Stuff in the ‘The Taxpayer-Funded Political Machine’ Category
NJEA Sponsorship of NJ PBS’s Gubernatorial Debate Raises Red Flags
Posted OnOctober 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 OnOctober 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
NJ’s Top EdWeek Ranking Is Good News, But Our Very High Spending and Lack of Equity Are Not
Posted OnOctober 5, 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
The NJEA Tries to Silence Sunlight Policy Center and Keep NJ Teachers in the Dark
Posted OnSeptember 8, 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 OnAugust 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
Fact check: Despite Stellar Investment Returns, NJ’s Public Pensions Are Still in Crisis
Posted OnAugust 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
Does NJEA President-elect/Montclair Mayor Spiller’s Pricey Fundraiser Portend a Run for Governor?
Posted OnAugust 10, 2021 bySunlight has been active on social media about NJEA President-elect/Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller’s fundraiser for his dark-money Super PAC. We highlighted the pricey levels of sponsorship that are clearly meant to extract maximum dollars from deep-pocketed supporters as well as the use of a non-union facility for an event that was putatively honoring union leaders….Read More
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