VIDEO: Politically speaking, the day was a fast moving soap opera. Gov. Chris Christie fired state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler after the governor said Schundler misled him about what was said during a meeting with federal examiners on the state’s application for a $400 million federal grant. Schundler said it was Christie who was wrong, and added the governor did what he often does, took a kernel of fact and went too far with it.
The Christie administration shot back, saying it didn’t get anything wrong and Schundler was only damaging himself.
“Frankly, I don’t feel I did anything wrong,” Schundler said.
“We regret that Mr. Schundler continues to sully his own image by engaging in revisionist history,” said a statement by the Governor. “Mr. Schundler was the Administration’s only source for what occurred in the Race to the Top presentation. All of the governor’s statements were based on Mr. Schundler’s account.”
By the time the two sides stopped pointing at each other, Christie’s political capital came into question as did Schundler’s credibility. At issue was what was said during an Aug. 11 meeting between a New Jersey delegation led by Schundler and federal officials reviewing the state’s application for Race to the Top, a multi-million dollar grant. Read more in Star Ledger.
Bret Schundler comments on firing as education commissioner |
What on earth is a soap opera?