This past holiday weekend delegates at the National Education Association Assembly Convention voted for their new president. One of the three candidates was New Jersey’s very own Sean Spiller, former NJEA president and Montclair mayor, for whom the state union invested over $40 million in teacher dues to try to buy him the governorship. In that race Spiller came in fifth of six candidates. In the NEA race, as Matt Friedman reported in today’s PoliticoNJ newsletter. he came in third of three candidates This clear repudiation of Spiller and his platform (short version: more money for grown-ups, lower standards for children) offers Governor Mikie Sherrill an opportunity: Given these two solid pieces of evidence of NJEA’s diminishing clout,* Sherrill has an opening to act on her promise to offer more opportunities to families stuck in low-performing schools.

So what can Sherrill do to increase educational options for families whom, even in her wealthy hometown of Montclair, struggle to teach kids to read and do math? 

Here are three suggestions.

Direct the state Department of Education to raise standards on annual tests to confer some validity to NJ high school diplomas. Yes, NJEA mucky-mucks and boosters of the status quo really like that graduating seniors don’t have to meet expectations in 10th grade reading and math to get a diploma. Yet Sherrill should take a look at the response to her peer, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, who entered office with higher standards ready to go but chose to push them off for a year or so. Andy Rotherham calls this decision “politically disastrous” to “the moderate image she seeks to cultivate” and bad for Democrats in general.

Put some teeth into NJ’s new literacy laws and start addressing our deficits in math proficiency. As a new report from National Council on Teacher Quality shows, we do a basement-level job of training aspiring teachers how to effectively teach reading yet the new laws leave our teacher preparation programs untouched. What if Governor Sherrill advocates for standards in these post-secondary schools where, currently, only 8% meet best practices for training teachers?

How about math? Currently in New Jersey, prospective K-6 educators take only 39% of the recommended coursework in math content to earn teaching degrees, the fourth lowest teacher preparation expectation bar in all states and the District of Columbia. We know teachers who are uncomfortable with their math skills teach math poorly. When will we get some legislation on math instruction? Or at least some guidance from Sherill’s DOE? 

Meanwhile 41% of New Jersey schoolchildren are proficient in math. Surely our kids need us to up our game. 

Opt into the federal tax credit program that can support students in public schools through high-dosage tutoring, summer schools, and after school programming, as well as therapies for students with disabilities. Yes, the unions are heartily against what they call the “Trump voucher scheme” and it’s true that some of the money could go to private school tuition. But what’s the alternative? The money, which will come in part from NJ residents who want that $1,700 tax credit, will just be divvied up among states that opt in.  Do we really want to walk away from that revenue, all while districts are scrambling to plug budget holes?

Charlie Barone quotes Georgetown University education economist Marguerite Roza, who explains, “90% of the kids in our country, and their families, have attended public schools, these (scholarship granting organizations) could have … broader appeal to the average taxpayer” and describes the program as “a potential tool for expanding opportunity within the public system.” 

He writes,

Sherrill has an opportunity to show that New Jersey remains committed to strong public schools and embrace innovative ways to support students.

New Jersey, should it decline, could see its taxpayer dollars flow out of state as parents seek scholarship granting organizations.

New Jersey has long been a leader in education. To remain one, we must be willing to evolve — and to put students first.

Gov. Sherrill earned some serious cred when she said during the gubernatorial campaign that “everyone knows we’re not getting the bang for the buck that we need” in our public schools and ”third-grade reading scores at some of New Jersey’s poorer schools are now below Mississippi… that alone should tell us that something needs to change here.” NJEA’s new flaccidity gives her an opportunity to make those talking points more than words and show NJ families — and the country — that she’s willing to buck lobbyists to do right by kids.

*Want more evidence of NJEA’s waning power? First, the gap between lordly union leaders and their subjects is becoming a gulf: How many teachers resent the use of their union dues for Spiller’s ego trips? Second, the NJEA delegates who went to Denver for the NEA convention – higher-ups in the state union hierarchy— didn’t even endorse Spiller. (They didn’t endorse anyone but they didn’t have to — the message was clear.)