Yep, the System is Rigged Alright
June 4, 2019
The NJEA Spends $13.99 million Both FOR and AGAINST Sweeney
June 10, 2019
In an article by Dustin Racioppi and Charlie Stile in north jersey.com, Sen. Sweeney makes two good points about the current state of affairs in New Jersey.
First, given that our governor appears in NJEA-funded TV ads, calling for NJEA policy priorities in the same language the NJEA uses, and that our governor then vetoed a bill that would require disclosure of such NJEA funding, it certainly appears that the NJEA is running the show in Trenton, not the governor.
Second, the NJEA’s $2.5 million (at least) supporting the dark money group, New Direction New Jersey, comes from teachers’ dues. Along with the $4.8 million the NJEA spent in a futile bid to unseat Sweeney in 2017, the NJEA appears to be quite profligate with its members hard-earned dues.
Two questions then come to mind: 1) Why would Murphy allow himself to appear like the puppet of a special interest? And 2) why are NJ teachers letting their dues fund such controversial and expensive political schemes? (Answer: they don’t really have a choice).
Please see the SPCNJ’s most recent report, “Money Equals Power: How the NJEA Dominates New Jersey Politics,” for a history of the NJEA’s outsized influence.
Read the full northjersey.com article on Sen. Sweeney here.