The Philadelphia Bulletin‘s Bradley Vasoli spoke to us earlier this week and turned his findings into a solid article on the wave of Center for Union Facts publicity going on in Newark, New Jersey. Just this week, CUF launched a new round of advertisements on billboards, city buses, and a mobile billboard to publicize how much money it takes to get one Newark student to graduate via New Jersey’s exit exam, thanks in part to the Newark Teachers Union and its willingness to protect bad teachers. Here’s an excerpt from Vasoli’s article:

“Our statistics should be a wake-up call to anyone who believes that the abysmal graduation rates from Newark schools are a result of underfunding,” [CUF Executive Director Richard] Berman said. “Clearly, money isn’t the problem. The problem is that the Newark Teachers Union won’t hold bad teachers accountable for poor results and hamstrings good teachers with endless bureaucracy.”

Newark is the first of many jurisdictions the D.C.-based CUF will spotlight nationwide. They stress their view that Newark’s situation is hardly unique.

Go to The Bulletin‘s site and read the whole thing!