Excerpt of N.J.'s Race to the Top interview shows officials with no budget answer

TRENTON — The U.S. Department of Education released a video today of New Jersey's Race to the Top presentation earlier this month in Washington, D.C.

The Christie administration says it learned of a key error during the presentation that cost the state critical points in the competitive grant process.

Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday the state tried to fix the error in the interview — attended by state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler and four others — but the reviewers would not accept the fix after the June 1 deadline.

But in the video, New Jersey education officials are asked about the omission and aren't able to provide the right data on the spot.

“When we went in for the personal interview, two weeks before the decision was made they raised the issue with us,” Christie said Wednesday during a press conference. “Commissioner Schundler gave them, in the interview, the numbers for '08-'09 because the mistake was raised. But they still didn’t give us the credit for the points.”

New Jersey lost 4.8 critical points on an application for federal education funding through what Christie called a “clerical error.” On a question regarding state education funding in 2008 and 2009, New Jersey provided figures for 2011. The state missed out on up to $400 million by 3 points, placing 11th behind Ohio.

Overall, the state lost points on substantive sections throughout the more than 1,000-page application, including a large chunk on a section that gave credit for cooperation with local unions and districts. The New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, initially signed off on an application that included compromises with Schundler on issues that affected teachers’ jobs and work, such as merit pay, seniority rules and tenure.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Previous coverage:

• Bob Braun: If N.J. had stronger Race to the Top application, clerical error wouldn't have mattered

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• Draft of 'Race to the Top' application agreed upon by NJEA, Schundler had correct budget information

• N.J. Assembly speaker orders hearing on 'Race to the Top' application error

• Gov. Christie blames Washington bureaucracy for state's failed 'Race to the Top' application

• Read text of mistake from the documents

• N.J. Assembly speaker orders hearing on 'Race to the Top' application error

• Gov. Chris Christie's summary of Race to the Top application, submitted June 1

• An appendix to the application, which is more than 1,000 pages (88MB)