New Jersey Republicans Put Politics Before Students… Again-- A Guest Post By Ed Potosnak

Between our own Ken and Blue America's Ed, we're getting the best coverage of New Jersey politics outside of the state. Two weeks ago at his formal endorsement session Ed told us how Chris Christie was actually thinking about diverting the money that was meant for the ARC Tunnel. Last night Ken completed the story when Christie actually did it. Yesterday the state's biggest newspaper looked at the widespread speculation that Christie killed the tunnel to get people's minds off the education scandal he's presiding over. Watch:



This morning Ed is going to take us through what actually happened in the Race To The Top application debacle. He's in a very tight, margin-of-error race against one of the most beatable Republican incumbents anywhere. Ed isn't getting any help from the DCCC or the DNC, and he's trying to fund an aggressive GOTV operation. If you'd like to help, you can do it here at the Blue America ActBlue page. Here's his post:


Yesterday, New Jersey’s former Education Secretary Bret Schundler made it clear that Governor Chris Christie put his political interests and reputation ahead of New Jersey students. Schundler and his office had been tasked with collaborating with the teachers’ unions on a plan for the state’s Race to the Top application. The application would be awarded points for gaining the support of teachers in the state. Apparently, Governor Christie learned that this collaboration had been criticized by conservative radio host Jim Gearhart as “caving to the unions” … and told Schundler to scrap the application and start over without input from the teachers. His reasoning: it would be better to lose the $400 million for New Jersey schools than lose his reputation as an anti-education bully who demeans teachers.

My opponent, Congressman Lance, has remained silent on the money and on the Governor’s egregious handling of Race to the Top. One can only assume that this is because he values his relationship with our governor more than he does our students.

That’s right… Mr. Christie willfully submitted an application he knew would not meet the Department of Education standards and would likely lose $400 million for NJ schools… because he cares more about his reputation than about kids. I know you will not be surprised that my opponent, Congressman Lance, views education in the same way. He opposed the Race to the Top program from the outset in Congress. To add insult to injury, he voted against $268 million for New Jersey schools in the Education Jobs Bill, calling the legislation a “gift to special interests” and terming the jobs saved "negligible." This is the Christie-Lance view of education: a thorn in their side, a special interest, negligible.

Here in my district, the 7th district, we have 5 of the top 25 high schools in New Jersey. I am proud to have worked at one of the best schools in the state: Bridgewater-Raritan regional, as a science teacher. As an Einstein Fellow, I worked hard to implement higher standards in our schools, create better math and science curriculums, and foster educational equity across school districts. I know that America is losing its edge, and the key to getting our edge back is turning out highly qualified, highly educated high school graduates who are ready to meet the workforce challenges of the 21st century. In my career, I have always put the best interests of American students, our best hope for the future, first. Mr. Christie and my opponent, Congressman Lance, have always put their careers before everything else.