Stuff in the ‘Political Spending and Influence’ Category
Most States Are Reducing Tax Rates; Gov. Murphy Raised Tax Rates to Increase Government Spending
Posted On02/03/2023 byThanks to Gov. Murphy and his accommodation of tax-thirsty government unions — who also happen to be his biggest political supporters — New Jersey continues to be a negative outlier when it comes to taxes. Last week Sunlight reported on New Jersey’s exceptionally high corporate tax rate and how a faux-coalition of government unions and…Read More
NJEA President/Montclair Mayor/2025 Gubernatorial Hopeful Sean Spiller Is in Hot Water Again
Posted On01/31/2023 byNJEA President/Montclair Mayor/2025 gubernatorial hopeful Sean Spiller again finds himself in hot water, as explained by this recent Star-Ledger news report. Spiller has been named in a lawsuit filed by Montclair’s CFO, which claims that Spiller retaliated against her after she questioned certain business practices in Spiller’s administration. Sunlight believes it is beyond our purview…Read More
Full-Time NJEA Employee on Randolph BOE Has a Conflict of Interest Unless She Recuses Herself
Posted On01/27/2023 byLast week, Sunlight pointed out that NJEA Field Rep/West Orange BOE (WOBOE) President Brian Rock has a serious and actionable conflict of interest. Rock’s position as a full-time NJEA employee makes his case different from that of a teacher serving on a school board, and the incentives his job creates runs afoul of the laws…Read More
Don’t Be Fooled: “For the Many” Is Government Unions Pushing to Keep NJ Taxes the Highest in the Nation
Posted On01/25/2023 byTwo news items appeared in Sunlight’s inbox yesterday, and their juxtaposition tells you all you need to know about New Jersey’s special-interest-dominated status quo and the very high taxes that go with it. This malign status quo is why New Jersey was ranked dead last in the nation for its tax climate for businesses —…Read More
NJEA Field Rep as West Orange School Board President Is a Substantial and Actionable Conflict of Interest
Posted On01/19/2023 byA friend of Sunlight’s in West Orange informed us that NJEA Field Representative Brian Rock was elected president of the West Orange school board (WOBOE). While we know that several hundred NJEA members have run for school board and other political offices, these have largely been teachers, not full-time employees of the NJEA like Rock. As…Read More
State of the State: What About Learning Loss, Public Pensions and Healthcare Costs, Governor Murphy?
Posted On01/12/2023 byGov. Murphy gave his State of the State speech and there was a lot of talk about New Jersey “leading the nation” in this or that, which tells you a lot about where Murphy’s head is. But it’s what Murphy left out of his speech that is really telling. There were three large gaps in…Read More
New Study: Gov. Murphy’s School Policies and Inaction Will Cause Long-Term Damage to NJ Kids and the State Economy
Posted On12/30/2022 byAt long last, and only after a great deal of public outcry, Gov. Murphy’s Department of Education finally released the full dataset from last spring’s state tests. This means that we now know the district-level results and community leaders, school administrators and parents know where and how much remediation is needed — and there is…Read More
Blue States During COVID: More School Closures, More Learning Loss — Just Like NJ under Gov. Murphy
Posted On12/15/2022 byThe74 conducted a study of the relative learning loss in Democratic (Blue) and Republican (Red) states and found that Red states offered almost twice as much in-person instruction as Blue states during the 2020-21 school year. Less in-person instruction meant less learning. The study quotes Chad Aldeman of Georgetown’s of Edunomics Lab: Because remote learning…Read More
Kudos to Star-Ledger for Calling Out Murphy, Teachers Unions for Sitting on Student Test Data
Posted On12/13/2022 byOnce again, the Star-Ledger has stepped up with a powerful editorial that aims to hold Gov. Murphy and his teachers union allies accountable for not putting New Jersey students first. The editorial questions Murphy’s unconscionable delay releasing the full student data from last spring’s state tests, so schools can get busy remediating the learning loss….Read More
NJSpotlight Roundtable on the Teacher Shortage Is Sponsored by the NJEA: Will It Be Open and All-Encompassing?
Posted On12/09/2022 byNJSpotlight News is hosting a virtual roundtable on “worrisome signs and possible solutions” about the shortage of teachers in New Jersey. All well and good except that the main sponsor of the event is long-time and substantial NJSpotlight donor (see here and here), the NJEA, and Sunlight wonders whether the roundtable will be able to explore all…Read More