Time to investigate the teachers union: Call Sen. Steve Sweeney

Enough is enough with the back room politics, vendettas and victim shaming from the NJEA. Thankfully, we have courageous journalists like James O'Keefe pushing through the wall of silence that the Teacher's Union has been using to keep the public in the dark. The New Jersey Education Association needs to do a lot more than issue a statement about best practices in order to dig out of the hole they've dug for themselves. As I wrote about on Thursday, the release of two videos exposing alleged crimes and cover ups on the part of union officials should be concerning to every parent, educator and taxpayer in New Jersey.

It's time for a criminal investigation as on one of the videos, there is explicit talk about sex between a teacher and a student. We don't yet know who the teacher is or where they work and we don't yet know if the student was a minor.

The reaction of the NJEA representatives in light of allegations of covering up what could be serious crimes is an outright offense to everyone in our state. Attacking the methods that the videos were obtained instead of immediately addressing the content is not what we should expect from public employees. We shouldn't expect it from anyone, let alone adults charged with teaching, leading and protecting children.

On Friday I asked our listeners to call the Senate President, Steve Sweeney, to ask him to start the process of investigating the NJEA. Aside from being a politica shill for the new Governor and spending member's money on political vendettas, they are accused of covering up alleged crimes. That should be enough for our elected officials to investigate and rethink how our schools are funded with so many millions pouring into the NJEA. The NJEA has seemingly ceased to represent their members fairly as an honest broker. They have devolved into a political machine using their members to carry out a special interest agenda at the expense of hard working middle and working class New Jerseyans. It's time for them to be scrutinized and exposed for whatever corruption and alleged crimes they may be currently covering up and what they may have hidden over the years. Parents, teachers and students deserve better than the NJEA.

Call Senator Steve Sweeney at (856) 251-9801. Ask him to open up a legislative investigation. Ask him to inquire about the steps Law Enforcement is taking regarding the possible teacher-student sex referenced in the released video. Don't forget to add a quick "thank you" for the Senator's courage to standing up to Governor Murphy's endless pursuit of higher taxes.

Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015. Tweet him @NJ1015 or @BillSpadea. The opinions expressed here are solely those of Bill Spadea.

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