Is this the year, in New Jersey and elsewhere, that teacher union leaders lose their grip around the necks of Democratic politicians? 

Some are entertaining this once far-fetched idea. Yesterday Matt Friedman of Politico quoted several NJ legislators and NJEA insiders who criticized the union for setting $45 million of teacher dues on fire by running a can’t-win gubernatorial campaign for NJEA President Sean Spiller.

Also yesterday, Ben Austin, a self-described “big government Democrat,” urged his Party’s leaders to “thank [AFT President Randi] Weingarten for her service, then lock the door behind her as she makes her way out.” This was after news that Weingarten, unbeknownst to many, was a 22-year veteran leader of the Democratic National Committee, which is desperately trying to redefine itself in order to appeal to those outside of the tiny “progressive” bubble of people who get thrills from chanting “defund the police, Israel too,” insisting that American schools are fine, Covid closures were great, parents are thrilled with student outcomes, and we just need a hint more DEI with our Prosecco.

I wish the Democratic Party were willing to redefine its education agenda and cut its umbilical cord with teacher unions, especially in New Jersey where in November voters will choose either Republican Jack Ciattarelli or Democrat Mikie Sherrill for their next governor. Will Democrats thank NJEA for its service and lock the door behind them? Have they had enough of union leaders who thought it was a swell idea to waste members’ hard-earned money on Spiller’s ego trip, where the teachers union refused to return to live instruction after the worst of COVID (Montclair: “we will continue to educate passionately but will do so from our homes”), where we cling to obsolete tenure rules that force districts to lay off their best teachers, where we insist NJ schools are “underfunded” (at  $26,558 per pupil per year), where NJEA derides calls for school choice, including expansion of some of our best charter schools which disproportionately serve our neediest students, despite widespread parent support?

I think it will be tough for politicians to prioritize children’s needs over the big bucks of dark money PACs (which funded Spiller’s campaign), even though a new poll shows only 39% of residents think NJ is headed in the right direction. Politico quotes various politicians who say they are fed up:

• Senator Vin Gopal on Spiller’s expensive loss, “I think the strength of the NJEA will be questioned after these election results. How does it not?” 
• An NJEA rep who asked to remain anonymous: “The NJEA leadership’s credibility I believe has been diminished as it relates to going into the Statehouse and fighting for issues for the association.”
• Asbury Park union president John Napolitani: “I think it was a very poorly calculated and piss-poor decision by the NJEA to blow that kind of money and the results prove that. I don’t even think the membership realized how much of their dollars were spent on this race, basically for a loss.”

Sure, it’s easy pickings for Republican Ciattarelli, who tweets, “Hey NJ Teachers! When you vote in November, remember that @MikieSherrill couldn’t wait to suck up to the NJEA and embrace the guy who just lit $40 million of your dues money on fire these past few months. What an insult to New Jersey’s hard-working educators.”

For Democrat Mikie Sherrill? Not so easy. She’s caught in a tough place, having planted her flag in the “moderate” camp of the Democratic Party, eschewing Mamdani-like flame-throwing and pushing her platform as “safe.” 

But maybe, just maybe, safety has lost its appeal. According to polls, “voters no longer view Democrats as the party that will educationally prepare kids for future economic success.”  We want change, whether you call it “abundance” or not, in the Party’s antipathy towards both public and private school choice and its obsessive focus on social justice at the expense of learning to read.  As Ben Austin points out, 

 “Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama won because they had the guts to challenge party orthodoxy on behalf of the American people. Democrats like Harris — along with every nominee since Walter Mondale who lost in the general election — ran as avatars of party orthodoxy and offshored education policymaking to Weingarten and the teachers unions…Democrats became the party of public education because they had the courage to fight for it. That courage is needed again today — to challenge failed leaders, stand with parents, take back power and fight for democracy.”

Do NJ Democratic politicians like Sherrill have the courage to be bold about education? I live in hope, especially in these dark Trumpy days, but I’m not yet convinced.