Senate Leadership Calls On Governor To Apologize For 'Attack On Federal Education Officials'

TRENTON – Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney and Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono sent a letter to Governor Chris Christie requesting that he apologize for the “disparaging and partisan attack on federal education officials” that he engaged in last week to rationalize the State’s error on the Race to the Top education funding application which ultimately cost New Jersey taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in federal school aid.

“I can understand that the Governor was upset about the prospect of losing hundreds of millions of dollars to help New Jersey communities which are reeling from his draconian state aid cuts in the FY 2011 Budget,” said Senate President Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem. “However, his comments about federal education regulators being ‘mindless drones’ was completely uncalled for, given that the State’s failure was ours’ and ours’ alone. It’s time for the Governor to man up and admit the mistake of his Administration, rather than engage in divisive rhetoric which only serves to damage our relationship with the federal government.”

Buono: Schundler Firing Takes Controversy Down 'An Entirely New Path'

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono today said she will invite former Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, who was fired this morning by Governor Christie, to testify before the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee when it convenes to look into the missteps that doomed the state’s Race to the Top application.

The hearing will be held Sept 23. Yesterday, Majority Leader Buono filed a request through the Open Public Records Act for all documents related to the Race to the Top application. The goal of the hearing will be to ensure that, going forward, similar applications are handled with proper and adequate oversight before being submitted.

Ruiz Statement On Former Commissioner Schundler

TRENTON – Senator Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), chair of the Senate Education Committee and vice chair of the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee, released the following statement on Commissioner Bret Schundler’s departure from the Department of Education:

“Firing someone provides no answers as to how we submitted an inaccurate application to the federal government for critical education funding.

Sweeney Praises Port Authority Agreement On Bayonne Bridge

TRENTON – Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem, today praised an agreement between the New York-New Jersey Port Authority and Developer Larry Silverstein that will result in $1 billion committed to fixing the low-clearance problem at Bayonne Bridge which prohibits new super-sized cargo ships from entering Port Newark and Port Elizabeth:

“Today’s announced agreement between Mr. Silverstein and the Port Authority is good news for New Jersey’s economy, and will result in continued economic viability for our North Jersey ports. Our ports are the gateway to the world, allowing goods to come into New Jersey and beyond, and this agreement will guarantee funds so that we can be ready for the future of domestic and international shipping.

Buono Files OPRA Request For ‘Race To The Top’ Documents From Department Of Education

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono, chair of the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee, today filed an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request with the Department of Education for information regarding how the administration handled the “Race to the Top” application, which was ultimately submitted with an error that cost the state $400 million in education funding.

The information will be part of the upcoming Senate Legislative Oversight Committee hearing to determine the cause of a flubbed response to a question that caused the state to miss the 10th-place winning spot in the competition which was conducted by the U.S. Department of Education. The committee will review the materials and work to ensure that, going forward, similar applications are handled with proper and adequate oversight before being submitted.

“The goal of the committee will be to establish safeguards within the preparation process of similar applications to ensure that the taxpayers of New Jersey do not miss out on additional federal funding for which the state qualifies,” Senator Buono (D-Middlesex) wrote in a letter to the Education Commissioner. “To do this, we will need to piece together the chain of events that led to this error.”