NJEA President Barbara Keshishian made the following statement:
“Today, Gov. Chris Christie made Education Commissioner Bret Schundler the latest scapegoat for his $400 million debacle. After days of blaming everyone from a ‘mid-level employee’ to the Obama Administration to NJEA for his failed Race to the Top application, the governor continues to deny responsibility for shortchanging our public schools.
“The governor can blame whomever he wants for his failure to secure a much-needed grant of $400 million for our schools, but this is what happens when you slap together an application instead of using a well-prepared, collaboratively constructed one. His application lost far more points for the failure to collaborate with educators than his ‘clerical error.’
“During his RTTT press conference, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, ‘the best ideas in education come from the local level.’ He said that people working in schools know the best ways to reform schools. That is why NJEA worked collaboratively with the Commissioner on our original application which included the correct budget data.
“A team of talented researchers and educators from NJEA worked closely with Commissioner Schundler in an effort to develop a winning ‘Race to the Top’ application. They combed through mountains of research, and on May 28, reached agreement with the Commissioner on an application that was research-based, educationally sound, and highly creative in areas like merit pay. More than 400 of our local associations also signed onto that application.
“Unfortunately, on June 1 – the deadline for the application – Gov. Christie rejected the application, and submitted his own without giving NJEA or other education groups the opportunity to read it and provide input. The Commissioner unilaterally removed our support.
“We expect that there will be another opportunity to apply. We hope that the governor will learn from his mistakes, make a fresh start, and instruct the next Commissioner of Education to sit down with stakeholders to prepare the state’s next application as the Race to the Top guidelines require. Together we can create a strong, winning application that brings sound reform and critical resources to New Jersey’s public schools.”