Sunlight Blog
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
Gov. Murphy’s Choices Have Consequences: NJ’s 7.3% Unemployment Rate Among Highest in the Nation
Posted On08/24/2021 byA recent Wall Street Journal editorial painted an unflattering picture of New Jersey’s economic recovery. The WSJ notes that: “unemployment continues to run far higher in states run by Democrats. Unemployment nationwide fell to 5.4% in July, but it was above 7% in Nevada (7.7%), California (7.6%), New Mexico (7.6%), New York (7.6%), Connecticut (7.3%), New…Read More
Is NJ Working Families Alliance Serving as a “Dark Money” Front for the NJEA?
Posted On08/17/2021 bySunlight was recently on Twitter asking whether New Jersey Working Families Alliance’s (NJWFA) executive director Sue Altman’s anti-charter school invective had something to do with the fact that NJWFA had received at least $249,000 from the NJEA – probably the most anti-charter school organization in the state. Sunlight was right to question Altman on this and…Read More
Fact check: Despite Stellar Investment Returns, NJ’s Public Pensions Are Still in Crisis
Posted On08/13/2021 byThere’s lots of happy talk coming out of Trenton about the state of New Jersey’s public pensions. This plays very nicely into Gov. Murphy’s hands by providing a seemingly rational basis for Murphy’s decision to drop a whopping $6.9 billion (15% of the entire state budget) into public pensions. Unfortunately, the reality is that despite…Read More