Author Archive
NJEA Field Rep as West Orange School Board President Is a Substantial and Actionable Conflict of Interest
Posted On01/19/2023 byA friend of Sunlight’s in West Orange informed us that NJEA Field Representative Brian Rock was elected president of the West Orange school board (WOBOE). While we know that several hundred NJEA members have run for school board and other political offices, these have largely been teachers, not full-time employees of the NJEA like Rock. As…Read More
State of the State: What About Learning Loss, Public Pensions and Healthcare Costs, Governor Murphy?
Posted On01/12/2023 byGov. Murphy gave his State of the State speech and there was a lot of talk about New Jersey “leading the nation” in this or that, which tells you a lot about where Murphy’s head is. But it’s what Murphy left out of his speech that is really telling. There were three large gaps in…Read More
“Teaching is Political:” NJEA Continues to Train Teachers to be Local Progressive Activists
Posted On01/10/2023 byMost teachers just want to teach, but the NJEA has made very clear it believes “teaching is political,” and continues to put its money where its mouth is by training teachers to become local political activists for a progressive agenda. In the summer of 2022, Sunlight documented how the NJEA was training teachers to push for…Read More
New Study: Gov. Murphy’s School Policies and Inaction Will Cause Long-Term Damage to NJ Kids and the State Economy
Posted On12/30/2022 byAt long last, and only after a great deal of public outcry, Gov. Murphy’s Department of Education finally released the full dataset from last spring’s state tests. This means that we now know the district-level results and community leaders, school administrators and parents know where and how much remediation is needed — and there is…Read More
New Jersey Teachers Pay for Fat Compensation for NEA as Well as NJEA Leadership
Posted On12/28/2022 bySunlight has repeatedly documented (here and here) how New Jersey teachers pay the highest dues in the nation to the NJEA and its national parent, the NEA. Combined dues are now running about $1,400-$1,500 per year, depending on the district. The data shows that the NJEA takes a whopping 70% of total dues ($999) —…Read More
Truth In Accounting 2022 Survey: New Jersey’s Financial Condition Is Dead Last in the Nation
Posted On12/21/2022 byDespite federal pandemic relief funds, record tax revenues and a lot of happy talk from Gov. Murphy, New Jersey’s long-term financial condition was ranked the worst in the nation. That’s according to Truth In Accounting (TIA), which just published its 13th annual review “Financial State of the States 2022.” While the Murphy touts New Jersey’s various…Read More
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