Author Archive
Memo to Gov. Murphy and NJEA President Spiller: The Numbers Don’t Lie: NJ Is Not #1 in Education by a Long Shot
Posted On02/19/2025 byWe know that Gov. Murphy and his good pal, NJEA President/gubernatorial candidate Sean Spiller, like to claim that New Jersey’s public schools are #1 in the nation, but the results from the 2024 National Assessment of Academic Progress (NAEP) tests say otherwise, especially when it comes to New Jersey’s disadvantaged students. Overall, the Urban Institute…Read More
More Signs that NJEA President Spiller Has Turned His Union into One, Big “Spiller for Governor” Super PAC
Posted On02/13/2025 byNJEA President Sean Spiller is running for governor and, despite the obvious conflict of interest, he has not been shy about using his union to assist his political ambitions. That’s why Sunlight previously characterized the current NJEA as one, big “Spiller for Governor” Super PAC. We’ve just seen more signs of how true this is….Read More
More Empty Rhetoric from AG Platkin About Equal Justice for the “Well-Connected.” What About Gov. Murphy’s Pals Spiller and Gill?
Posted On02/07/2025 byWill New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin ever live up to his words? He repeatedly spouts high-sounding rhetoric about prosecuting political corruption and equal justice before the law but then sits silently while Gov. Murphy’s political pals, Sean Spiller and Brendan Gill, remain untouched. Platkin took to the pages of northjersey.com to tout his creation…Read More
NJEA Leadership Secretly Funnels Another $10 Million to Spiller’s Personal Vanity Project, For an Astounding Total of $22.25 Million of Teachers’ Regular Dues
Posted On02/03/2025 byNJEA President Sean Spiller’s personal vanity project just got a whole lot more expensive for New Jersey teachers. And for what? A weak and compromised candidate, according to the Star-Ledger‘s estimable Tom Moran. In its latest IRS filing, the NJEA’s Super PAC, Garden State Forward reported the contribution of another $10 million to the pro-Spiller,…Read More
NJ Globe Details Sean Spiller’s Political Career but Curiously Omits Facts About His Serious Legal Troubles
Posted On01/30/2025 byNew Jersey Globe reporter Joey Fox published a long and detailed summary of NJEA President/former-Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller’s political career as part of a series on the 2025 gubernatorial candidates, but Fox left several important facts out of the story — including facts about Spiller’s serious legal troubles that surely would be of interest to…Read More
NJ Is Losing Residents to Other States but Overall Population Has Grown Due to International Immigration
Posted On01/24/2025 byNew research shows New Jersey is losing people to other states but its overall population has increased due to international immigration, a substantial portion of which appears to have been undocumented/illegal immigration. In order to pre-empt some potential confusion about New Jersey’s population and migration patterns, Sunlight wants to put some new information into context….Read More
NJEA President Sean Spiller’s Personal Vanity Project Funded by $35 Million of Teachers’ Regular Dues
Posted On01/22/2025 byWith very little support from voters, NJEA President Sean Spiller’s run for governor is looking more and more like a personal vanity project. And a very expensive one at that — funded by $35 million of teachers’ regular dues without their knowledge or consent. That’s what we deduce from the New Jersey Monitor‘s report…Read More
NJEA’s Late and Inadequate Response to Increased School Violence Shows Its Priorities Are Elsewhere
Posted On01/16/2025 byNamely, aiding Sean Spiller political ambitions, not teachers’ well-being. In the January 2025 NJEA Review (the monthly magazine for teachers), there are no fewer than three, separate pieces advocating for Spiller for governor — all with handy QR codes linking to Spiller’s campaign website. Back on p. 40, there’s a piece about the post-pandemic increase…Read More
Memo to NJEA President Spiller: NJ Is Not #1 When it Comes to Student Success, Especially for Disadvantaged Kids
Posted On01/14/2025 byNJEA President Sean Spiller has often claimed that New Jersey’s public schools are the best in the nation, and now as a candidate for governor, he’s touting this claim as part of his qualifications for the office. In a recent interview with InsiderNJ, Spiller once again stated: “We have the number one schools in the…Read More
Florida Public Schools Get Better Results — Especially for Disadvantaged Kids — for Less than Half the Price
Posted On01/07/2025 byA wake-up call for New Jersey: New Jersey public schools are not nearly as good as the NJEA and Gov. Murphy claim. Florida 4th graders have better academic achievement in both math and reading than New Jersey — especially for disadvantaged children — while spending less than half the money. The NJEA frequently claims that…Read More