As NJ school issues become more politicized, NJEA is among top spenders this election

With school board elections in New Jersey becoming more politicized, the New Jersey Education Association — the state’s largest public school teachers’ union — was the fourth-biggest spender in the current election season, according to a report released by the state agency overseeing elections.

Garden State Forward, an independent, expenditure-only political action committee registered with the IRS and funded solely by NJEA member dues, has spent $1.9 million, according to reports filed on Oct. 27 to the state’s Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Independent political committees such as Garden State Forward cannot fund individual candidates but are permitted to donate without limits to other political committees.

Garden State Forward donated to two other top-spending independent expenditure committees, both of which have boosted Democrats in legislative races in contested districts.

This election's largest spender so far is an independent group named Middle Ground. It spent $2.6 million on surveys, ads and mailers in the 11th, 16th and 38th legislative districts. Independent group spending in Monmouth County's 11th District has made it the state’s most expensive race, ELEC reported.

Garden State Forward donated $900,000 to Middle Ground and $1 million to the fifth-highest spender, Prosperity Rising. Turnout Project, an independent committee working in Hudson County, received $50,000 from Garden State Forward during the primary election.

The union’s political action committee, NJEA PAC, makes direct donations to legislative and some school board races. It endorsed 95 candidates running for Senate and Assembly this election cycle, a list that includes both Democrats and Republicans. The state Democratic Party committee was among the largest recipients of donations from NJEA PAC.

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Fighting conservative backlash

The NJEA has advocated for inclusive curricula relating to gender and race in schools. The backlash from conservative and right-wing groups to some of these initiatives has made the teachers’ union a major player in the culture wars that have swept K-12 education.

Meanwhile, the Republican-leaning "parental rights" movement that built up in the past two years has vilified the NJEA for some of its positions on these issues.

"Our goals are to ensure that New Jersey’s schools are safe, well-funded, well-staffed and well-resourced," union spokesperson Steven Baker said, noting that the NJEA opposes efforts to censor curriculum and ban books. "Access to information is fundamental to both education and democracy."

Education policy is determined by the state government, but stakeholders, such as the NJEA, parent advocacy groups and the state’s charter school association, lobby lawmakers to influence policy. One example of opposing interests is the NJEA’s stated opposition to charter school expansion in the state, even though many public charter schools in New Jersey are among the best-performing in the nation.

School districts each have their local NJEA-affiliated associations made up of union members who work in schools. These groups have been vocal in New Jersey’s culture wars, often showing up in droves at board meetings when trustees make moves to influence school policy in ways that affect curricula and school administration.

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NJEA PAC donates to school board candidates at the request of local unions that endorse candidates, Baker said.

The New Jersey Democratic State Committee has been the biggest beneficiary of NJEA PAC donations during the current election season so far, receiving $65,000. The state Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee received $26,500 in donations from NJEA PAC. Some county Democratic committees also received donations. The Democratic Committee of Bergen County got $10,000 from NJEA PAC.

Other NJEA PAC recipients

Here are some prominent lawmakers who received NJEA PAC donations in the range of $10,000 toward their races this year:

• Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, received $16,000.

• Senate President Nick Scutari, D-Union, received $11,800.

• Assembly Education Committee Chair Pamela Lampitt, D-Camden, received $13,500.

• Senate Education Committee Vice Chair Shirley Turner, D-Mercer, received $7,000.

Senate Education Chair Vin Gopal, D-Monmouth, received $14,600 from NJEA PAC through his joint and individual campaign accounts, but Democratic independent group Prosperity Rising — whose biggest donor is NJEA’s Garden State Forward — also spent around $841,000 in the hotly contested 11th District in Monmouth County, where Gopal is running.

Top-spending independent committee Middle Ground spent nearly $2.65 million in the election season. Of that, about $934,000 went for Democratic campaigning in the 11th District. Garden State Forward contributions made up one-third of Middle Ground's total spending.

K-12 school policies are viewed by Democrats as a wedge issue that could work against them in the 11th District and in the election in general. Gopal’s running mates would have to unseat two incumbent Republican assemblywomen, Marilyn Piperno of Colts Neck and Kim Eulner of Shrewsbury.

Both Piperno and Eulner have adopted parental rights platforms in opposing their Democratic challengers in the 11th District.

Women for a Stronger New Jersey, a Republican PAC and the 11th-largest spender among independent committees in the election season, spent $597,000 this election season. Of that, around $130,542 was spent on the 11th District race, to boost Piperno's and Eulner's reelection campaigns.

Democrats hold a 25-15 edge in the state Senate and a 46-34 edge in the Assembly and have outspent Republicans by 3-1, ELEC reported.

School board races and politics

The NJEA has long been a power broker in New Jersey’s political campaigns, and school board campaigns — which are supposed to be nonpartisan — have turned political.

Women for a Stronger New Jersey paid for a digital advertisement featured on the Monmouth County Republican Committee’s Facebook page. In the ad, Louan Austin, a member of the River Vale Board of Education in Bergen County, criticizes the state government’s policy on parental notification in schools. “So this year, I’m voting Republican,” she says.

The New Jersey School Boards Association did not comment on whether Austin violated the code of ethics in the advertisement, saying that was the role of the state's School Ethics Commission. The Code of Ethics for School Board Members in New Jersey requires trustees not to surrender “independent judgment to special interest or partisan political groups or to use the schools for personal gain or for the gain of friends.”

However, board members are advised to observe “limits to their speech,” said association spokesperson Janet Bamford. When making a public statement not on behalf of the school board, an individual board member should indicate that the statement reflects their personal opinion, and that they are not speaking on behalf of the school board, the School Boards Association said. Even if trustees use disclaimers, the ethics commission has said, the substance of their comments can make disclaimers meaningless.

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Rejecting sociology textbook

Bernards Township in Somerset County, whose high school ranks in the top 25 in the state, according to U.S. News & World Report, has seen an ongoing clash between parental rights board members and others on the board.

In April, five trustees — including four who ran and won on a parental rights platform — rejected two sociology textbooks recommended by teachers, one of which is used by neighboring high schools.

One of the trustees who voted against the textbook was Larry Rascio. Rascio is running for reelection on a slate called “Securing Kids Education” with two other candidates who promote parental rights.

The group spent 30% of its expenses on political consulting services offered by Checkmate Strategies, a GOP consulting and direct mail firm in Red Bank, according to reports it filed with ELEC. The firm is dedicated to “flipping blue seats red,” its website says.

Their opponents, Janice Corrado and David Shaw, have purchased media and lawn signs from a political promotions vendor called Capitol Promotions. The vendor is listed by the Federal Election Commission as having provided services to candidates with different political affiliations.

Staff Writer Ashley Balcerzak contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Amid culture wars, NJEA union spends big on election