Uneven Financial Playing Field In Newark BOE Election: Report

NEWARK, NJ — The winning slate of candidates in the 2019 Newark school board race vastly outspent their opponents and got a big boost from a PAC backed by charter school advocates, a report says.

The Great Schools for All PAC, which allegedly has “extensive ties to charter school supporters,” spent $97,250 trying to get the Moving Newark Schools Forward slate elected, according to Chalkbeat.org. (Read the full article here)

That slate of candidates – which included A'Dorian Murray-Thomas, Shayvonne Anderson and Tave Padilla – cruised to a landslide victory in April, capturing the three available seats on the Newark Board of Education.

• See related article: Here Are The Newark 2019 School Election Results

In addition to the $97,250 spent by Great Schools for All, which couldn’t be coordinated with the candidates under law, the Moving Newark Forward slate separately spent $26,725 on the election, Chalkbeat reported.

A rival three-person slate called Children Over Politics reported spending just $9,259 during the Newark BOE race. The remaining five candidates did not report any spending, Chalkbeat reported, citing recent filings with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Don’t forget to visit the Patch Newark Facebook page here. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site here. Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com