The Taxpayer-Funded Political Machine

The NJEA is a taxpayer-funded special interest.  The NJEA rigged the system so that over a hundred million of property tax dollars go directly to the NJEA every year without teachers ever seeing the money.  The NJEA then spends most of this money on politics at both the state and local levels. The modern NJEA is a political machine. Its Executive Office is dominated by political operatives and almost all its activities involve political action.  In politics, money is power, and the NJEA has more money than any other group. This taxpayer-funded special interest is now the most powerful political force in the state.

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Research Reports

Previously Unreported Filings Shows $56.99 was spent for each Spiller vote versus $1.97 for His Opponent, Dr. Renee Baskerville

When Sunlight Policy Center first delved into the NJEA’s support for its current president, Sean Spiller’s, mayoral run, we determined that Spiller had raised $57,000, of which $36,000 came from the NJEA and its allies.

WE WERE WRONG!  VERY WRONG!  IT WAS MORE, MUCH, MUCH MORE!!

 

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New Jersey Teachers' Dues: Why are they the highest in the nation and what are they paying for?

New Jersey Teachers’ Dues: Why Are They The Highest In The Nation And What Are They Paying For?

New Jersey’s teachers are getting a raw deal, and most are not even aware of it. Most spend their energy and passion teaching our children and contributing to their communities, not worrying about where their dues money goes. But each year, most of their $1,362 of annual dues is spent far away from their local associations. If the facts about how this money is spent ever came to light, teachers would not be happy.

 

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NJEA New Jersey's political machine

NJEA: New Jersey’s Political Machine

The modern New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) is a taxpayer-funded political machine. Political organizing infuses the organization from top to bottom.

At the top, the NJEA Executive Office is now run by political operators: three-quarters of the Executive Office are political organizers. Almost all of the headquarters staff are engaged in some form of political activity. Even the human resources manager and the professional development staff have political roles to play.

 

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NJEA: The Taxpayer-Funded Special Interest

How has the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) – a private, special interest – become the most powerful political force in the state?

By rigging the system to secure annual, automatic taxpayer funding. Since 1994, over $2.1 billion in taxpayer funding, reaching a record $129 million in 2018.

Decades ago, the NJEA used it political clout to lobby lawmakers to construct a funding system that guaranteed the annual flow of tens of millions of property tax dollars directly into its coffers. School districts collect the property taxes that pay teacher salaries and then withhold the teachers’ dues from their paychecks. Over 80 percent of these dues flow up to the NJEA. School districts and teachers are thus rendered mere pass-throughs for property tax dollars to flow directly into the NJEA’s treasury. The teachers never see the money.

 

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Issue Updates

Political Spending and Influence
The Taxpayer-Funded Political Machine

Shining a Light on the NJEA’s Dark Money Trails

Posted OnNovember 10, 2021

THE POLL$ HAVE CLO$ED…. AND WE CAN NOW PROJECT THE REAL WINNER$ OF LAST WEEK’$ ELECTION…. Congratulation$ to Brendan Gill, Steve DiMicco and Brad Lawrence! Election Day provided many surprises and while New Jersey’s political pundits are still trying to make sense of it, one result was as clear – at least $17.4 million in…

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Political Spending and Influence
The Taxpayer-Funded Political Machine

NJ’s Most Powerful Special Interest, the NJEA, Spends 93% of Its PAC Money on Democrats

Posted OnOctober 20, 2021

NJ’s Most Powerful Special Interest, the NJEA, Spends 93% of Its PAC Money on Democrats Since Sunlight Policy Center of New Jersey began shining a light on the entrenched power of the NJEA – many teachers have shared their complaints about their executive leadership – and we get a lot of them. …New Jersey teachers…

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The Taxpayer-Funded Political Machine

NJEA Inundated Montclair with Unprecedented Political Spending to Elect NJEA President Sean Spiller Mayor

Posted OnSeptember 20, 2021

Previously Unreported Filings Shows $56.99 was spent for each Spiller vote versus $1.97 for His Opponent, Dr. Renee Baskerville When Sunlight Policy Center first delved into the NJEA’s support for its current president, Sean Spiller’s, mayoral run, we determined that Spiller had raised $57,000, of which $36,000 came from the NJEA and its allies. WE…

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The NJEA Irresponsibly Undermines Respect for the Law and Sends a Harmful Message to Students

Posted November 22, 2021

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