Ask yourself WHY? N.J. hedge fund leaders create group to financially back education reforms supported by Gov. Christie | NJ.com

N.J. hedge fund leaders create group to financially back education reforms supported by Gov. Christie | NJ.com

N.J. hedge fund leaders create group to financially back education reforms supported by Gov. Christie

Published: Friday, June 24, 2011, 7:30 AM

By Star-Ledger Staff

Jerry McCrea/The Star-LedgerTwo New Jersey hedge fund financiers have started a political action group to fund education reform in line with Gov. Christie's agenda. One of them, David Tepper, is pictured above (left) helping N.J. first lady Mary Pat Christie in a food bank in a January photo.

TRENTON — A new political action group started by two New Jersey hedge-fund financiers aims to put money — a lot of money — behind an education reform agenda shared by Gov. Chirs Christie and reviled by the state’s largest teachers union.

Formed in March, Better Education for Kids promotes teacher evaluations based on student test scores and tenure that is harder to get and harder to keep, issues the New Jersey Education Association has been spending millions to battle against.

The group’s founders, David Tepper and Alan Fournier, first met as co-workers at Appaloosa Management, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund started by Tepper. Fournier now has his own fund, Pennant Capital Management, but the two are partnering once again in a bid to improve New Jersey’s public schools.

They say now is the right time and Christie is a dynamic leader.

"My mother was a public school teacher in Pittsburgh, and I attended public school in Pittsburgh," Tepper said. "I know as well as anyone that having a good education system is vitally important to the future of our country."

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Better Education for Kids is entering the fray as private organizations are poised to play a larger role in education in New Jersey. Christie wants more charter schools, and he’s pushing legislation that would allow private companies to take over struggling public schools.

Last week, the fledgling group launched a $1 million campaign to advertise its mission and solicit donations. Unlike traditional non-profits, Better Education for Kids is a type of non-profit not required to disclose its donors.

Though the group cannot formally coordinate its work with lawmakers, it will be advised by two of the state’s top political consultants: Mike DuHaime, a Republican strategist with close ties to Christie, and Jaime Fox, a Democrat who served as former Gov. James E. McGreevey’s chief of staff.

DuHaime and Fox declined to comment.