Dr. Marc Gaswirth, a retired public school administrator, has written extensively for more than 40 years about public sector bargaining and school human resources.

In a recent column appearing on several statewide websites, Sean Spiller, president of The New Jersey Education Association urged the governor and state legislature to approve a new education commissioner and six new State Board of Education members. 

Their policy positions will presumably parallel those of the state’s largest public sector union. Spiller’s request, or better put, dictate is a sign of the union’s smugness and professed self- importance, a posture that the state’s political establishment has done nothing to discourage during the six years of the Murphy Administration.

Spiller need not worry about the outcome of the selection process as the NJEA has probably already vetted and approved the governor’s state board nominees even before the Senate Judiciary Committee and the upper house have considered their backgrounds and credentials. In other words, an almost certain fait accompli as no serious resistance will likely block their path toward confirmation. Such is the clout the state teachers’ union routinely exercises, and these choices will be no exception. 

While the new commissioner-designee has not yet been named, the governor’s six nominees identified so far to serve on the 13-member board have, and, interestingly, all appear to have either a professional education or a social justice connection.  

That the governor would be inclined to choose individuals ideologically aligned to the union’s objectives to serve in critical policy-making positions should come as no surprise. After all, he has endorsed nearly all major NJEA legislative initiatives. 

This future members may prove challenging for future education commissioners whose views a newly reconstituted and differently oriented board may not always share.  More likely, though, it signals that during the final two years of the Murphy administration, the new commissioner, the revamped state board, and the NJEA will be in lockstep on most major policy issues. 

The union could now have unfettered access to all critical corridors of power and influence not only at the highest political but also at the administrative and regulatory levels. It will not be just another special interest group but could be the primary driver of state educational policy with veto power over proposals not to its liking.

No wonder, then, that Mr. Spiller gushes with admiration and appreciation for the governor, and so he should. His organization and members have benefited greatly from the sustained political support it has received from him.

The effect of these upcoming appointments could produce a highly-biased and narrow outlook about statewide educational policy goals in the short-term, and this could extend at least another four years since state board members each serve a six-year term.

According to several news reports, the NJEA has been dissatisfied with several of the outgoing education commissioner’s policy stances and has not been happy with the make-up of the current state board, most of whom are holdovers from the Christie Administration. 

Mr. Spiller criticizes the current state board for its “old ideas and old ways of thinking,” an apparent allusion to the board being out of sync with the union’s priorities. This may explain why recent union goals have been achieved through the political, not the normal regulatory process.

 Mr. Spiller continues, without concrete evidence, that the present board has displayed regressive attitudes, contributed to the schools’ culture wars, and neglected the safety and well-being of students. It appears that he is also indirectly chiding the governor, a consistent union ally, who has left the state board intact through his sixth full year in office, imploring him to fill the board with even more union supporters

Mr. Spiller’s points out that the state board has not been a partner, as the legislature and governor have, to address the teacher shortage. A governor’s task force, he maintains, earlier this year proposed numerous recommendations, several of which are now law, to create a larger pool of candidates seeking to enter the profession even though it will take years before the full impact of these laws will be known. By then, the crisis may lessen while arguably a state-sanctioned decline in teacher preparation standards will have occurred

The NJEA’s president’s enthusiasm for the task force’s work is somewhat self-serving as he co-chaired the group. He will be long gone from his present union leadership position by the time we find out whether the legislative efforts to ban, for example, a basic skills test for certain teacher preparation candidates, will produce not only more teacher candidates but those of exceptional quality.

The importance of these upcoming gubernatorial appointments should not be underestimated. Selecting a new commissioner and eventually replacing the entire membership of the entire state board, an agency responsible for implementing the state’s education laws by promulgating and revising rules and regulations, will allow the governor to leave an indelible stamp on education policy well after he leaves office. 

For decades, the NJEA has branded politicians and other policy-makers supporting its goals as “pro-education.” What the union really means to say is that these individuals have supported the union’s agenda. 

Important to remember, however, that this agenda, first and foremost, centers on members’, not students’ interests. To the extent that they may overlap, the connection is usually minimal and incidental.