Post on 29-May-2018
8/8/2019 DOE Termination - First Bagger Rewrite of Duncan Letter
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Bagger s Fi rst Rewr i t e o f My Duncan Let ter
Chief o f Sta f f R ich Bagger u l t imate ly sent me t he fo l lowing emai l .
I t inc luded an at tac hment : my draf t tex t to Duncan, s l ight ly a l tered by Rich or
someone in the Governor s o f f ice .
Please rev iew the a t t achment .
You wi l l see that i t inc ludes the unt rue asser t ion that I prov ided 2008 educat ion
spending numbers to the grant in terv iew ers .
From:Richard
Bagger
[mailto:Richard.Bagger@gov.state.nj.us]
Sent:Wed8/25/20105:25PMTo:Schundler,BretSubject:FW:LetterDraft
Pleaselookattheattachedandcallme. Thanks.
8/8/2019 DOE Termination - First Bagger Rewrite of Duncan Letter
2/2
DearSecretaryDuncan:
OnbehalfoftheStateofNewJerseyanditsDepartmentofEducation,Iamwritingtorequestthatyouconsider
awardingNewJerseythe$75millioninstatewidereformRacetoTheTop(RTTT)fundingwhichremains
unallocated.
Amongstates
which
have
not
received
RTTT
grants,
New
Jerseys
application
score
was
the
highest,
and
our
states
reformagendaandnearly1.4millionchildrenwouldmeasurablybenefitfromNewJerseyhavingthesefundsto
supportreformrollout.
Asyouareaware,theRacetoTheTopprogramasestablishedbytheAmericanRecoveryandReinvestmentActof
2009wasappropriated$4billioninfunding.GrantsannouncedtodatetothetwelvewinningstatesofRound1
andRound2ofthecompetitiontotalamaximumof$3.925billion.Therefore,$75millionremainsunallocated.
NewJerseywouldbeanidealanddeservingrecipientofthesefunds.NewJerseysRound2applicationscoreof
437.8isthehighestamongstateswhichdidnotreceivefunding,andourscoretrailsthatofOhiobyjust3points.
Commentsfromourreviewersinclude:
Theapplicationputforthaverystraightforwardandpowerfulreformagendathatclearlyfocusesonstudents
and
their
educational
welfare.
TheNJeducationreformagendaisclearandcomprehensive. Stateleadershipfortheinitiativeisstrong,andtheplansdemonstrateadeepunderstandingofthe
challengesandopportunitiesofferedbythereformeffort.
NewJerseyhasarticulatedastrong,comprehensivereformagenda NJisandhasbeenamongthemostoutspokenstateleadersinsupportingdramaticreformsoverthe
pastdecade.
Further,itwasduetoaclericalerroronourpart,notduetoamatterofsubstance,thatNewJerseylost4.8points
andthusdidnotscoreabovetwoofthestatesthatwon. OurapplicationdidnotincludedocumentationinSection
(F)(1)(i)establishingthatNewJerseyincreaseditsspendingoneducationasapercentageoftotalstaterevenues
from36.9%in2008to39.6.%in2009(afactthatdemonstratedinNewJerseysRound1applicationand
confirmedverbally
during
our
August
11th
presentation).
Had
New
Jersey
been
able
to
correct
the
clerical
error,
thosepointswouldhavebeenearned,andNewJerseysapplicationwouldhaveearned9th
placeandfullfunding
ratherthan11th
placeandnofunding.
WhileNewJerseyseducationreformagendawouldcertainlybenefitfromfullfundingofits$399millionRTTT
request,a$75milliongrantwouldstillaccelerateoureffortstobuildawebbasedstatewidelongitudinaldata
system,developcriticalnewcurricularandassessmentresources,andtrainschoolandteacherleadershowto
traintheircolleaguesontheuseofthesepowerfulnewtools. Theseareallonetimecosts. Coveredonce,they
willmakeapermanentdifference.
IaskyoutoprovideNewJerseywiththerequested$75millioninremainingfundsnotonlyforthesakeofour
children,butsowecanmoreeffectivelymodelforallofAmericasschoolsystemshowsignificantlyourRaceto
TheTopreformscanincreasestudentlearning.
Thankyouforyourconsideration.
Sincerely,
BretSchundler