Ex-N.J. schools chief: 'I do have a mortgage to pay, and I do have a daughter who's just started college ... I, frankly, will need the unemployment insurance benefits until I find another job'
TRENTON — 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.
Schundler's financial disclosure form, released Thursday by the State Ethics Commission, show he and his wife had less than $5,000 in the bank. Over the last 12 months, Schundler reported making between $50,000 and $100,000 on each of his previous jobs as education commissioner and chief operating office of The King's College, a Christian liberal arts school in New York City. His wife, attorney Lynn Schundler, listed between $25,000 and $50,000 in income from that job.The only liability listed is a mortgage on their Jersey City home, listed as more than $500,000.
Early last year, Schundler dropped a fledgling bid for mayor of Jersey City, saying the 2008 stock market crash damaged his investment portfolio and made it necessary for him to work full-time in order to pay his mortgage and children's tuition bills.
Schundler was fired after Christie said his department misled the administration on the attempt to correct a mistake on a grant application for up to $400 million in federal aid through the Race to the Top fund. The mistake cost the state 4.8 points, and it lost the chance for money through the competitive program by 3 points.
Schundler declined to comment immediately on the mistake or the lead-up to the fateful press conference.
Education Bret Schundler testifies to the Senate Education Committee on Aug. 16.Christie's spokesman Michael Drewniak said Schundler was fired after he refused to quit.
"The chief of staff called Bret Schundler last night and requested his resignation, at which point in time Mr. Schundler indicated he would resign in the morning," Drewniak said.
"This morning, he refused to sign the resignation letter and was subsequently terminated."
Schundler said he was not happy with the way his ouster was being portrayed. Sources familiar with the situation have said Schundler resisted resigning.
“I'm disappointed on the comments about having trouble getting me out of the department,” he said.
Schundler, who has been supported by Christie through previous missteps, said he was “tremendously disappointed” about leaving the administration. He said he “thought the governor and I were a good team.”
He praised Christie, saying the governor had “the the courage to fight for something that almost everybody has agreed has to be done for a long time.“
“As someone who’s appreciated the value of these reforms for 20 years and thought through how they all worked together, I think that I could have made sure they were implemented exceedingly well,” he said. “I’m incredibly disappointed and this opportunity to work in the department was really a life's dream.”
The state's largest teachers' union came to the defense of the ousted commissioner, calling him just the next "scapegoat" in the swirling controversy over the state's loss of up to $400 million in Race to the Top federal education dollars.
"We feel the governor is making Commissioner Schundler the latest scapegoat," said union spokesperson Dawn Hiltner.
"The governor jumped all over the Obama administration, and some unnamed mid-level employee. When it came down to it, if we had stuck with our original application and maybe made some tweaks to suit him, or tried to come to some common ground, maybe we could have won this hands-down."
Jeanette Rundquist and Matt Friedman contributed to this report.
Previous coverage:
• U.S. officials refute Christie on attempt to fix Race to the Top application during presentation
• Bob Braun: If N.J. had stronger Race to the Top application, clerical error wouldn't have mattered
• Full transcript of the governor's remarks
• Gov. Christie blames Washington bureaucracy for state's failed 'Race to the Top' application
• Read text of mistake from the documents
• Gov. Chris Christie's summary of Race to the Top application, submitted June 1
• Gov. Christie says plan Schundler reached with NJEA caved to teachers union
• Bob Braun: Gov. Chris Christie's put-down of Schundler further erodes autonomy of education commissioner
• Gov. Christie says N.J. education chief made mistake with Race to the Top compromise