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New Jersey Spotlight: Looking Ahead, Unresolved Matters and New Issues Will Mark Year in Education
‘…Not only will 2016 mark an obvious turning point in Christie’s political fortunes – whether he heads to Washington or returns to Trenton to finish his term – but it will also see the unofficial launch of the 2017 gubernatorial race and all that comes with it.
Sweeney, the state Senate president, has already become to make education a prime issue with his preschool plan. Other expected Democratic candidates like Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and former U.S. Ambassador Philip Murphy are sure to have their education planks as well, and the conjecture over who might run on the Republican side has only begun.
But the politics for the governor’s seat is only a piece of it, as advocacy groups continue to sprout up around this or that issue – preschool and charter schools, to name just two.
The role of outside money will get its share of attention as well, including the end of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million foray into Newark schools.
Inside the state, the New Jersey Education Association, the teachers union, has since Christie took office outpaced political spending by every other group by far, and it has just gotten started, to be sure…’
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