After a clerical error cost New Jersey the shot at $400 million in Race to the Top grant money, Governor Chris Christie asks a fair question:
“The first part of it is the mistake of putting the wrong piece of paper in,” Christie said. “It drives people crazy and, believe me, I’m not thrilled about it. But the second part is, does anybody in Washington, D.C. have a lick of common sense? Pick up the phone and ask us for the number.”
I’m not sure there’s a winner here. Is Arne Duncan supposed to call up every state and ask them to fix their mistakes? That doesn’t seem fair. But, pity Governor Christie, the citizens of New Jersey, and, especially, the mid-level bureaucrat who made the mistake that cost his state millions.
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There is no question that the grantmaking process can be fickle and is an imperfect way to make choices, but there **were** oral interviews here. I don’t think it necessarily unreasonable to think that this could have been addressed and dealt with during that face-to-face time with the state’s leaders.
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