"Republican with libertarian instincts"

From Eric Dondero:

In the 1990s, Bret Schundler, Mayor of Jersey City, was one of the rising stars of the Republican Party. A big supporter of school choice, and educational reform, Schundler was touted for higher office. Unfortunately he lost the Governor's race to the now infamous Jim McGreevy (came out of the closet as gay, and left his wife and kids).

When Chris Christie assumed the governorship he immediately appointed Schundler the State Education Commissioner.

Schundler is beginning to make waves. From NJ.com this morning:

Bret Schundler says he is a great believer in educational accountability, willing to take on the statewide teachers’ union to establish a system that links teacher job security and pay to student learning.

But there are limits to the education commissioner’s commitment to accountability.

And those limits are based, not on union pushback, but on his own ideology. A former Democrat but now a self-described "Republican with libertarian instincts," he doesn’t want to see too much regulation of private schools that receive public money.

Schundler is following the Christie playbook of reduced spending to balance the budget. Later in the piece:

Schundler, unsurprisingly, backs his governor on the cuts in school aid. He expects the issue to come before the state Supreme Court. He said he is prepared to argue to the court that schools can be thorough and efficient — as required by the state constitution — with the amount of money the state will provide.

"There is ample evidence that what we’re providing is sufficient so that a thorough education can be provided," said Schundler. He said the state will provide the court with examples of schools that work effectively even with reduced funds.