Stuff in the ‘The Taxpayer-Funded Political Machine’ Category
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
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
Does NJEA President-elect/Montclair Mayor Spiller’s Pricey Fundraiser Portend a Run for Governor?
Posted On08/10/2021 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 On07/19/2021 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 On07/06/2021 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 On06/21/2021 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 On06/17/2021 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 On05/26/2021 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 On05/20/2021 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