Stuff in the ‘Political Spending and Influence’ Category
Deb Cornavaca, the NJEA and Gov. Murphy: A Revolving Door of Special-Interest Influence
Posted On05/18/2022 byWell, well, well, as night follows day, a NJEA political organizer cycles into the Murphy administration as a senior officer and then cycles right back to the NJEA. Murphy’s Deputy Chief of Staff Deborah Cornavaca is leaving to become the NJEA’s Director of Government Relations. Recall that Cornavaca was an NJEA political organizer before she…Read More
Harvard Study: NJ Among the States with the Most School Closures and Learning Loss. What Will Gov. Murphy Do About It?
Posted On05/17/2022 byWhile the NJEA wants to claim that learning loss did not really occur, a new study by Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research sheds some much-needed light on the severity of learning loss due to pandemic-related school closures. While the authors passed no judgments on whether a state’s COVID policies were justified, their conclusions were…Read More
The NJEA Proudly Boasts About Its Quid Pro Quo Relationship with Gov. Murphy
Posted On04/22/2022 byAs our readers are well aware, Sunlight’s mission is to shine a light on the special-interest-domination of New Jersey’s political system, led by the most powerful special interest of them all, the NJEA. Sunlight has also highlighted Gov. Murphy’s strong and unbending ties to the NJEA: the NJEA supports Murphy’s campaigns with millions of dollars…Read More
NJEA’s 2021 Financials: Leadership’s Pensions Very Secure; Super PAC Awash with Dues Money; Membership Declining
Posted On04/19/2022 bySunlight had a chance to look at the NJEA’s latest financial statements (for the fiscal year ending August 31, 2021) and there were some interesting nuggets of information: NJEA Leaderships pensions continue to be gold-plated and very secure. Sunlight did an extensive report on the NJEA leadership’s gold-plated, well-funded pensions – as contrasted with the…Read More
Wall Street Journal: Under Gov. Murphy, NJ Is Dead Last in COVID Outcomes, Confirming Sunlight’s Report
Posted On04/12/2022 byAs if confirming Sunlight’s latest report on Gov. Murphy’s unfinished business in New Jersey, the Wall Street Journal‘s lead editorial reported on a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) on COVID outcomes, which looked at states’ economic recoveries, education policies and mortality rates. Under Murphy, New Jersey came in DEAD LAST among…Read More
Congratulations to Montclair’s Two New, ELECTED School Board Members: the Repudiation of Mayor Spiller Continues
Posted On03/15/2022 byHearty congratulations to Phaedra Dunn and Melanie Dysher, the winning candidates in Montclair’s first school board election. Dunn and Dysher were part of the Vote Montclair slate and bested seven other candidates. Remember that Vote Montclair, a grassroots parent/citizen group, was behind last November’s referendum that changed Montclair from a mayor-appointed school board to an…Read More
Even the faraway Washington Post Sees Gov. Murphy’s Blocking of Charter School Expansion as Appeasing the NJEA
Posted On03/01/2022 byA Sunlight subscriber sent us a Washington Post article by Jay Mathews entitled “N.J.’s education chief blocked growth of state’s best charter schools. Why?” Sunlight does not typically opine on charter schools because they are for the most part outside our purview. But insofar as New Jersey’s charter school policies reflect Governor Murphy’s subservience to…Read More
Like Sunlight, ELEC’s Brindle Warns About Special Interest Domination of NJ Politics Via Shadowy Super PACs
Posted On02/24/2022 byKudos to Jeff Brindle, executive director of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), for calling out the danger to NJ’s electoral system from shadowy, special interest Super PACs (political action committees). Brindle has frequently decried the influence of dark money and Super PACs in NJ elections, but Sunlight is happy to see that Brindle…Read More
Star-Ledger’s Moran Nails It: NJEA Influence Drives Gov. Murphy’s Policies on Charter Schools
Posted On02/15/2022 byTom Moran’s editorial in the Star-Ledger calls out Gov. Murphy for the disconnect between his rhetoric and his actions when it comes to New Jersey’s charter schools. Murphy has professed support for charters and yet he has blocked many proposed charter expansions. Meanwhile, ten thousand mostly minority families and their kids remain on waiting lists for seats…Read More
The Evidence Is Mounting: Teachers’ Unions Drove School Closures, Which Harmed Kids
Posted On11/15/2021 byMultiple research reports show that teachers’ unions, including the NJEA, put the interests of their members over the interests of the kids by pushing to keep schools closed during the pandemic It is widely recognized that school closures harmed kids, both in terms of substantial learning loss – especially in minority communities – and in…Read More