[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

We continue our series on New Jersey's next governor.

Yes, there's a election in 2025, November, 2025.

We kick off with Sean Spiller, who's a Democratic candidate for governor in the great state of New Jersey, and the president of the New Jersey Education Association, full disclosure, NJEA, a big supporter and underwriter of Public Broadcasting and the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Now that's all outta the way, Sean, how you doing?

- Doing well.

It's great to see you, thanks for having me.

- Good to see you.

And let's do this.

We've asked every candidate for governor this.

You got a minute or less.

Your background.

We'll talk policy and issues in a minute.

Your background, go.

- I think it's actually one of the most important things we're talking about, because for me, one of the reasons I'm running is because of my lived experience.

I think it's similar to most New Jerseyans.

It's about being an immigrant myself, my parents choosing this country, and certainly New Jersey for its great schools.

It's also about a dad who had to be away from months at a time, sending money home.

It's about understanding that our family was working hard in a state that's hard to afford, and that's New Jersey for so many folks.

So for me, this is personal.

It's about making sure that we maintain the wonderful things that are so special to New Jersey, but just making it a little bit easier for everyone out there who loves this place, loves taking advantage of everything we have to offer, but needs to be, you know, working 2, 3, 4 jobs, pinching pennies to make it work for them.

That's what this is about.

And that's why I'm running for governor.

- And a science teacher by background.

- Yeah, I'm a high school science teacher and certainly really proud of the work there and certainly get the inspiration from our students all the time.

But it's also, I think a lot of the skills that I know will be important in this role as well.

- Let's do issues.

All right, look, new president, new Congress.

President says, let's do away with the federal Department of Education.

A, gonna happen, realistic.

B, what if it were to happen?

What would that mean, Sean?

- Yeah, I mean, hard to say when you're talking about somebody like President-elect Trump as to what he's gonna do.

- He's President-elect as we do this.

Once it's repeated, he will be the president.

Go ahead, Sean.

- Yeah, you know, as we look at this, I think we're in a space where he says a lot of things.

I think he doesn't intend to follow through with a lot of them.

I saw some of his most recent proposals still including that.

And I think there's a couple ways, either formally to get rid of the department or also to just starve it of resources and funds.

I think both are problematic.

And certainly as an educator, but also as a parent of two young kids and understanding how important school is, it is troubling to see anyone who would say such a thing, but certainly it's gonna be one of the issues that we have to focus on here in New Jersey.

I think, quite frankly, I'm uniquely positioned in that space to help support our students each and every day.

And to push back against what Trump is likely to do, including underfunding, or quite frankly, eliminating the federal funding for our schools.

- Affordability, a top issue, not just in New Jersey, but the nation.

What, if elected governor, would you do to make New Jersey "more affordable," please?

- Yeah, well, I think it's probably more laser focused with the Trump president, right?

Because he's gonna be looking to give those corporate tax giveaways.

He is gonna be looking to give tax breaks to the ultra wealthy, and we've gotta make sure that we are pushing back in a way that offsets that.

And specifically, make sure that there's tax breaks for middle class folks, for working folks, for folks that are struggling to get by, making sure we're investing in our programs that oftentimes get cut.

And, you know, certainly whether that's early education and childcare, whether that's tax credits, there's a lot of spaces where people have programs that they rely on and certainly supports that we offer here in state.

And I think when the ultra wealthy and the corporate interests are getting those tax breaks, we're gonna have to look at ways we say, "Hey, you're gonna have to pay your fair share to support the very programs that help enrich New Jersey in terms of its diversity and certainly our strength and support every single resident in this state."

So there's gonna be a lot of work to do there for sure.

But I think we're gonna be in a place where we have to look closely at the programs that are successful for our middle working class folks and those who need the supports the most and push back against whatever may come from Trump in his actions.

- Sean, we've asked every candidate for governor this question, asking you as well.

The migrant crisis, is clear, it's real.

People's interpretation of it may be different.

People's approaches to dealing with it may be different.

The president talks about, President Trump talks about mass deportation day one.

If governor of New Jersey, what would you do to deal with the migrant crisis, which is largely federal and national but the state plays a role as well.

Sean?

- Yeah, look, the state does play a role, but I'll say this.

It starts out by, you know, we've gotta be humane about this conversation, right?

And I say that because I am an immigrant, right?

And when we had these conversations- - Where's your family from Sean?

- I was born in Jamaica, my mom's from Jamaica, my dad's from New Zealand, and lived all over the world and chose to come to this country and chose to live in New Jersey.

My mom was a math teacher in Jamaica.

So, you know, great schools were a must, hence New Jersey.

But I say I start with that because I think that as we have the conversation and we talk about yes, the challenges that we have when we have, you know, any number of individuals who need supports and we wanna make sure they're successful.

And certainly if you've got immigration as an issue and a conversation that the federal government has not been able to handle, it does become a state issue.

We don't wanna leave any student out, we don't wanna leave any, any family struggling, understandably.

But we can talk about it in a humane way, right?

What are the supports that we can do here in state to make sure that people aren't pushed out of systems where they then have to resort to other methods to get by.

But also when we're looking at what Donald Trump says he's gonna do, we also have to be mindful that things like separating kids from their parents or their mothers.

That's just not who we are, right?

So we've gotta play a role in state.

Yes, it's gonna kind of depend on what the Trump administration actually does do.

We've gotta look at the supports and how we fund them and where they go.

But we've gotta do that in a way that I think is much more centered on, these are people we're talking about here than the President-elect does.

- Yeah, Sean, I wanna follow up on this.

I don't wanna do political analysis about the election, but it's important to try to understand this because it has policy implications as well.

The party that you've been a part of for a long time, you're running for the Democratic nomination for governor in June of 2025.

What the heck did the Democrats get so wrong and how are they so far away from where most Americans are, which allowed for Donald Trump and a Republican Congress, Sean?

- Oh, well, there's a lot in that question and there's probably a ton of pundits- - Yeah, but they got a lot wrong, didn't they?

- They're working in, yeah, yeah.

I mean, yes, you know, but to identify exactly what it is, is certainly hard.

And I think we need to reflect, you know- - How'd they lose touch?

Lemme try, sorry for interrupting you, Sean.

How do you think so many, so many Americans perceive that the Democratic party has lost touch with them?

You wouldn't argue with that, would you?

- Yeah, well, look, I would say this.

One of the things I've learned is, and I say this as an educator, is we need to take a moment to listen and to kind of talk to people and to find out exactly why.

I don't wanna sit here today and say, "Here's the exact reason why everybody felt this way or that way."

I wanna have those conversations, right?

I wanna talk to folks here in New Jersey and say, "You know, what are the pieces that did resonate with you," right?

"Why is it that you feel this way or that way?"

I'm sure there's a lot of reasons that kind of all came together around this.

But I know that we're unique here in New Jersey, just like any other state would be.

And people are unique.

And certainly you wanna talk to them and say, "You know, what are the pieces?"

Because I do fundamentally think, though, that at the core, certainly as running as a Democrat, I think that the values that we're trying to bring forward in terms of supporting families, making sure that when you need that helping hand, it's there, getting outta your way when you're trying to get something done.

But government seems to be that bureaucracy, that red tape that we talk about.

Maybe we don't do a good enough job there, but there's a a lot that we can talk about and see why is it that maybe you're feeling a certain way.

But I'm telling you that what I hope to bring forward is really a New Jersey that works for you, right?

A New Jersey that is caring, compassionate, but a New Jersey that understands that we want you to succeed, we're gonna help you do it.

We're gonna get outta your way when you don't need us in the way.

And I hope that at the core, we share the same values around a diverse state, diversity being our strength, supportive of our neighbors, our friends, our family members, that hope is who we are as a state and as a country and certainly remind people of that as well.

- You know, affordability, Sean, as you well know, is tied to a large extent on our property tax.

Our property tax, to a large extent, contingent upon the funding of public schools.

You understand public schools better than most.

You also understand the school funding formula in the state.

States sends money to local school districts.

Many have argued, Democrat, Republican, doesn't matter, that the school funding formula is off, that certain districts are getting too much, others not getting enough, they don't understand why one or the other thing happens.

Here's the question.

If governor, what would you seek to change about the way the state funds our public schools and that school funding formula?

- Yeah, first and foremost, and I've been one of the ones to testify that we need to take a look at that school funding formula and make changes, which was always the intention, I will note.

And I think one of the big pieces that you see is with the funding formula itself, it doesn't take into account students with special needs and the very diverse set of supports that they may need.

You know, oftentimes you see a school or a community that is greatly impacted by the services they're trying to provide, doing the right thing, of course.

But there's a wide range and a wide cost when we're talking about that.

And the funding formula does not take that into account.

I think there's some other places as well.

When you talk about how it's calculated, the ability for communities to pay, you can have some significant fluctuations there.

And there are ways to change that with some of the blending of time and years to make that, to make that less of an impact in a year to year situation.

There's a lot that has to be looked at with the formula, first and foremost.

But I will note our formula is one of the few nationwide that has had the kind of review that it has, including through the courts.

To find a way that we try to make sure that there are dollars there for students who need it, I think everybody does agree with that fundamentally.

We're gonna have to make changes in that formula.

And I think collectively is the way we do that, right?

One of the things that always irks me is when people are left out of the conversation, and I think we bring everybody to the table, have those conversations, we'll make sure we get that right and make the changes that we need.

- Sean, give me a minute or less.

We have an initiative on childcare.

The first 1000 days, coalition on childcare looks at a whole range of issues, affordability, quality, accessible childcare.

Give me a minute or less.

A Spiller administration on childcare in New Jersey would look like what?

Please.

- Oh my god, yeah.

Well, we've gotta make sure we're supporting quality early affordable childcare.

I say that in Montclair when you see that the cost, right?

It's $20,000.

- Sean, the former mayor of Montclair, one of the reasons why Montclair is behind him.

Go ahead, I'm sorry, Sean.

- Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly.

And listen, I say that though with the kid in pre-K right now, right?

But it's expensive proposition when you're trying to find that quality space.

And I say this as a state.

Hey, this is a smart investment, right?

Any investment we make in early quality childcare, and certainly education is part of that, is gonna pay back 10 times that, right, in the course of that individual's lifetime.

So it's a smart investment for us.

It's also the one of the big drivers of the inability for families, young families to afford to live where they want to and to be able to get by.

So, absolutely, we'll support it, we'll invest in it, and we'll make sure that families aren't being hit by that in a way that they can't afford.

- Sean Spiller is a democratic candidate for governor in the great state of New Jersey.

President of the NJEA.

To disclose again, the NJEA, a big supporter, significant underwriter of Public Broadcasting and our programming at the Caucus Educational Corporation, part of our series.

New Jersey's next governor.

Sean, thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Listen, thanks so much for having me.

It's really great to see you.

- You got it, stay with us, we'll be right back.

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