The NJEA Makes Its Bullying Explicit in a Letter to Superintendents: Shut Down Schools or Else …
Posted On08/28/2020 bySunlight Policy Center of New Jersey received a copy of a letter sent by a NJEA county association president to the superintendents in the county. The letter confirms what Jon Reitmeyer of NJ Spotlight reported on yesterday (addressed by SPCNJ in this blog): the NJEA and its members are actively seeking to block in-person instruction…Read More
The NJEA Wants All-Remote Learning but Will It Support Right-Sizing Staffs and Budgets?
Posted On08/27/2020 byNorthJersey.com’s Terrence McDonald reported that several school districts are having to shift to all-remote instruction because teachers are threatening to take paid leave, leaving the districts without enough staff to open schools. McDonald noted that the NJEA had “already chalked up a win this month when Gov. Murphy reversed course and said he would allow…Read More
Star-Ledger’s Mulshine: More Debt Hurts Future Generations; More Taxes Means More Outmigration
Posted On08/27/2020 byThe Star-Ledger’s Paul Mulshine nails it. Governor Murphy’s proposed budget borrows $4 billion and increases taxes by another $1 billion. Borrowing money to pay for current costs like the pension payment or a budget surplus just shifts these costs to future generations – our kids and grandkids. And expanding the millionaire’s tax and adding…Read More
The NJEA Hits the Trifecta with Murphy’s Budget; the Rest of NJ, Not So Much
Posted On08/26/2020 byGovernor Murphy presented a nine-month FY2021 budget yesterday that props up state government spending by issuing bonds and raising taxes. As analyzed by NJ Spotlight’s Jon Reitmeyer, there is virtually no state government belt-tightening: state spending will “still top $40 billion for a traditional 12-month fiscal year … even as he is projecting steep revenue…Read More
Former NJ Budget Director Urges Governor Not to Issue Bonds before Cutting Spending
Posted On08/25/2020 byFormer NJ budget director Richard Keevey urges Governor Murphy not to issue bonds (borrow money) to plug budget gaps in an op-ed in NJ Spotlight. Keevey argues that the true budget gap is about $4 billion – substantially less then the $9.9 billion that Murphy has been authorized to borrow. Keevey suggests that by cutting…Read More
Record’s Stile Rightly Eyes New Direction but Misses Murphy’s Active Role, Conflict of Interest
Posted On08/19/2020 byThe Record’s Charles Stile wrote and op-ed entitled “How Murphy’s ‘dark money’ allies allow governor to play good cop/bad cop with Trump,” which rightly focused on the cozy relationship between the dark money Super PAC New Direction New Jersey (NDNJ) and Governor Murphy. Stile deserves credit for previously scrutinizing NDNJ and recognizing that 70% of…Read More
New Jersey Policy Perspective’s Shoddy Research Misses The Mark On Extra COVID Funding For Schools
Posted On08/18/2020 byNew Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) has published a report, “School Funding in New Jersey: Preparing Now for the 2020-21 School Year,” co-authored by Bruce Baker and, once again, Mark Weber, Ph.D., (a.k.a Jersey Jazzman). SPCNJ embarked on writing this blog with the aim of finding some grounds for agreement with NJPP because the need for…Read More
Murphy Wins at Supreme Court but NJ’s Future Generations Lose
Posted On08/14/2020 byCongratulations, Governor Murphy. Unsurprisingly, the NJ Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that you get to borrow up to $9.9 billion to cover budget gaps due to shortfalls and costs related to COVID19. This is good news for NJ’s most powerful special interests, the public sector unions, who are Murphy’s political supporters. Unfortunately, this is bad news…Read More
Three Indisputable Facts about NJ21United
Posted On08/10/2020 bySunlight Policy Center of New Jersey (SPCNJ) recently published a report “Who and What Is NJ21United?” asking who was behind NJ21United, the dark-money, political-action group that is organizing the #OnlyWhenItsSafe campaign. #OnlyWhenItsSafe calls for delaying the reopening of NJ public schools until certain conditions are met. Here are three indisputable facts about NJ21United: NJ21United is…Read More
NJLeftBehind Digs into NJ21United and Finds a Lot More than COVID-related Issues
Posted On08/06/2020 byNJLeftBehind dug into NJ21United’s policy positions and figured out that they extend well beyond COVID-related, school-reopening issues. SPCNJ also dug into NJ21United and concluded the same thing in its just released “Who and What Is NJ21United?” report. SPCNJ’s report also uncovered NJ21United’s deep ties to the NJEA and asks whether NJ21United is another NJEA “dark…Read More