Yesterday, during the New Jersey Legislature’s lame-duck session, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Gov. Phil Murphy’s nomination of Mary Bennett to the State Board of Education.

Sort of.

Gov. Murphy, bowing to the demands of NJEA leaders, has been pushing Bennett’s approval for more than a year despite concerns from both sides of the aisle about her background, including some holes in her resume. The chair of the Judiciary Committee, Democrat Brian Stack, has repeatedly pulled her name off the agenda—it happened again last week—because Committee members want to ask her some questions and she was listed as a “non-interview” nominee.

On yesterday’s agenda she is listed as “interviewed,” a change in her status. A motion passed to move Bennett’s nomination to the full Senate without the Judiciary Committee’s recommendation.  It wasn’t unanimous : four members voted “no,” three voted “yes,” and one, Sen. Troy Singleton, voted “yes” but with reservations because he didn’t want to move the nomination without a recommendation. 

This sort of non-recommendation is not unprecedented: it serves to get Committee members “off the hook” for supporting a nomination while allowing them to privately discuss their reservations. In all likelihood she’ll be approved by the full Senate, as will the five other State Board of Education members nominated by Gov. Murphy. It’s unclear if this will all happen during the lame-duck session.

Marc Gaswirth writes, 

 “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.”

Bennett will replace current Board member Mary Elizabeth Gazi.