N.J. Assembly speaker orders hearing on 'Race to the Top' application error
Published: Wednesday, August 25, 2010, 1:44 PM Updated: Wednesday, August 25, 2010, 1:45 PM
Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, pictured in a file photo, today called for a hearing on the "clerical error" that cost the state federal funding.TRENTON — Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) has ordered a hearing on the Christie administration's error that helped sink the state's chances for up to $400 million in a competitive federal education grant called Race to the Top.
“With nearly half of a billion dollars lost because of human error, this hearing is an absolute must,” Oliver said in a statement. “The state, our taxpayers, and most of all our children deserve answers from the administration as to how such an egregious blunder could have been overlooked with so much as stake.”
Oliver did not give a time or date for the meeting of the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
The statement from the Assembly Democrats said "top to bottom" officials will be called, including Education Commissioner Bret Schundler.
In a press conference this morning, Gov. Chris Christie said he would "take the responsibility we need to take for putting one wrong piece of paper in a thousand-page application," but said the Obama administration should have allowed the state a chance to fix the mistake. The state