Former Department of Education commissioner Bret Schundler this morning issued a statement that he will not be attending today's Appropriations Committee Hearing on New Jersey’s Race to The Top grant application. 

"I made an editing error that contributed to New Jersey not winning a federal education grant," said Schundler, fired last month by Gov. Chris Christie. "I take full responsibility for it and I apologize for it.

"Now I am praying that legislators don’t use my error as an excuse to let education reform in New Jersey die. That would keep some special interests happy, but it would hurt our children far more than the loss of grant money."

The Assembly Appropriations Committee scheduled this morning's first formal legislative inquiry into an error that cost the state $400 million in federal Race to the Top funds, which Christie initially blamed on federal bureaucracy. After two weeks of war with the Christie administration over the details of his departure, Schundler in his statement called for unity around education reform.

"The education reforms we proposed in our Race to The Top application are utterly non-partisan," he said. "President Obama supports them. Governor Christie supports them. Education scholars on both the left and right support them. And parents support them. After Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature finish dissecting how I made my editing error, I hope they will come together and work to pass the critical education reforms in our Race to The Top application. After all, it was that set of reforms which President Obama’s grant money was intended to encourage in the first place.  We have an opportunity to increase the learning and life opportunities of New Jersey’s children. We need to put politics aside and do the right thing for them."