Another Quid Pro Quo from Gov. Murphy? NJEA Fingerprints All Over New State Board of Ed Nominees.
Posted On10/03/2022 byGov. Murphy announced the nomination of three new members for the State Board of Education (SBOE), Mary Bennett, Dr. Kwanghee Jung and Dr. Claudine Keenan. All three are from the higher education community, which we suppose is fine, but we were sad to see Andy Mulvahill, a successful businessman and longtime board member, leave. Sunlight…Read More
A Little-Known History Lesson: Gov. Florio Stood Up to the NJEA and Paid for It as a One-Term Governor
Posted On09/29/2022 byLike all New Jersey, Sunlight was saddened to hear of Gov. Florio’s passing. To our surprise, we found ourselves agreeing with the NJEA that Gov. Florio’s “willingness to stand by what he believed was right rather than what was politically expedient remains a model for all those who seek to lead and is a testament…Read More
Reality Check: NJ Corporate, Property Taxes Still Highest in the Nation; Jobs Recovery Remains Weak
Posted On09/27/2022 byGov. Murphy has been loudly touting New Jersey’s ratings upgrades from the three major bond-rating agencies. The upgrades are indeed good news – so far as it goes. New Jersey has benefited from record tax revenues as well as billions in federal dollars, which has allowed Murphy to make full pension payments, pay down some…Read More
Why Did NJ Globe Mischaracterize Opposition to Teaching Sex Ed to Elementary Schoolchildren?
Posted On09/21/2022 byFor the second time in two days, a New Jersey news outlet has shown that it cannot present the facts accurately. Yesterday, it was NJ101.5 on teacher healthcare costs and today it’s New Jersey Globe. Here’s the headline from today’s Globe story: “Rutgers-Eagleton poll: New Jerseyans broadly support sex ed, but less so in lower…Read More
NJ101.5 Gets It Wrong About Healthcare Premium Hikes for Teachers: Property Taxpayers Will Pick Up the Tab
Posted On09/20/2022 byUnfortunately, a recent news story by NJ101.5 got it all wrong about an increase in teacher healthcare premiums. We have nothing against NJ101.5, which usually does a good job reporting, but they failed to do basic research here and have obscured rather than clarified the facts. The first sentence of the NJ101.5 piece reads: “New Jersey…Read More
The Recent Government Employee Healthcare Protests Explained: NJ Taxpayers Will Lose Again
Posted On09/15/2022 byGiven the protests in Trenton and the loud public outcry, Sunlight will weigh in on the health benefit premium hikes for New Jersey government employees, if only to clarify matters for our readers. There was a protest yesterday by state and municipal employees about the 20% rate hikes for their health insurance benefits. It was…Read More
“Where Is Gov. Murphy?” Asks the Star-Ledger: Learning Loss Is Real, but Our Governor Is AWOL
Posted On09/13/2022 by“Where is Gov. Murphy?” asks the Star-Ledger editorial board, noting that our governor is essentially AWOL when it comes to addressing learning loss caused by extended school closures. State Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz stated it plainly: the state is “falling short of what our moral responsibility is.” Sadly, but not surprisingly, Murphy appears to be…Read More
NJEA President/Montclair Mayor Spiller Is Now All about the Parents and Kids but the Facts Show Otherwise
Posted On09/06/2022 byNJEA President/Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller penned an op-ed in the Star-Ledger today in an obvious attempt to reshape the NJEA’s image after the broad pushback against its anti-parent ad campaign. Several themes are worth noting. First, the NJEA is now all about the parents. After the NJEA was forced into a public walk-back from its…Read More
The Data Is In: School Closures Hurt Kids. Remember that Teachers Unions Pushed for Closures.
Posted On09/02/2022 byLearning loss from school closures was widespread and severe, and the teachers unions pushed for those closures. That’s the upshot from two recent commentaries on the results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as “the nation’s report card.” The 74 appropriately titled its piece “Two Decades of Growth Wiped Out by…Read More
NJEA Tries to Walk Back Its TV Ads and Distance Itself from “Radical” Training Sessions
Posted On08/30/2022 byNJEA spokesman Steve Baker made some notably defensive comments about the NJEA’s ad campaign to NorthJersey.com. The NJEA appears to be trying to reshape its messaging after the pushback against its TV ads. Baker now claims that the NJEA was not attacking parents who dared to speak up at school board meetings across the state: “Parents…Read More