The Christie administration has lost out on a bid for a $14 million federal grant that would have provided every new charter school in New Jersey with $150,000, and Democratic legislators are charging the setback shows that education is not a priority for the governor.
While Gov. Chris Christie has maintained the expansion of charter schools are a priority, especially as a way to give inner city children a potentially better education, federal officials who reviewed the state's application contended that, among other flaws, the administration did not have an adequate plan for measuring the success of charters.
The Philadelphia Inquirer broke the story.
Assembly Education Chairman Patrick J. Diegnan Jr. (D-Middlesex) said, "Regrettably, one can only conclude that Governor Christie does not consider the education of our children to be a top priority. This administration has raided school surplus funds, cut state aid for schools, botched the $400 million Race to the Top application, attempted to vilify teachers, failed to name a new education commissioner and failed to fill the statutorily mandated position of secretary of education."
Governor Christie spoke on the night of December 1 and discussed his reform efforts in New Jersey.
Picture: Demarest High School students at Stevens Point- circa 1953.
