Transparency In Campaign Finance
We are running for School Board in Washington Township (Morris County) because we are concerned about our current Board being distracted by politically motivated policy proposals from a small number of people while ignoring the basics like our district’s falling test scores on the basics like reading and math. We have also been running with the honest belief that ideas win any kind of campaign. As a result, we have spent our time focusing on what is needed to support and improve our school district, rather than trying to denigrate our opponents.
Unfortunately, our opponents and some of their supporters shared comments on social media and elsewhere which show a persistent fixation on politics. This only further proves our point that we simply need to get politics out of our schools. Many of their posts are also inaccurate. So, while we would prefer to spend our time on real issues, we also believe that voters have a right to vote based on accurate information. So, let’s talk about funding and support for our School Board campaign.
We did apply for and were accepted to a training program for school board candidates run by a non-profit called Action Together New Jersey Education Fund (ATNJ Education Fund). Information about this 501(c)(3) organization can be found here. https://www.atnjef.org/ It is true that the ATNJ Education Fund sought to provide training to those who supported some basic tenets rather than accepting just any candidate. We still agree with those basic tenets. We were even transparent enough that we signed a public pledge noting our support of those 3 tenants:
1. I support public education
2. I support our teachers
3. I do not support book banning
Candidates trained by the organization include Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. The common thread between those in the training program is our support of public education and the idea that politically motivated issues, such as banning books already approved by experts in education and child development, have no place in our public schools.
Like many national organizations, such as the League of Women Voters, the ATNJ Education Fund is the 501(c)(3) organization for IRS filing purposes which is affiliated with a 501(c)(4) organization called Action Together New Jersey (ATNJ). The reason they are different groups and each have a different tax-exempt filing status is because the purpose of each of them is different. It is the non-profit, 501(c)(3) civic organization that provides the training for school board candidates.
Despite the clear differences in the organizations which anyone can easily Google, there seem to be those that don’t understand the concepts and instead opt to fabricate the idea that our campaign is funded by “dark money.” “Dark money” is the term used in elections when money is funneled into political campaigns without the true origin of the donation being disclosed. Considering our opponents have even posted our election finance forms publicly, they are either outright lying or have a complete misunderstanding of campaign finance terminology. For those interested in helping educate our children, we are honestly not sure which one is worse. Regardless, every campaign contribution for our campaign, including in-kind contributions for services provided, have 100% been disclosed on our campaign’s election filing reports. They are all available on-line to the public.
As for the allegations that we are essentially puppets for a left-wing political group, that is also just plain ridiculous. Yes, our campaign received some, limited in-kind contributions from people outside of our town who are just as concerned as we are about how so many of our local school boards are being distracted by the political agendas espoused by only a few people. Yes, our campaign received some donations from those who live outside of Washington Township. One example is a donations from our parents. Apparently acceptance of contributions from our parents is unacceptable to some.
But, to be even more transparent, some of us are personally recurring donors to ATNJ Education Fund. Marisa Baker was so concerned about the infiltration of politics in our school boards that she put her proverbial money where her mouth is. Her personal donations are made every month in order to ensure the training of candidates for school boards across our state who want to keep the politics out of our public schools continues. She could have used her personal funds to self-finance our campaign if self-interested, personal motivations were her goal. Instead, the goal for all of us is to ensure a high-quality education for all of our children, well into the future.
Our goal in this campaign is to also be as transparent as possible. What you see is what you get. Politics has no business on our School Board and our first order of business would be to fix our system’s overall test scores, rather than introduce policies espoused by only a few voters.
What we find really unfortunate in this election is that our opponents seem to have different motivations and have resorted to mudslinging rather than focusing on the important issues. They have still not denounced a political endorsement from the political group Moms for Liberty which has been named an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/moms-liberty Instead, our opponents have tried to have it both ways by both accepting the endorsement, but also trying to distance their positions from the national organization whose leaders are frequently quoted making hateful and discriminatory comments.
To be clear, we are not suggesting that any of my opponents are personally hateful and discriminatory. Certainly, not everything Moms for Liberty supports is based on outright hate or discrimination. Even so, an acceptance of an endorsement from a political organization is a public acceptance of all of that organization’s positions. A candidate can always personally support ideas taken from various groups while refusing an endorsement from the same group. For our opponents to try to straddle the fence on this endorsement inevitably leads to one conclusion.
Further, it has come to our attention that our opponents are posting the same misinformation on various school board candidate pages for those running in other towns and counties. If their campaign is not politically motivated, why are our opponents spending time involving themselves in other school board campaigns? Our school district has enough issues that need our undivided attention.
We believe voters in our town are intelligent enough to do their own research and come to their own conclusions as to which slate of school board candidates is politically motivated and which slate is transparent. We signed a public pledge for the world to see what we believe. We have never purposefully provided political double speak regarding our views. So, let’s just stick to the facts. This is a non-partisan campaign for an unpaid position to support all of our children. If we try to teach our children honesty, shouldn’t we practice what we preach?
Fiscal Responsibility
In 2022, Washington Township was hit with a whopping 20% decrease in state funding for our public schools. In 2021, that reduction was 18%. Those big cuts directly impact our town’s ability to provide a quality education for our students. Yet our current School Board continues to be distracted by sideshow political issues which, if passed, substantially risk our School Board being the subject of an expensive lawsuit like other New Jersey School Boards. Baker, McConnell and Wengel believe that our School Board has a responsibility to avoid passing policies that invite expensive litigation paid for with our tax payer dollars. A vote for Baker, McConnell and Wengel is a vote for fiscal responsibility.
https://www.wtschools.org/page/school-budget
Back to the Fundamentals
Currently, only 64% of our Washington Township elementary school students are testing at a level either above or proficient in math and reading. Baker, McConnell and Wengel believe we need to do better. They want to bring our School Board’s focus back to the fundamentals and away from politics. Whether the political agenda is from the right, the left, or somewhere in the middle, Baker, McConnell and Wengel believe politics have no place in our public schools.
Candidate Question and Answer Session
Want to see the stark differences between the different slates of candidates for our School Board and hear how Baker, McConnell and Wengel wants to bring the focus of the Board back to the fundamentals? Just watch the video taken at the candidate question and answer event and make your own decision. The link to the full video can be found here:
Baker, Mcconnell and Wengel 