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

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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