newjerseynewsroom.com

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Gov. Chris Christie's concern that he was being criticized publicly for appearing to cave into demands of the state teachers' union ultimately cost the state the opportunity to receive $400 million in federal education aid, Bret Schundler declared Thursday.

In an appearance before the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee in Trenton, the ousted state Education Commissioner, who was fired by Christie after the so-called "Race to the Top'' funding application finished out of the money in August, said the governor killed a compromise that led to the key endorsement of the bid by the New Jersey Education Association because, in part, he heard a radio talk show host charge he was caving into the union.

Schundler said Christie decision to have the Department of Education back out of the compromise, which led to the NJEA to withdraw its support of the application, cost the state 14 points in the competition. In the end, the application lost by 3 points.

"He (Christie) was saying we caved into the union,'' Schundler said. "I was saying the union caved in on these points. He was saying the union had demeaned him and after all of their attacks on him, he was not going through fire (for the NJEA). He stressed that for quite a period of time."

Schundler said Christie backed off the compromise knowing it would hurt the application. "The union gave us everything we wanted,'' Schundler said. "I was surprised when the governor called in a loud voice. The governor got very caviler about the money. The money (the $400 million) was three times the (education) department's annual operating budget. With the Race to the Top funding, we planned to use to provide considerable savings to school districts.''

Schundler said, "At the close of the conversation, the governor ultimately said he was upset that we had allowed victory (getting the NJEA to endorse the application) to be spun as defeat. My view on that was they will spin it how they want to spin it no matter what and that we have plenty of time to talk about how we didn‘t cave in.

The former education commissioner said the compromise involved how any federal aid would be distributed and an agreement to that if teachers face layoffs, that it be done by seniority instead of by the quality of an educator's teaching ability. He said he did not believe the compromise on layoffs hindered Christie's education platform.

"I tried to make it clear that we could go back and try to implement the reform (allowing layoffs by ability) and that if we had the union on board with us it would be enough to win millions of dollars," Schundler said.

Schundler said the DOE planned to provide 50 percent of any federal aid to school districts and give the other 50 percent to teachers or teacher teams who are attempting to educate struggling students.

Recounting the events that led to his firing on Aug. 27, Schundler reiterated that he reminded Christie and Chief of Staff Richard Bagger several times not to tell the news media that a mistake on the application concerning how the state funds education was verbally corrected by Schundler during a meeting with federal education officials in Washington.

Schundler said Christie on two occasions publicly stated the mistake had been corrected verbally. When a videotape of the Washington meeting showed that Schundler did not correct the mistake, Christie fired the education commissioner for lying to him.

"The governor made the statement in support of an argument he was trying to drive home,'' Schundler said. "I talked to the governor and Richard Bagger before hand. The next day, rather than acknowledge his culpability for the mistake, he opted to fire me."

Schundler said that after he was fired, he realized he had made an editing mistake that eliminated the education funding information from the application.

"I'll accept being fired for that,'' he said, "but I will not accept being fired by the governor (on the charge he had lied), that is totally unacceptable.''

At a press conference in Trenton, Christie described Schundler's testimony as a lie.

Commenting on the hearing, Michael Drewniak, Christie's press secretary, said, "The Democrats' hearing today is the worst kind of political theater Trenton has to offer. It's another diversionary sideshow conducted at the expense of New Jerseyans who want real, immediate action on important reform measures that have otherwise been stalled in the Legislature.

"For reasons unknown the bold reform plan Governor Christie unveiled over the past month — ethics reform, pension and benefits reform and education reform — continues to be ignored while Democrats in both houses engage in a partisan circus,'' Drewniak added. "The real question today is why this Democratically controlled Legislature refuses to act and deliver solutions on the issues that matter most to New Jerseyans."

Asked for a reaction to Schundler's charge that Christie's decision to kill the NJEA compromise hurt the application, Drewniak said, "It was well established long before today's rehash hearing that Bret Schundler acted on his own and without authority of the governor and made significant changes in the application. Those changes fell far short of the education reforms the governor has long endorsed and now seeks to implement for New Jersey children.

"It was also established long before today's political circus hearing that this administration's application ultimately earned more than 34 points above the first-round RTTT (Race to the Top) application submitted by the Corzine administration,'' Drewniak said. "Finally, it is very well known by now that our application failed by fewer than 5 points due to an error that former Commissioner Schundler admitted causing on his own. No revisionist history can change these facts."

After the hearing, Buono said, "With former commissioner Schundler finally able to speak freely, we have been able to hear the exhaustive point-by-point details as to what went wrong for the first time. And the answer seems to be plenty.

"It's unconscionable that the Race to the Top application was rewritten more with an eye towards punishing the NJEA than it was towards rewarding our schools,' Buono said. "It's unconscionable that an application that meant so much was created and edited in a piecemeal fashion, and never once given the final thorough reading it deserved. It's unconscionable that the decision to scrap a hard-won compromise that would have propelled our application was based on the criticisms of a radio talk-show host. And, it's unconscionable that $400 million for our schools took a back seat to politics.

"It's easy for the governor to call Mr. Schundler's testimony a lie at a press conference,'' Buono added. "But until anyone from the administration subjects themselves to the same rules Mr. Schundler did this morning, those are just more words from an administration that has tried in vain at every turn to subvert the Legislature's investigatory power as a coequal branch of government."

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian said of Schundler's testimony, "Today, Bret Schundler confirmed under oath what many people have known for months. Governor Christie placed politics above the best interests of New Jersey's students and taxpayers when he torpedoed a collaborative Race to the Top application rather than allowing even the appearance of cooperation with educators on an important educational policy decision.

"Governor Christie owes the students and taxpayers of New Jersey an explanation for why he told Commissioner Schundler ‘the money was not worth it' if it meant he would be subject to criticism .... on NJ 101.5. It is a sad day for New Jersey when the opinion of a radio talk show host counts for more than the knowledge and input of professional educators on matters that are this important."

The Senate review of the Race to the Top failure began in state Superior Court in Trenton when Judge Linda Feinberg denied a motion by Wireless Generation, a consultant on the application, to quash a subpoena issued by the upper house to appear with Schundler before the Legislative Oversight Committee.

The start of the committee was delayed nearly an hour while legislators awaited Feinberg's ruling. When it finally began, Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex), the chairwoman, and Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean (R-Essex), a committee member, got into a loud argument over the panel's power to issue subpoenas and a request to seat Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Passaic) as a member in place of a vacationing Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth).

As Buono denied Kean's motions, their voices became louder. At one point, Buono said, "Senator Kean stop making this something we are not going to be proud of.'' She then warned Kean that she would have him removed from the hearing room if he kept arguing.

It was the first time since 1993 that a state legislative committee has used its subpoena power.

Buono unexpctedly adjourned the hearing after a lunch break, and announced that state Acting Education Commissioner Rochelle Hendricks had advised her she would not be providing documents the committee had requested. Buono said a second hearing will be held after legislators decide how to deal with Hendricks' position.

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