NJ's Wrong Answer Proves Costly

Education fail. The state of New Jersey, which fell just three points shy of being one of 10 finalists selected to receive millions in education funding as part of President Obama's Race to the Top education grant program, answered a five-point question incorrectly, despite answering the same question correctly on the application during the first round of funding. The question dealt with education spending as a percentage of state spending. For its wrong answer, the state of New Jersey received 0.2 out of a possible five points. "This was a strong, comprehensive package of reforms that received praise from the federal Department of Education," said Maria Comella, spokeswoman for Governor Chris Christie. "There were a lot of good, strong applications from competitive states." The full scoresheets and grades, obtained Tuesday by The Newark Star-Ledger, are expected to be released later today.