After making a bid for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal education reform money, New Jersey fell three points short of receiving "Race to the Top" funding. The reason for falling shored was an error in one page the Christie administration's almost 2,000 page application. A question on the application asked for budget information comparing the 2008 and 2009 school years. However, the state submitted information comparing the current year to 2011.That mistake cost the state 4.8 points and the federal funding.
Christie took full responsibility for the mistake and then went off on the stupidity of federal bureaucracy:
“This is the stuff, candidly, that drives people crazy about government and crazy about Washington,” Christie said at a news conference after an unrelated bill signing.Watch Christie's common sense reaction to the application error on the video below
Christie slapped two thick three-ringed binders on the podium containing more than 1,000 pages of the state's “Race to the Top” application and appendices, noting that just one piece of paper contained the error.
“The first part of it is the mistake of putting the wrong piece of paper in," Christie said. "It drives people crazy and, believe me, I’m not thrilled about it. But the second part is, does anybody in Washington, D.C. have a lick of common sense? Pick up the phone and ask us for the number.”
New Jersey narrowly lost out on the funding, placing three points behind Ohio – the lowest scoring state to receive funds. But on its application, New Jersey lost 4.8 points by submitting budget information on school funding for 2010 and 2011 instead of 2008 and 2009, as the application requested.
Christie said officials at the U.S. Department of Education could have easily either called New Jersey or found the information on the internet. State Education Commissioner Bret Schundler gave the correct information to the U.S. Department of Education when giving his presentation two weeks ago, Christie said.
“That’s the stuff the Obama administration should answer for. Are you guys just down there checking boxes like mindless drones, or are you thinking?” said Christie. “When the president comes back to New Jersey, he’s going to have to explain to the people of the state of New Jersey why he’s depriving them of $400 million that this application earned.”
Christie said the mistake was made by a mid-level official at the state Department of Education, and that he would not name him because he did not want to scapegoat anyone. “We’ll take the responsibility we need to take for putting one wrong piece of paper in a thousand page application,” he said. “If you want to take shots, take shots at me.
One can't help but wonder if that phone call wasn't made because the reviewers were mindless drones, or because of Christie's well known battles with the teachers unions. Maybe the president is punishing New Jersey because their governor is trying to restore fiscal stability to the state's bottom line.
4 comments:
The woman over his right shoulder looks scared to death, like maybe she made the error and her only punishment was to stand up there while Christie explained what happened.
Guessing, but she almost *gulps* when Christie say "I won't fire the person for it..."
Obama/osama is so edgy and vengeful: he is a typical mahound!
Mindless drones is a understatement. South Dakota missed out on this same funding because we are "too rural". This is a state loaded with third-world non-English speakers and Native American children who desperately need a good solid education in order to escape the misery of the reservation, but we are "too rural".
I am a long-time NJ resident and conservative, but Chris Christie is a fat joke. He has raised the deficit even higher than his predecessor but masquerades as a conservative, further weakening the movement. He is a disgrace.
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