Special Report
Education Funding

Gaffe May Have Sunk N.J.'s Race to Top Bid

By Sean Cavanagh — August 26, 2010 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

In a Race to the Top application package that ran more than 1,000 pages, a single gaffe may have been New Jersey’s undoing.

An error on Page 261 of the PDF version of the application, on which state officials used the wrong years in describing funding levels for schools, cost the state 5 points in the competition, New Jersey officials acknowledged. The state had sought up to $400 million in the federal grant contest, and the loss of those points appears to have proved crucial: New Jersey scored 437.8 out of 500 possible points, just behind Ohio, which earned a score of 440.8 and was the 10th and final applicant that qualified for funding.

News of the mistake prompted a volley of accusations in the Garden State about who was to blame. Gov. Chris Christie, whose office submitted the application, said his administration took responsibility. The governor, a Republican, indicated that the goof was made by a state education department employee, but said it made no sense to single out a worker for discipline.

He instead denounced the application reviewers—and the Obama administration directly—for not being willing to overlook what he called a “clerical error” and seek the correct information from the state.

“If you are a normal, thinking, breathing human being, you pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey, you sent this one wrong paper; can we get the information?’ ” Gov. Christie said. He said the application’s reviewers were flagged to the correct information two weeks before the final decision was made.

But New Jersey Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver, a Democrat, said the governor’s administration was to blame, and vowed to hold a hearing to examine why the mistake occurred.

The section of the application in question asked states to compare their spending on education in fiscal years 2008 and 2009. New Jersey, however, mistakenly responded by discussing proposed education spending increases for fiscal 2011, which resulted in the reviewers’ docking the points and noting the error.

Controversy dogged New Jersey’s Race to the Top application earlier in the process, when Gov. Christie rejected a compromise that Bret Schundler, his appointed education commissioner, had arranged with a state teachers’ union on tenure and merit pay. The governor, who has feuded with the union, called the arrangement a “contrived consensus,” and removed it from the final application.

New Jersey was not the only state to make a mistake on a Race to the Top proposal. In round one, Hawaii mistakenly omitted a section of its application on ensuring equitable distribution of teachers and principals, costing it 25 points, said Robert Campbell, the executive assistant for school reform for the state department of education.

For round two, Hawaii filled in the gap—and walked away a winner, with $75 million.

A version of this article appeared in the September 01, 2010 edition of Education Week

Events

Student Well-Being Webinar After-School Learning Top Priority: Academics or Fun?
Join our expert panel to discuss how after-school programs and schools can work together to help students recover from pandemic-related learning loss.
Budget & Finance Webinar Leverage New Funding Sources with Data-Informed Practices
Address the whole child using data-informed practices, gain valuable insights, and learn strategies that can benefit your district.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
ChatGPT & Education: 8 Ways AI Improves Student Outcomes
Revolutionize student success! Don't miss our expert-led webinar demonstrating practical ways AI tools will elevate learning experiences.
Content provided by Inzata

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding Congress Prepares to Raise the Debt Ceiling. But K-12 Funding Is Still in Jeopardy
Federal spending limits in exchange for raising the debt ceiling could lead to cuts for key K-12 funding like Title I and IDEA.
3 min read
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Calif., speaks with reporters on the debt limit as he walks, Tuesday, May 30, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks with reporters on the debt limit in Washington on May 30, 2023.
Mariam Zuhaib/AP
Education Funding Which Districts Are Most at Risk If America Breaches the Debt Ceiling?
Thousands of districts depend on the federal government for more than 10 percent of their revenue.
A man standing on the edge of a one dollar bill that is folded downward to look like a funding cliff.
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Education Funding 'So Catastrophic': How a Debt Ceiling Breach Would Hurt Schools
If federal funding stops flowing to schools before July 1, schools' ability to pay billions of dollars in expenses would be at risk.
8 min read
Photo of piggy bank submerged in water.
E+ / Getty
Education Funding How Much Do School Support Staff Make in Each State? (Spoiler: It's Not a Living Wage)
In some states, education support personnel make below $30,000, new data show.
3 min read
Brian Hess, head custodian at the Washburn Elementary School in Auburn, Maine, strips the cafeteria floors in preparation for waxing on Aug. 17, 2021.
Brian Hess, head custodian at Washburn Elementary School in Auburn, Maine, strips the cafeteria floors in preparation for waxing on Aug. 17, 2021.
Andree Kehn/Sun Journal via AP