Sunlight Policy Center @SunlightPolicy

No more @NJEA-funded culture wars? Looks like NJEA has pulled the plug on Mendacious Michael Gottesman's @NJPECoalition and parents are now "partners." But Gottesman is still mendacious about his "hundreds of millions" moniker and his past NJEA funding. sunlightpolicynj.org/no-more-cultur…

NJEA Pres. @SteveBeatty928 wants NJ to forget history and keep funding the broken teachers' pension plan with $4bn/yr until 2049. He omits @NJEA's role in the political deals that undermined TPAF, which is only 48%-funded and most teachers in lousy Tier 5. sunlightpolicynj.org/njea-pres-beat…

Mendacious Michael Gottesman of @NJPECoalition doesn't like being called "mendacious:" we challenge him to refute these examples of his deliberate untruthfulness. If he can't, will he retract his false statements to the press? What say you, Mr. Gottesman? sunlightpolicynj.org/mendacious-mic…

Mendacious Michael Gottesman/@NJPECoalition "Media Alerts" deliberately ignore Supreme Court ruling. NJ laws and policies will soon recognize parents' constitutional right to be notified of transitioning. Gottesman knows this. Ignoring it is mendacious. sunlightpolicynj.org/in-his-media-a…

NJEA rebuke? Non-endorsed @SeanMSpiller flames out in his run for @NEA prez. @NJEA leadership wants everyone to forget about Spiller's scandal-plagued, dues-funded political career. Spiller was on a (likely paid) sabbatical, so teachers foot the bill again sunlightpolicynj.org/njea-rebuke-no…

Content with their gold-plated, over-funded pensions, @NJEA execs dropped the ball on improving teachers' inferior pensions. Instead they wasted $45mm of dues on Spiller's run. If execs had the same lousy pensions, would they have prioritized pensions? sunlightpolicynj.org/content-with-t…

After the Spiller scandal, it looks like @NJEA is losing members. New leadership is acting to stem the outflow. We estimate NJEA has lost 10% and know teachers were angry about the waste of $45mm of dues and lack of transparency. How many members are there?sunlightpolicynj.org/after-the-spil…

States with strong teachers unions had weaker recoveries from COVID learning loss than states with weaker unions but spent 70% more on education. MS, LA, SC, AL, FL, TX did better than NJ, which spent twice as much. Students and taxpayers lose, @NJEA wins sunlightpolicynj.org/states-like-nj…

Exxon and Samsung are leaving NJ for TX, along with jobs, salaries, tax revenues. NJ has the highest corporate tax while TX has none. Meanwhile @NJEA-funded @ForTheManyNJ lobbies for NJ tax trifecta: highest income, corporate, property taxes in the nation sunlightpolicynj.org/exxon-and-sams…

New Fordham (@educationgadfly) study: @NJEA is one of the most powerful teachers unions in the nation and takes more of teachers' hard-earned money than any other union. The strongest unions are in Blue states where dues money is spent to elect Democrats. sunlightpolicynj.org/new-study-the-…

Unlike Gov. Murphy, @GovSherrillNJ called out the shortfalls and high cost of NJ's education system. MS outperforms NJ in many ways and spends half as much. Sherrill wants more bang for the buck while @NJEA just wants more bucks. Will she take on the NJEA? sunlightpolicynj.org/gov-sherrill-s…

The @NJEA wants higher property taxes and higher taxes have negative consequences: @TaxFoundation study shows in 2025 NJ lost -0.32% of its population to other states with an avg. income of $132,000. People and wealth are leaving NJ for lower-tax states. sunlightpolicynj.org/in-2025-nj-con…

Make no mistake about it, NJ taxpayers: @NJEA wants higher property taxes. In @njdotcom ex-Prez @SeanMSpiller says the quiet part out loud by calling to end to the 2% tax cap. He does so in his usual deceptive way, ignoring that health benefits are exempt. sunlightpolicynj.org/make-no-mistak…

ELEC 2025 lobbying report reveals a weak, under-resourced @NJEA lobbying effort for pension improvement. Didn't even make the top 10 for contacts or spending. A tiny fraction of what NJEA spent in the past or the $45mm on @SeanMSpiller. No wonder it failed sunlightpolicynj.org/elec-2025-lobb…

Below-trend NJ corporate tax collections coincide with @GovMurphy's corporate tax hike. @pewresearch shows tax collections dropped sharply starting 1/1/24 -- exactly when Murphy extended the nation's highest corporate rate. Special interests win, NJ loses sunlightpolicynj.org/below-trend-nj…

Take note @GovSherrillNJ, since FY2022 NJ's long-term debt has flatlined despite $47bn in pension payments because of increased health-benefit costs. Pensions will require 30yrs and $200bn more to be fully funded -- without COLAs. This is unsustainable. sunlightpolicynj.org/take-note-gov-…

NJEA execs betrayed teachers twice: they wasted $45mm of dues on @SeanMSpiller's failed run for gov and doomed the best chance to improve teachers' inferior, Tier 5 pensions. By prioritizing Spiller, @NJEA fatally pushed pensions to the lame-duck session. sunlightpolicynj.org/wp-content/upl…

More mendacity from Mendacious Michael Gottesman and his NJEA-funded @NJPECoalition: now spewing falsehoods about @FPAofNJ. The proven, serial liar cannot tell it straight. He's also a hypocrite who tries to hide his @NJEA funding. NJ press corps beware! sunlightpolicynj.org/more-mendacity…

Why does @NJSpotlightNews ignore NJ's domestic outmigration of people? Per @VisualCap, NJ had the 6th-worst domestic outmigration in 2025, part of a blue-to-red state exodus. Int'l immigrants keep NJ from shrinking but have less wealth, so NJ losing wealth sunlightpolicynj.org/why-does-njspo…

Latest @pewresearch study gives NJ very low rank for budget reserves. COVID-related revenue windfalls created budget surpluses but those have been used to plug perennial budget deficits. Now NJ is ill-prepared for an unexpected crisis. What happens then? sunlightpolicynj.org/pew-nj-gets-a-…