Author Archive
NJEA President/Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller’s Run for Statewide Office Begins and New Jersey Teachers Are Forced to Pay for It
Posted On12/16/2022 byApparently brushing off potential legal troubles in Montclair, NJEA President/Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller’s campaign for statewide office has begun in earnest. Below is a recent mailer from Spiller’s Super PAC, “Protecting Our Democracy.” Note that the mailer talks about a campaign to “safeguard personal freedoms, preserve voting rights and create an economy that works for…Read More
Blue States During COVID: More School Closures, More Learning Loss — Just Like NJ under Gov. Murphy
Posted On12/15/2022 byThe74 conducted a study of the relative learning loss in Democratic (Blue) and Republican (Red) states and found that Red states offered almost twice as much in-person instruction as Blue states during the 2020-21 school year. Less in-person instruction meant less learning. The study quotes Chad Aldeman of Georgetown’s of Edunomics Lab: Because remote learning…Read More
Kudos to Star-Ledger for Calling Out Murphy, Teachers Unions for Sitting on Student Test Data
Posted On12/13/2022 byOnce again, the Star-Ledger has stepped up with a powerful editorial that aims to hold Gov. Murphy and his teachers union allies accountable for not putting New Jersey students first. The editorial questions Murphy’s unconscionable delay releasing the full student data from last spring’s state tests, so schools can get busy remediating the learning loss….Read More
NJSpotlight Roundtable on the Teacher Shortage Is Sponsored by the NJEA: Will It Be Open and All-Encompassing?
Posted On12/09/2022 byNJSpotlight News is hosting a virtual roundtable on “worrisome signs and possible solutions” about the shortage of teachers in New Jersey. All well and good except that the main sponsor of the event is long-time and substantial NJSpotlight donor (see here and here), the NJEA, and Sunlight wonders whether the roundtable will be able to explore all…Read More
Gov. Murphy, ASW Jasey and ASM Caputo Would Prefer to Bury the Facts About Student Learning Loss, Just as the NJEA Would Wi$h
Posted On12/09/2022 byIn the wake of the Murphy administration’s very belated release of the results from last spring’s standardized tests, and the revelation that student scores plummeted, NJ101.5 asks “Does NJ Have Too Much Standardized Testing in Its Schools?” This is an odd question to ask when it is clear that without the state’s standardized tests, we…Read More
NJEA Leadership Funds Gov. Murphy’s Presidential Ambitions with New Jersey Teachers’ Highest-in-the-Nation Dues
Posted On12/01/2022 byThe New Jersey Globe reported that the pro-Murphy, dark money Super PAC “Stronger Fairer Forward,” which is run by Murphy’s wife, contributed “more than $300,000” to various Democratic campaigns across the nation in this fall’s elections. Recall that Stronger Fairer Forward received $750,000 from the NJEA’s Super PAC, which means that a good deal –…Read More
JerseyCan, Urban League of Essex County Organize a Forum on NJ Learning Loss While Gov. Murphy, NJEA Remain AWOL
Posted On11/28/2022 byTo the everlasting shame of Gov. Murphy and New Jersey’s largest teachers union, the NJEA, it has been left to two New Jersey non-profits, JerseyCan and the Urban League of Essex County (ULEC), to address COVID-related learning loss. It is simply outrageous that Murphy’s Department of Education has yet to fully release the 2021-2022 assessment…Read More
Hunterdon Central Teachers Speak Out About a School-Sponsored Drag Show. Do They Have a Voice in Today’s NJEA?
Posted On11/15/2022 byA friendly teacher sent Sunlight a copy of a letter written by a reportedly “large group” of Hunterdon Central Regional High School teachers (here’s the Hunterdon teacher letter ) criticizing their superintendent for the way a school-sponsored drag show was handled and the resulting loss in instructional time. Sunlight asks whether these teachers have a voice…Read More
While Gov. Murphy Eyes a 2024 White House Run, NJ Had the Nation’s Worst Business Climate for Every Year He’s Been in Office
Posted On11/10/2022 byAs New jersey moves on from the midterms, we all need to be reminded that for the 8th year in a row, New Jersey came in dead last in the Tax Foundation‘s rankings of state tax climates for businesses. That means that New Jersey has been dead last for every single year of Gov. Murphy’s…Read More
NJEA Spends Another $70,000 for Last-Minute Independent Expenditures in Hillsborough and Sparta
Posted On11/08/2022 bySunlight has discovered $70,000 in last-minute spending on school board elections from the NJEA’s Super PAC, Garden State Forward. Recent filings with ELEC reveal that Garden State Forward spent $44,888 in Hillsborough Township for direct mail and digital ads. The filing describes the spending as “non-partisan” and the school board race is non-partisan, while…Read More