Christie, Schundler conflict is latest in politicization of N.J. education department
Published: Monday, September 06, 2010, 7:25 AM Updated: Monday, September 06, 2010, 7:37 AM
Bret Schundler sits in his Jersey City home and talks with reporters about his recent firing by N.J. Gov. Chris Christie, in this Aug. 28 file photo.TRENTON — Bad enough the brouhaha over the "clerical error" masked the mediocrity of New Jersey’s Race to the Top application. Now, the Punch and Judy Show starring the governor and the ex-education commissioner also hides a more serious problem:
How do you run a statewide school bureaucracy responsible for spending billions of dollars a year if, every few years, it has new leadership and a new philosophy?
"The state education department may not be able to perform basic regulatory functions expected of a state agency," says David Sciarra, director of the Education Law Center. "No one stays there long enough — and it doesn’t have the staff."
Richard DeLisi, dean of the Rutgers Graduate School of Education, warns the department has lost its "institutional memory" because of frequent changes.
Controversy didn’t start with Gov. Chris Christie and Bret Schundler. In the last half-century, more