Chris Christie Cost NJ Schools $400 Million

New information shows that the education leaders of Governor Chris Christie's Administration -- and not the federal government, as Gov. Christie alleges -- are to blame for allowing a small mistake in an application to have lost New Jersey some $400 million in grant money.

The Obama Administration's program called "Race to the Top" this week selected the top ten applicants -- nine states and the District of Columbia -- for a pool of billions of dollars in education funding. New Jersey was the runner-up, coming in 11th place after losing to Ohio for the final spot by 3 points on a 500-point scorecard.

After learning of the loss, Governor Christie on Wednesday admitted that one of the reasons his administration's proposal didn't make the grade was that it had accidentally omitted a one-page budget statement for the 2008-2009 academic year. Correcting its mistake may have given New Jersey 5 more points on its scorecard.

In a newsconference, Christie said that while he and his education commissioner, former Jersey City mayor Bret Schundler, took part of the blame, some blame also had to lie with the Obama Administration for not accepting a correction to the error. "If you're a normal, thinking, breathing human being, you pick up the phone and say, 'Hey, you said this one wrong piece of paper. Can we get the information?'" Christie said.

However, newly released video from the Obama Administration's Department of Education shows that it didn't need to pick up the phone; it had instead asked Commissioner Schundler in person, at a hearing on August 11th, to provide them with the missing numbers.

"We were unable to find in the application... the school application funding levels specifically for the years 2008 and 2009, as requested in the application," a federal education department official says off-camera in the video to Schundler and his four high-level associates representing New Jersey at the hearing. "Can you explain how or where this information was presented in your application?" the official then asks.

After sitting silently for a few seconds, Schundler has no response, and as his fellow panelists shuffle through some documents or shift in their chairs, Schundler looks to the woman at his left, Assistant Commissioner Willa Spicer, who responds, "No I cannot. I don’t, um..."

"We can come back to that, " the Obama Administration official tells the New Jersey panel. The video evidence directly refutes a further claim made by Chris Christie earlier this week, that "Commissioner Schundler verbally gave them the '08 and '09 numbers."

The video not only shows that assertion by Christie to be false, it also shows that, 34 minutes after the Obama Administration official gives Schundler the opportunity to correct the mistake and provide the missing information, she gives him a second opportunity. "Did you have any luck with the financial data?" the official asks Schundler and his fellow New Jersey education system leaders. Schundler glances again at his assistant commissioner as she says, "No."

The Department of Education released the video earlier than it had been scheduled. Spokesman Justin Hamilton said the reason for the early release was due to interest in this case, but he would not comment on it further.

During an appearance Thursday night on New Jersey 101.5, WKXW-FM, Christie said he had just heard about the video and had not seen it. He said he planned to review it later.

New York was among the ten recipients of the Race to the Top awards. It received $700 million from the U.S. Department of Education.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CONTRIBUTED INFORMATION IN THIS REPORT