Education Funding

N.J. Gov Revises Ed. Money Bid, Wants Performance Pay

By The Associated Press — June 02, 2010 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday made last-minute changes to the state’s application for a $400 million federal “Race to the Top” education grant, more closely tying teacher merit pay and evaluations to student achievement.

The new grant application also makes it easier to fire ineffective teachers, even ones with seniority — something expected to draw the ire of the state’s largest teachers union, which last week signed off on the application wording.

“We greeted the news with a mixture of deep disappointment, utter frustration, and total outrage,” NJEA president Barbara Keshishian said.

The New Jersey Education Association offered its support last week after meeting with Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, who agreed to make some changes to how merit pay would work.

For instance, part of merit-based bonuses would have be given to schools so their staffs could vote on how to distribute it. The union prefers that approach to bonuses for educators whose students do well for several reasons, including that it would make the teachers collaborate instead of compete with one another.

Christie said that when he had the chance to review the recommendations Schundler made, he “rejected it.”

“I believe that merit pay has to go to individual teachers. I believe that if there are layoffs, that those layoffs should be based upon merit and not based upon seniority,” the governor said Tuesday.

“The application is not submitting the form as the teacher’s union would want, it’s submitting the form that the governor wants,” Christie said.

Race to the Top is the federal government’s major new project to change the way schools work. The majority of states applied for grants in the first round of funding, but when the awards were made earlier this year, only Delaware and Tennessee got them.

The grants are a centerpiece of the Christie administration’s educational reform plans.

If New Jersey received an additional $400 million, half of that would go directly to school districts, many of which are laying off teachers because their state aid is being reduced.

Christie and Schundler see the grant application as a major part of their agenda for changing schools. They want to allow merit pay — so teachers could be paid partly based on how well their students perform.

They also want to make it harder for teachers to get lifetime tenure, and to upgrade computer systems to do a better job of tracking how individual students progress.

The majority of school districts supported the application last week.

While the NJEA endorsement is not needed for the grant, it is seen as a way of making the plan’s implementation more successful. The NJEA opposition to the grant was one factor in the state’s failure to win a grant last year, which was submitted when Jon Corzine, a Democrat, was governor.

“The governor’s action decimates a plan built through hard work and compromise, single-handedly putting at risk our chances of obtaining hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid to improve our schools,” said Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver.

Since Christie took office, he’s been unapologetic about bashing the union as a group concerned about teacher pay, and not education. When the union criticized his plans to decrease money for schools, he wasn’t sympathetic. Instead, he said educators should take voluntary pay freezes to avoid layoffs.

In his cover letter on Tuesday, he alluded to the fact he was unwilling to compromise on using student performance for teachers’ evaluations.

“Please know that my administration is committed to implementing these initiatives regardless of whether or not this application is successful,” Christie said in the application cover letter. “Indeed, I am so committed to them that I decided that they should not be compromised to achieve a contrived consensus among the various affected special interest groups.”

Associated Press writer Beth DeFalco wrote this report. Associated Press writers Geoff Mulvihill and Aaron Morrison contributed to this report.

Related Tags:

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Events

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
Reading & Literacy Webinar
The Future of the Science of Reading
Join us for a discussion on the future of the Science of Reading and how to support every student’s path to literacy.
Content provided by HMH
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
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Classrooms to Careers: How Schools and Districts Can Prepare Students for a Changing Workforce
Real careers start in school. Learn how Alton High built student-centered, job-aligned pathways.
Content provided by TNTP
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math

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 Opinion Trump's Cuts to Schools Will Hit Hard. But Leaders Need More Than Just Money
The federal funding chaos highlights a perennial dynamic in public schools.
Joshua P. Starr
5 min read
Concept of the remedy for melancholy and happiness, with a painter who transforms a brick wall into a sunny sky.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding Who Will Bear the Brunt of Trump's Hold on $6.8 Billion in School Funds?
The sudden absence of expected federal funds has already cost some educators their jobs.
12 min read
Image of a $100 dollar bill that is cut into blocks for distribution.
E+/Getty
Education Funding Schools and States Scramble as Trump Freezes $6.8 Billion in Federal Funds
After-school programs, English-learner services, migrant education programs, and professional development are all at risk.
8 min read
President Donald Trump speaks to the media before walking across the South Lawn of the White House to board Marine One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Md., and on to Florida, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks to the media before walking across the South Lawn of the White House to board Marine One on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. Trump's administration has told states it's holding back nearly $7 billion in already-approved federal funds for schools, sending states and schools scrambling for more information.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Education Funding Interactive See How Much School Funding Trump Is Holding Back From Your State
The administration is holding back nearly $7 billion for English learners, after-school programs, professional development, and more.
1 min read
Image of money symbol made of sand filtering slowly through an hour glass.
DigitalVision Vectors