Former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler, who is Gov. Christopher Christie’s choice to be the state’s new education commissioner, moved closer to assuming the post after the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday voted 11-0 in favor of sending his nomination to the full Senate for a vote.
Schundler was grilled Monday afternoon in his second interview with the committee on issues ranging from whether his religious beliefs will impact his job as commissioner to his advocacy of charter schools.
Despite the 11-0 vote, the committee voted to send his nomination to the full Senate without an endorsement in support of Schundler, which is rare for the Judiciary Committee. The Senate could vote on his confirmation as early as the end of this week.
Schundler would make $140,000 per year as education commissioner.
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Schundler, 51, who grew up in Woodbridge Township and Westfield, served from 1992 to 2001 as Jersey City mayor, the first Republican elected to that seat in nearly 100 years. He also ran unsuccessful campaigns for governor in 2001 and 2005. He lives in downtown Jersey City near Van Vorst Park with his wife Lynn and their two children, Shaylin, 18, and Hans Otto, 11 (both of whom attend private school).
In an interview Monday night, Schundler said he was “confident” that he will be confirmed despite the lack of committee endorsement. Some Democrats who interviewed him felt he lacked the expertise to fill the position.
If Schundler is approved to the post he will earn a $140,000per year.
He has qualifications
Schundler has been many things in his life – star high school football player, Ivy Leaguer, Wall Street broker, former Democrat, big-city mayor, and failed gubernatorial candidate. Those are facts.
But his experience as an educator is subject to debate.
Schundler served most recently as the COO of Kings College, a private Christian college in Manhattan. He also taught a course on public policy at the college. That is the extent of his hands-on experience in the classroom, which hasn’t gone unnoticed by some of his critics.
The Jersey City Branch of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) at the Feb. 18 Jersey City Board of Education meeting criticized Schundler’s appointment by Christie.
Jersey City NAACP Branch President Kabili Tayari, currently a Jersey City deputy mayor who coincidentally was hired in 1997 during Schundler’s tenure, issued a statement against Schundler that was read by NAACP officer Lorenzo Richardson.
“His appointment gives the appearance of an attack on public education, not that our education system is perfect,” stated Richardson from Tayari’s statement.
Schundler, asked about Tayari’s comments, said it was “no great surprise” but did not elaborate. Instead, he defended himself against any charges about lacking qualifications to be an education commissioner.
“I think what you want in a commissioner, you really want three things,” Schundler said. “One, someone who understands good education policy; you want someone who is a good administrator and can manage a large governmental enterprise, and you want someone who puts children first.”
Schundler also pointed out that he developed his educational chops in the 1990s as one of the early writers of the state’s charter school legislation and as the founder of the Jersey City Golden Door Charter School, located on Ninth Street in downtown Jersey City. Schundler also gained a reputation as an advocate for giving parents vouchers to help them send their kids to private school rather than public.
But he ran into controversy during the construction of the school because $9.5 million in public bonds were issued to erect it. There is a state law prohibiting public funds from being used for the construction of a charter school. The building instead was built as a community center to get around that problem.
What will Bret do?
Schundler already has his hands full even in his acting education commissioner role.
He announced last week that CREATE Charter High School in Jersey City would close on June 30, saying that the school had been “under review” by the state’s Department of Education for poor test scores and other deficiencies. The school was founded by former Councilman Steve Lipski.
As far as charter schools in the state are concerned, Schundler said that he and Gov. Christie are looking to open more charter schools in existing public schools as “small learning academies.”
In February, Schundler was present at an announcement by Christie warning school districts across the state that they should prepare for cuts in school aid by as much as 15 percent for the next school year. Jersey City school board member Gerald McCann brought up the issue of cuts at last month’s Board of Education meeting, saying that if the Jersey City school district is hit with a 15 percent cut, there could as many as 1,500 layoffs of school employees.
Schundler said that Jersey City could get cuts to their school aid, but not necessarily 15 percent. But he could not say that with certainty, since Christie has not yet announced his budget for the next school year.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.