FIRED: (UPDATED) Gov. Chris Christie fired state education commissioner Bret Schundler this morning after Schundler refused to resign in the wake of the controversy over the state’s loss of up to $400 million in federal school funding, two officials briefed on the situation said. A deputy commissioner will be named acting commissioner while the governor searches for the next person to fill the $141,000-a-year position, the officials said.

Rich Bagger, Christie’s chief of staff, asked Schundler to resign on Thursday evening because he “misled” the governor and senior staff about what happened during a presentation in Washington, D.C., the officials said.

On Wednesday, Christie publicly said Schundler had tried to give the correct information to a bungled question during the presentation, but video from the U.S. Department of Education released Thursday proved that did not happen.

Christie asked Schundler to walk him through the details of the mistake before the governor came out to defend him earlier this week, according to a source.

But after Christie and other top officials on Thursday watched the video of Schundler and other offficials’ presentation to the U.S. Department of Education, and the video contradicted Schundler’s explanation, the governor said, “He can’t lie to me,” the source said.

He directed Bagger to ask for Schundler’s resignation Thursday afternoon, but it took several hours for Bagger to reach the commissioner.

Then, Schundler at first said if the governor wanted his resignation, he would give it, according to the source.

By this morning the resignation had not been received, and word started circulating in Trenton that Schundler was resisting. Christie grew tired of waiting, and ordered Schundler fired, the source said. Read more in Star Ledger.

Update 2:55 p.m. 

Ousted state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler today said he asked Gov. Chris Christie to be fired from the work he considered his “life’s dream,” rather than resign, so he could receive unemployment benefits to pay his bills.

“I asked if they would mind writing a termination letter, instead of a resignation letter, because I do have a mortgage to pay, and I do have a daughter who’s just started college,” he said in an interview this morning. “And I, frankly, will need the unemployment insurance benefits until I find another job. … And they said fine. They said sure.”

Schundler said he made the request this morning when he arrived at his office in Trenton and offered to be involved in the transition to the next commissioner. Read more in Star Ledger.