We have some questions for northjersey.com‘s Mary Ann Koruth about her report “National right-wing groups enter NJ’s legal battles with schools over parental rights.”

It is true, as she states, that the Goldwater Institute has joined the legal battle over parental notification policies by supporting a lawsuit by a Marlboro parent against the State of New Jersey.  But we are surprised that so little scrutiny was given to the other side — let’s call it the progressive status quo — in these culture wars.  The resulting impression is of deep-pocketed, right-wing outsiders intruding into local New Jersey controversies, stood up to by organic, progressive, “grassroots” groups resisting them.

We ask:

1. The article quotes Michael “Hundreds of Millions” Gottesman, founder of the NJ Public Education Coalition (NJPEC), at length, taking at face value his claims that national right-wing groups are “pushing their political agendas” and “their dogma” into local controversies.  But Gottesman previously falsely claimed to the Star-Ledger that right-wing groups were donating “hundreds of millions” of dollars to parent groups in New Jersey, and Sunlight has documented Gottesman’s serial falsehoods.  Why does Koruth treat the habitually mendacious Gottesman as a reliable source?
2. Koruth describes NJPEC as “a grassroots group that counters disinformation in the culture wars taking hold among some school boards in the state.”  This implies that one side — the parent groups NJPEC opposes  — spreads “disinformation” but that NJPEC apparently dispenses truth.  NJPEC may claim that, but why the bias from Koruth?  We also note that countering “disinformation” at school boards is precisely the way the NJEA describes the mission of its Center for Honesty in Education.  Coincidence, Ms. Koruth?
3. Most importantly, Koruth completely ignores the wellspring of dark money backing Gottesman and NJPEC.  NJPEC is an affiliate of and is funded by the Education Truth Project (ETP), a dark-money Super PAC.  Because ETP is funded by dark money, Sunlight has had to build a circumstantial case that ETP is a NEA/NJEA front, but it is a strong case.  We haven’t seen anyone disprove it.  Koruth appears highly attuned to claims of national right-wing groups pushing their political dogma on New Jersey school districts, but is utterly unconcerned with national groups that might be operating on the other side.  Why didn’t Koruth ask ETP if they are funded by NEA or any other national group, citing the abundant facts that point in that direction?

Why all these blind spots, Ms. Koruth?  Why is one side cast in a negative light while the other is accepted at face value?  Why not balance the story by inquiring into NJPEC/ETP’s dark-money funders?