Ed. Note: This is a press release from Andrew Mulvihill, Chairman of the New Jersey Policy Institute, to all members of the New Jersey Education Association regarding an opportunity to improve student learning and increase teacher compensation.

To President Steve Beatty and the members of the NJEA:

I write as Chairman of the New Jersey Policy Institute and as a former Vice President of the State Board of Education, with one request: help bring a new source of pay for New Jersey teachers home to our state.

Starting January 1, 2027, the Federal Education Tax Credit lets taxpayers redirect up to $1,700 of their federal tax liability ($3,400 for married couples filing jointly), dollar for dollar, to an approved Scholarship Granting Organization. Those scholarships can pay for tutoring for public school students. New Jersey families benefit only if Governor Sherrill opts in, and she has until December 31, 2026 to decide.

That is why NJPI and ACE Scholarships have launched the NJ Teachers Public School Tutoring Fund. ACE is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit K-12 scholarship-granting organizations. Since its founding in 2000, ACE has awarded more than 135,000 scholarships totaling nearly $450 million. The fund pays for high-impact tutoring for New Jersey public school students, delivered by New Jersey teachers who are paid for the work. Our vision is a New Jersey where every community can invest directly in its own kids and put that money in the hands of its own teachers. You can learn more at njpublicschoolsgo.com (https://njpublicschoolsgo.com/).

Every scholarship the fund awards goes to tutoring for New Jersey public school students, and every tutor is a New Jersey teacher.

You, the NJEA, already knows this works. You stood with then-Congresswoman Sherrill to support her Expanding Access to High-Impact Tutoring Act. This is that idea, funded at a scale no State budget can match.

If every eligible New Jersey taxpayer gave, more than $5 billion a year could flow to New Jersey students. If even 10 percent went to teacher-led tutoring, that is hundreds of millions of dollars a year in new pay for New Jersey teachers. It doesn’t take a nickel from any district budget, the pension system or any State program.

If New Jersey stays out, that money goes to children in other states or stays in Washington, D.C. Either way, New Jersey teachers get none of it.

I’m not asking you to change your views on private schools. I’m asking you to make sure New Jersey teachers get paid for doing the work they are passionate about. Join me in supporting the Governor’s opt-in, and help us change the lives of public school students across the state.

Andy Mulvihill Chairman, New Jersey Policy Institute