By Bob Braun/Star-Ledger Columnist
The so-called revolving door between government and lobbying organizations is a familiar fact of political life. Government officials often leave their public posts and join private groups representing the enterprises those officials once regulated. Happens everywhere.
But there may be a Jersey twist on the practice. Andy Smarick, the deputy education commissioner, is now a member of the governing board of a private advocacy organization seeking to bring its version of education reform — including expansion of charter schools and stricter teacher evaluation — to all 50 states, including New Jersey.
Just a case of the exercise of his First Amendment right in a field Smarick knows well? Or is it a government regulator using his position to promote his viewpoint?
David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center in Newark, called Smarick’s private activities “a substantial conflict of interest.” Smarick is a member of the board of directors of 50CAN — short for “The 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now.”
“As a trustee of this organization, Smarick has a legal responsibility to advance its views and raise money for it,” Sciarra said, “but, as a state official, he has only one responsibility — to serve the people of the state and, in this case, the children of the state. By law he must be objective, but under these circumstances he cannot be.”
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