Retired NJEA Executive Director Made $878,569 in 2020, Bringing Total Pay to Over $8 Million
Posted On05/04/2023 byJust when you thought the last $2.5 million chapter had been written on former-NJEA executive director Ed Richardson’s lucrative career as a NJEA officer, Sunlight has learned that he was paid another $878,569 after he retired, bringing his reported career compensation to $8.2 million. By comparison, New Jersey teachers — whose highest-in-the-nation dues funded Richardson’s…Read More
More Indications that Education Truth Project and NJ Public Education Coalition Are NEA/NJEA Fronts
Posted On04/25/2023 byTime for another update on the dark-money Super PAC Education Truth Project (ETP) and its New Jersey affiliate, New Jersey Public Education Coalition (NJPEC). Both organizations were set up to back progressive school board candidates against the wave of parent-activists who ran for school board during the 2022 election cycle and were supported by groups…Read More
New Jersey Gets Bond-Rating Upgrades, But Many Challenges Remain for the Future
Posted On04/18/2023 byThe good news: all three bond-rating agencies upgraded their ratings for New Jersey’s bonds for the second time in the last year. The upgrades are good news in that they reflect an improved fiscal condition, largely due to efforts to address New Jersey’s substantial long-term debt burden. The Murphy administration is taking victory laps, but…Read More
By Lowering Standards, Gov. Murphy Seeks to Hide the Learning Loss Caused by His Education Policies
Posted On04/06/2023 byOur friends at NJEdReport published an excellent piece on how “in a fit of dishonesty” Gov. Murphy’s Department of Education (DOE) is seeking to lower the proficiency standards for New Jersey high school students. We urge you to reach the entire piece because it underscores just how low Murphy is willing to stoop to package…Read More
In a Ruthless and Cynical Display of Political Power, Gov. Murphy and the Legislature Undercut Independent Election Watchdog
Posted On04/04/2023 byThe ruthlessness and cynicism of Gov. Murphy and the majority of Democrats in the legislature are breathtaking. How ruthless? The legislature passed and Murphy signed into law the “Elections Transparency Act,” which will permit Murphy to undercut the independence of the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) by unilaterally appointing the four commissioners, who will then…Read More
NJ Public Education Coalition Is Now an “Affiliate” of a Dark-Money Super PAC that Looks Like an NJEA Front
Posted On03/31/2023 byWe now have a little more transparency in the opaque world of New Jersey’s progressive dark money and activist network, but the key question is: who provides the funding for dark-money Super PAC Education Truth Project (ETP)? As Sunlight laid out exhaustively, the circumstantial evidence points strongly to ETP being an NJEA (and/or its parent,…Read More
Urban Institute: NJ Teachers’ Pension Plan Still in Deep Trouble, Projected to be Insolvent in 20 Years
Posted On03/29/2023 byAs Gov. Murphy proposes to pump another $7 billion of the state budget into New Jersey’s unreformed public pension system, Sunlight thought it would be a good time to highlight this reality check from an Urban Institute report entitled “Addressing and Avoiding Severe Fiscal Stress in Public Pension Plans.” The authors examine the 2021 data…Read More
NJEA President Spiller Confirms Membership Is Below 200,000, Causing Dues Revenues to Lag Increase in Dues
Posted On03/24/2023 bySo we finally have official confirmation: the NJEA’s membership is in fact below the 200,000 it advertises on its website. NJEA President (and Montclair mayor) Sean Spiller testified to the legislature that the NJEA’s current membership was “nearly 200,000 active and retired members.” Sunlight can provide only a rough estimate of current membership levels because the…Read More
“New Jersey Politics at their Worst:” Gov. Murphy Seeks to Remove Head of Independent Elections Watchdog
Posted On03/22/2023 byAs the Bergen Record‘s Charlie Stile sees it, Gov. Murphy’s move to weaken New Jersey’s independent elections watchdog (ELEC) amounts to “New Jersey politics at their worst.” There’s a lot not to like about the Orwellian-named “Elections Transparency Act” but the weakening of ELEC is the most consequential. The bill looks like it will be passed by…Read More
The Shadowy NJ Public Education Coalition Strikes Again, Seeks State Help in Intimidating School Boards
Posted On03/16/2023 byThe shadowy New Jersey Public Education Coalition (NJPEC) strikes again. Is it a NJEA dark-money front? The Star-Ledger reports that NJPEC sent a letter to Gov. Murphy and the DOE asking them to crack down on school boards that are not implementing Murphy’s controversial sex ed guidelines the way NJPEC thinks they should. NJPEC has…Read More