Author Archive
Harvard Study: Teachers’ Union Strength Determined Whether Schools Were Open During COVID
Posted On11/02/2021 byIn a new report, Harvard Business School professor Joshua Coval has shed light on the facts behind COVID-related school closures. Coval analyzed the data about which school districts opted for remote learning and found that it wasn’t COVID-related issues like case numbers or vaccination rates that drove the decisions. Rather, Coval found: “If you want…Read More
Setting the Record Straight: This Election, the NJEA is BY FAR the Biggest Special Interest Spender
Posted On10/29/2021 byThe head of New Jersey’s elections watchdog, ELEC’s Jeff Brindle, said it best: “Never before have two legislative races topped $6 million in one election” – referring to the 2nd and 8th districts. Why is New Jersey spending more and more every election? The taxpayer-funded NJEA. News reports get the facts wrong. They identify…Read More
Excellent NJSpotlight Report Details the NJEA’s Massive, Taxpayer-Funded Support for Murphy
Posted On10/27/2021 byKudos to Jeff Pillets and NJSpotlight for their excellent, balanced report on the NJEA’s massive, taxpayer-funded support for Gov. Murphy’s re-election. Pillets gets quotes from all sides of the debate, including from Sunlight and NJEA President Sean Spiller. Sunlight particularly liked this quote from Ben Dworkin of Rowan University: “In the NJEA, the governor has…Read More
The NJEA Website Pivots from Politics to Students, But Is This Just Optics?
Posted On10/25/2021 byBig changes to the NJEA website. Normally, Sunlight and most others would not pay much attention to changes in a website, but the change to the NJEA’s website is dramatic – a veritable 180 – and seems to reflect a change in how the NJEA wants to be perceived, especially by teachers. Whether it portends…Read More
In Contrast to NJ Policy Perspective, NJEdReport Provides a Fair and Data-Driven Look at State Education Spending
Posted On10/21/2021 bySunlight heartily recommends NJEdReport’s comprehensive report on NJ education spending. It is full of excellent data that covers the various spending measurements and related state spending, such as municipal aid. It is fair but does not pull punches when it comes to the slanted research of Mark Weber and Bruce Baker for NJ Policy Perspective….Read More
NJEA Sponsorship of NJ PBS’s Gubernatorial Debate Raises Red Flags
Posted On10/14/2021 byKudos to Politico‘s Carly Sitrin for her excellent piece (unfortunately behind a paywall) on the NJEA’s sponsoring NJ PBS’s 2021 gubernatorial debate, despite the fact that the NJEA endorsed one of the debate participants, Gov. Murphy, and committed at least $15.5 million to Murphy’s re-election. As Sitrin notes, New Jersey’s elections watchdog, the Election Law…Read More
Gov. Murphy and the NJEA: Quid Pro Quo
Posted On10/12/2021 byJohn Reitmeyer’s piece for NJSpotlight says it all. Gov. Murphy has increased spending by 30% since he entered office, and “much of the big increase in spending is helping fund increases in aid to K-12 schools and record-high public-worker pension contributions …” In order to do so, Murphy increased taxes on the wealthy and corporations, both…Read More
NJEA All-In for Murphy’s Re-Election with $15.5 Million of Teachers’ Dues
Posted On10/08/2021 byInsiderNJ reports that the NJEA is all-in for Gov. Murphy’s re-election campaign. According to the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), as usual, the NJEA’s Super PAC, Garden State Forward, is the top independent spender in the election at $5 million. Garden State Forward made two $2.5 million contributions to two pro-Murphy Super PACs, Our…Read More
NJ’s Top EdWeek Ranking Is Good News, But Our Very High Spending and Lack of Equity Are Not
Posted On10/05/2021 byThe Good News: New Jersey’s public schools were again ranked tops in the nation by Education Week. New Jersey got a B+ overall (1st) and a B for student achievement (2nd to Massachusetts). All New Jersey can be proud of this and thankful for the hard work and dedication of our educators. The Not-So-Good-News: Predictably,…Read More
For the 10th Time, NJ Policy Perspective Distorts the Data to Reach the NJEA’s Preferred Conclusions
Posted On09/29/2021 bySunlight has learned from the past that the New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) duo of Mark “Jersey Jazzman” Weber and Bruce Baker can be relied on for two things: 1) distorting the data; and 2) arriving at the preferred conclusions of NJPP’s generous patron, the NJEA. (See here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and…Read More