Christie stalling while educators languish on unemployment rolls
With just a few days left before classes start this fall, Gov. Christie is inexplicably dragging his feet on completing a slam-dunk application for $268 million. The federal money, already approved by Congress, would put 3,900 laid off school employees back to work.
More than two weeks after publicly questioning whether he would apply for the money at all, he continues to stall. His indefensible delay threatens to leave 3,900 New Jersey school employees on the unemployment rolls rather than working in our schools in September.
Although many states have already signed and submitted their applications, Gov. Christie indicated last Monday that he still needs more time to prepare and submit New Jersey’s application.
That is odd, considering that the entire application consists of a single question. Here it is:
It really is as simple as that. Check a box. Sign your name. Write the date. The whole application fits on 3 pages, and two of those pages are simply an explanation of how states are required to use the money.
Nevada’s
Republican governor had that state’s application finished on August 16. Alabama’s Republican governor submitted his application on August 20. Even the Lieutenant Governor of American Samoa managed to submit an application on August 16.
But as of today New Jersey’s governor is still waffling and stalling, protesting that he still has until next week to get the application in. Why does he think that putting 3,900 professionals back to work won’t be a "measurable help" to the state’s struggling economy?
The answer is growing clearer every day. Chris Christie apparently wants to financially starve New Jersey’s public schools, and use scarce funding to advance his ideological agenda. He seems to take delight in slashing their budgets, no matter what the educational or human cost of his massive cuts. The $268 million allocated to New Jersey closes only a small part of the $1.3 billion hole Gov. Christie has blown in school budgets since February. But for a governor intent on slashing, it’s a personal insult when anyone challenges the wisdom of his budget priorities.
Gov. Christie appears willing to put 3,900 jobs at risk to prove a point. He’s willing to leave 3,900 New Jersey families struggling and sacrifice a better education for New Jersey’s children because he’d rather see educators collecting unemployment in September than working in New Jersey’s schools.
Those are his priorities, not New Jersey’s. They certainly are not the priority of the 78% of New Jersey parents who told Zogby pollsters that the state should invest more in public education, not less.
Gov. Christie needs to apply for the funding today. He needs to direct his Commissioner of Education, Bret Schundler, to tell districts immediately how much they will receive, so they can start rehiring school employees now. If he doesn’t, there is only one possible conclusion: he really does think that 3,900 jobs just don’t matter. New Jersey residents know better.