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
Sunlight Is Surprised by Evident Anti-Charter School Bias at New Jersey Public Radio
Posted On09/27/2021 bySunlight recently had a surprising exchange with Nancy Solomon, the managing editor of New Jersey Public Radio. Solomon was a recipient of a Sunlight email blast promoting our most recent report on the record-breaking $310,000 that was spent to elect NJEA President Sean Spiller mayor of Montclair. In relevant part, Solomon replied: “Charter school shills…Read More
Pew Study: NJ’s Pensions Are in Dire Shape; Yet Gov. Murphy Prefers to Please His Public Union Pals
Posted On09/16/2021 byThe title of NJSpotlight’s recent article on New Jersey’s pensions,”Public pension funds in better shape, study says,” conveys an overly optimistic message. The body of the report does highlight some of Pew’s concerns about New Jersey but Spotlight perplexingly fails to give the details about Pew’s actual assessment of the state of New Jersey’s public pensions, which…Read More
New Jersey’s Jobs Recovery One of the Worst in the Nation. Does Gov. Murphy Care?
Posted On09/14/2021 byNew Jersey’s jobs recovery from COVID has been one of the weakest in the nation. NJBIZ reports that according to Pew Charitable Trusts, there were 6.3% fewer people working than prior to the pandemic, which was the 5th worst after Rhode Island, California, Hawaii and Nevada. There are also 287,000 fewer jobs in New Jersey,…Read More
The NJEA Tries to Silence Sunlight Policy Center and Keep NJ Teachers in the Dark
Posted On09/08/2021 byWell, it looks like Sunlight’s campaign to inform New Jersey teachers of their 1st Amendment rights has hit a nerve. It appears that the NJEA has written up a Facebook hit piece on Sunlight to counter our outreach efforts to teachers. True to form, the NJEA doesn’t take on any of the facts that Sunlight has…Read More
NJ Teacher Speaks to Fellow Teachers: You Can Leave the NJEA Now and Stop Paying $1,500 Dues
Posted On08/25/2021 byCourageous Montville teacher Mark Mansour made an inspiring and impassioned plea to his fellow teachers at a rally in Trenton, right across from the NJEA’s sparkling $15 million headquarters – paid for by New Jersey teachers’ highest-in-the-nation dues. [CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO] Mansour’s message: New Jersey teachers can leave the NJEA now and…Read More