersey 101.5 FM bash the compromise as catering to the NJEA, Schundler said, adding that Christie phoned and said any notion of a compromise with the union would be "politically lethal" for him.

When Schundler told Christie that the state conceded on "almost nothing," Christie became "even madder."

By Jessica Calefati and Josh Margolin/The Star-Ledger