Author Archive
NJ101.5 Gets It Wrong About Healthcare Premium Hikes for Teachers: Property Taxpayers Will Pick Up the Tab
Posted On09/20/2022 byUnfortunately, a recent news story by NJ101.5 got it all wrong about an increase in teacher healthcare premiums. We have nothing against NJ101.5, which usually does a good job reporting, but they failed to do basic research here and have obscured rather than clarified the facts. The first sentence of the NJ101.5 piece reads: “New Jersey…Read More
The Recent Government Employee Healthcare Protests Explained: NJ Taxpayers Will Lose Again
Posted On09/15/2022 byGiven the protests in Trenton and the loud public outcry, Sunlight will weigh in on the health benefit premium hikes for New Jersey government employees, if only to clarify matters for our readers. There was a protest yesterday by state and municipal employees about the 20% rate hikes for their health insurance benefits. It was…Read More
“Where Is Gov. Murphy?” Asks the Star-Ledger: Learning Loss Is Real, but Our Governor Is AWOL
Posted On09/13/2022 by“Where is Gov. Murphy?” asks the Star-Ledger editorial board, noting that our governor is essentially AWOL when it comes to addressing learning loss caused by extended school closures. State Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz stated it plainly: the state is “falling short of what our moral responsibility is.” Sadly, but not surprisingly, Murphy appears to be…Read More
NJEA President/Montclair Mayor Spiller Is Now All about the Parents and Kids but the Facts Show Otherwise
Posted On09/06/2022 byNJEA President/Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller penned an op-ed in the Star-Ledger today in an obvious attempt to reshape the NJEA’s image after the broad pushback against its anti-parent ad campaign. Several themes are worth noting. First, the NJEA is now all about the parents. After the NJEA was forced into a public walk-back from its…Read More
The Data Is In: School Closures Hurt Kids. Remember that Teachers Unions Pushed for Closures.
Posted On09/02/2022 byLearning loss from school closures was widespread and severe, and the teachers unions pushed for those closures. That’s the upshot from two recent commentaries on the results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as “the nation’s report card.” The 74 appropriately titled its piece “Two Decades of Growth Wiped Out by…Read More
NJEA Tries to Walk Back Its TV Ads and Distance Itself from “Radical” Training Sessions
Posted On08/30/2022 byNJEA spokesman Steve Baker made some notably defensive comments about the NJEA’s ad campaign to NorthJersey.com. The NJEA appears to be trying to reshape its messaging after the pushback against its TV ads. Baker now claims that the NJEA was not attacking parents who dared to speak up at school board meetings across the state: “Parents…Read More
NJEA Ads Are False: Parents Upset About Sex Ed Policies Are Not “Extremists,” They Are the Mainstream
Posted On08/26/2022 byIt turns out that a majority of public school parents distrust public schools when it comes to teaching about gender and sexuality. Contrary to this reality, a recent NJEA ad campaign calls parents who dare to speak up about such issues “extremists.” But a new poll shows that the NJEA’s “extremist” label is false. In its…Read More
NJEA Goes All-In for Fight Against Parents Who Dare to Speak Up About Their Children’s Education
Posted On08/22/2022 bySunlight has detailed how the NJEA is training teachers to become political activists to push for truly radical education policies at the school district level – such as teaching about transgenderism and what can only be described as critical race theory to 1st graders. When New Jersey parents – already fed up with prolonged school…Read More
CNBC Study: New Jersey’s Economy under Gov. Murphy Was Worst in the Nation Last Year
Posted On08/09/2022 byMoving away from the NJEA’s on-going attempts to push teachers into local political action – whether by advocating for radical education policies or running candidates for school board – Sunlight will highlight CNBC’s recent study “America’s Top States for Business.” The news for New Jersey is not good. We quote: “The biggest decline [from last…Read More
NJEA Executive Director Steve Swetsky Is (Very Quietly) Out After Less Than Three Years
Posted On07/27/2022 bySunlight was surprised to learn that the NJEA is seeking a new executive director. Very quietly, we would add, as the announcement is dated July 6, and in the three weeks since, no news organization has picked up this story. Here’s our take. First, we hope that Swetsky is in good health and that his…Read More