"The governor, through his intransigence, has really blown all of that up, left families unemployed, left schools in the lurch," Baker said. "He really ought to explain why it was not a priority."
The deadline for the application to be filed is Sept. 9, but Baker said that if the state Department of Education had given school officials a better idea of how the money would be distributed, schools would have been able to plan better, including possibly hiring staff in time for the start of the school year. Federal officials say the money will be disbursed two weeks after the application is approved.
At a news conference Aug. 24, during which Christie answered several questions about the state's bungled application for $400 million in federal Race to the Top funds, the governor responded to a question about the jobs funding application by calling the NJEA's allegations "fiction."
"I'm not dragging my feet," Christie said. "We're carefully preparing the application. You can only imagine how carefully we're preparing that application now, huh? We're carefully preparing that application to make sure it goes in the appropriate way. I'm sure the teachers union wouldn't want us to do anything different."
Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts said in an e-mail Tuesday, "The administration is preparing a thorough application and guidelines for dispersing the funds that are both in line with the federal requirements and deadline."
Federal officials have indicated that the money will go to schools regardless of whether a state applies, but states that wish to have a say in how the money will be distributed must apply; otherwise, the federal government will decide how the money is distributed.
