Author Archive
Wall Street Journal: Under Gov. Murphy, NJ Is Dead Last in COVID Outcomes, Confirming Sunlight’s Report
Posted On04/12/2022 byAs if confirming Sunlight’s latest report on Gov. Murphy’s unfinished business in New Jersey, the Wall Street Journal‘s lead editorial reported on a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) on COVID outcomes, which looked at states’ economic recoveries, education policies and mortality rates. Under Murphy, New Jersey came in DEAD LAST among…Read More
With All Due Respect, Tom Moran, the Exodus of People and Wealth from NJ Is Not a “Fantasy”
Posted On04/07/2022 byThe Star-Ledger’s Tom Moran recently wrote an op-ed entitled “Are Folks Leaving Jersey? Nah!” Moran dismisses the idea that New Jersey has an outmigration problem as “fantasy.” But it’s not fantasy, it’s real, and it’s a shame that the editor of New Jersey’s leading newspaper overlooks it. Moran cites data but not the right data….Read More
NJ Has the Third-Highest Tax Burden in the Nation at $8,134 Per Person: 41% Higher than the US Average
Posted On03/29/2022 byThe Tax Foundation came out with its annual “Facts and Figures” report, and it has a very helpful on-line tool to look at New Jersey’s tax rates and burdens from just about any angle. We found the interactive chart presented below illuminating. Note that New Jersey ranks 44th when it comes to the state-and-local tax…Read More
The Data Shows School Closures Led to Learning Loss, but the NJEA Pretends It Did Not Happen
Posted On03/24/2022 byIn an article entitled “In-Person Classes Boost Test Scores,” the Wall Street Journal reports that American students are scoring lower on reading and math tests than last year, indicating that there was indeed learning loss resulting from school closures during the pandemic. (It’s behind a paywall, so we cannot link to it.) Renaissance Learning analyzed…Read More
Another Migration Study and Another Last-Place Finish for NJ: In 2021, 54% More People Left than Came In
Posted On03/17/2022 byAnother migration study, another last-place finish for New Jersey. This time it’s a 2022 study by Hire A Helper that used data from moves, company surveys and the US Census Bureau. For 2021, New Jersey came in dead-last – 50th out of 50 states – with a whopping 54% more people leaving the state than coming…Read More
Congratulations to Montclair’s Two New, ELECTED School Board Members: the Repudiation of Mayor Spiller Continues
Posted On03/15/2022 byHearty congratulations to Phaedra Dunn and Melanie Dysher, the winning candidates in Montclair’s first school board election. Dunn and Dysher were part of the Vote Montclair slate and bested seven other candidates. Remember that Vote Montclair, a grassroots parent/citizen group, was behind last November’s referendum that changed Montclair from a mayor-appointed school board to an…Read More
Even the faraway Washington Post Sees Gov. Murphy’s Blocking of Charter School Expansion as Appeasing the NJEA
Posted On03/01/2022 byA Sunlight subscriber sent us a Washington Post article by Jay Mathews entitled “N.J.’s education chief blocked growth of state’s best charter schools. Why?” Sunlight does not typically opine on charter schools because they are for the most part outside our purview. But insofar as New Jersey’s charter school policies reflect Governor Murphy’s subservience to…Read More
Like Sunlight, ELEC’s Brindle Warns About Special Interest Domination of NJ Politics Via Shadowy Super PACs
Posted On02/24/2022 byKudos to Jeff Brindle, executive director of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), for calling out the danger to NJ’s electoral system from shadowy, special interest Super PACs (political action committees). Brindle has frequently decried the influence of dark money and Super PACs in NJ elections, but Sunlight is happy to see that Brindle…Read More
How Many Members Does the NJEA Have? And Did It Just Lose 3,500 Members?
Posted On02/17/2022 byProbably no one knows more about the inner workings of America’s public employee unions than Mike Antonucci, author of the valuable and informed Education Intelligence Agency website. Antonucci recently wrote a piece for The 74 about the decline of public employee union membership, and particularly the decline at the local government level, where most school employees…Read More
Star-Ledger’s Moran Nails It: NJEA Influence Drives Gov. Murphy’s Policies on Charter Schools
Posted On02/15/2022 byTom Moran’s editorial in the Star-Ledger calls out Gov. Murphy for the disconnect between his rhetoric and his actions when it comes to New Jersey’s charter schools. Murphy has professed support for charters and yet he has blocked many proposed charter expansions. Meanwhile, ten thousand mostly minority families and their kids remain on waiting lists for seats…Read More