Stuff in the ‘The Taxpayer-Funded Political Machine’ Category
It’s Confirmed: NJ Teachers Pay the Highest Dues in the Nation – By Far
Posted OnJuly 19, 2021 byThanks to the sleuthing of the Education Intelligence Agency, we now know for certain that the NJEA’s member dues are the highest in the nation – by a long shot. For the 2020-21 school year, EIA reports that NJ teachers paid $979 in dues, an eye-popping 28% higher than second-place Alaska. Here are the 2020-21…Read More
NJEA’s Beatty: Gov. Murphy Is Best in the Nation When It Comes to Collaborating with Public Unions – and This Year’s Budget Proves It
Posted OnJuly 6, 2021 bySunlight could not have said it better. Supporting the NJEA’s early endorsement of Gov. Murphy, NJEA Vice President-elect Steve Beatty said: “There is no governor in the nation who has worked as closely and collaboratively with public employee unions than Gov. Murphy.” (June NJEA Review, p. 16). Just so. The record $46.3 billion budget Murphy just signed…Read More
Does the NJEA Care About Learning Loss for Minority and Low-Income Students?
Posted OnJune 21, 2021 byRemote learning during the pandemic has indeed taken its toll on NJ students. The New Jersey Globe reported that based on interim tests 37% of NJ students were below grade level in language arts and math. What is even more alarming is that more than half of Black and Hispanic students were below grade level…Read More
Because It Can, the NJEA Spends $198,000 in Support of Republican Betty Lou DeCroce
Posted OnJune 17, 2021 bySunlight must admit that this came as quite a surprise: it appears that ASW Betty Lou DeCroce, Republican Assemblywoman from the 26th legislative district, received massive support from the NJEA for her 2021 Republican primary election campaign. All told, the NJEA’s Super PAC, Garden State Forward spent $198,000 on mailings and digital ads in LD26…Read More
Quid Pro Quo: SEIU Joins the NJEA in Endorsing “Enthusiastically Pro Union” Gov. Murphy
Posted OnMay 26, 2021 byTo no one’s surprise, public union SEIU endorsed Gov. Murphy for re-election, following in train of NJ’s most powerful public union, the NJEA. In doing so, they describe Murphy as a “enthusiastically pro union governor, who has “enacted policies that significantly improved the lives” of public employees. This sounds a lot like what NJEA Secretary…Read More
New Direction Spent $13.2 Million Boosting Gov. Murphy, with $10.5 Million from the Taxpayer-Funded NJEA
Posted OnMay 20, 2021 byPolitico’s Matt Friedman reported in his New Jersey Playbook that NJEA-funded Super PAC New Direction New Jersey(NDNJ) has spent nearly $13.2 million over the past three years to boost Gov. Murphy. Friedman points out that the $13.2 million is almost as much as the $15.6 million the governor would be permitted to spend if he…Read More
NTU President Abeigon Tries to Rewrite History after Sunlight’s Billboard Calls the NTU Out
Posted OnMay 18, 2021 byNewark Teachers’ Union head John Abeigon issued a response to Sunlight’s billboard, one of several around the state that blames the NTU and the NJEA for keeping students out of the classroom and contributing to large-scale learning loss for Newark kids. Unfortunately, Abeigon does not stick to the facts about the matter and attempts to…Read More
Montclair Parent on Mayor Spiller: “It Doesn’t Take a Rocket Scientist to See the Intense Conflict of Interest”
Posted OnApril 23, 2021 byNorthJersey.com had an excellent news story today describing the efforts of Montclair citizens to change from a mayor-appointed school board to an elected school board. As Sunlight readers know, the catalyst for this grassroots groundswell is the massive and judicially recognized conflict of interest embodied in NJEA President-elect/Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller, whose appointees now constitute…Read More
Fired Montclair BOE Member Gonzalez: NJEA President-Elect/Mayor Spiller Privileges His Union Over the Public Interest
Posted OnApril 20, 2021 byFired Montclair Board of Education (BOE) member Sergio Gonzalez is angry. As he says in his published letter, he is “angry at being removed from the BOE because I dared to represent the interests of our children, rather than a political machine.” Gonzalez was removed by NJEA President-elect/Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller so that Spiller could…Read More
NJEA President-Elect/Montclair Mayor Spiller’s Conflict of Interest Spreads to the School Board
Posted OnApril 16, 2021 byThe Montclair Local reports that NJEA President-elect/Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller has appointed three new members to the Montclair school board. That now makes four-of-seven school board members appointed by Spiller, so his appointees are now a majority. Spiller’s judicially-recognized conflict of interest has now spread to the school board. First, Sunlight would like to say…Read More