A growing contingent of public school parents say school-mandated iPads, particularly in elementary and middle schools, are leading to behavior problems.

“We do not have trade schools. We are not investing in educating a next generation of people,” Jim Farley said.

Thanksgiving is a time of unexpected holiday travel, but Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) had no idea that he would spend Monday sitting in Trenton. He rearranged his schedule to testify against a bill that would weaken New Jersey’s Office of the State Comptroller, an independent anti-corruption agency, by taking away oversight responsibilities and removing investigative and subpoena powers. Much of the comptroller’s authority would move to the relatively toothless State Commission of Investigation, which has issued zero investigative reports this year, and whose employees are directly appointed by (and potentially beholden to) state legislative leaders. The bill was released only a week ago and fast-tracked to committee. Its sponsor, state Senate President and Union County Democratic chair Nick Scutari (D), is one of the most powerful power brokers in New Jersey politics. The chair of the committee Kim was testifying to, state Sen. James Beach (D), is a key ally of south Jersey party boss George Norcross, whose indictment for racketeering was dismissed earlier this year. “It’s not comfortable for me to go to the state capitol and have arguments with members of my own political party,” Sen. Kim said in an interview with the _Prospect_. His adversaries at the hearing made sure of that discomfort. Kim showed up to speak early, trying to fit in testimony before catching a train to Washington for votes Monday night. But the committee made him wait for over five hours, ignoring other speakers who wanted to cede their time to him. One of the few proponents testifying on the bill got 40 minutes to state his views; Kim got three minutes. **_More from David Dayen_** When he finally took to the microphone to an ovation, he got quickly to the point: “We live in the time of the greatest amount of distrust in politics in modern American history. And the people want a politics that isn’t some exclusive club for the well-off and the well connected.” How could Democrats credibly fight corruption in Washington if they are simultaneously inviting corruption in Trenton, Kim insisted. Sen. Beach interrupted. “You have three minutes, please conclude.” “Sir, I have been here for five and a half hours…” Kim interjected. “So what?” Beach replied. “Why do you think you’re special? You’re not.” He proceeded to heckle Kim about cherry-picked votes for Trump’s nominees. By the end, every Democrat on the committee supported the bill. While the scene was jarring, it’s been a familiar position for Kim over the last two years. He took on—and defeated—New Jersey’s political machine, not only replacing jailed bribe-taker Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and not only defeating Tammy Murphy, Gov. Phil Murphy’s wife, when she tried to win the seat, but also changing the means by which party bosses can influence primary elections by giving their favored candidates the best spot on the ballot. Instead of putting the fight behind him after winning, his testimony found him leaning into another uphill battle, trying to prevent a return to the days of indulging corruption in the Garden State. “The fight against corruption cannot be seen as just political opportunism,” he said. “It has to be against whenever and whoever is violating the trust of the people.” ### The _Prospect_ in your inbox Subscribe for analysis that goes beyond the noise. * The Daily Prospect A daily dose of the ideas, politics and power that shape our world, in your inbox weekday mornings. * Today On TAP Weekday newsletter features commentary from Robert Kuttner, Harold Meyerson and more, plus links to what's trending at Prospect.org. * Weekend Reads The best of the week, curated by the editors of The American Prospect, delivered Saturday mornings. * Pop-up newsletters Limited series newsletters on timely topics, such as the debt limit challenge, budget negotiations and more. Sign up Kim cited a 2023 survey of New Jersey voters where 84 percent agreed that state politicians are at least “a little” corrupt. To him, the message was simple: “How can democracy function if 84 percent believe elected officials are corrupt?” And he sees a reform agenda as key to Democrats regaining the public trust. “There is a corruption tax in this country,” Kim explained. He sees it in Republicans slashing nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid to offset a tax cut for the same uber-rich Americans funding Trump’s gold-plated ballroom. He sees it in tariff announcements that are only suspended when countries and corporations come running to kiss Trump’s ring. And he sees it in New Jersey political bosses trying to protect their turf and ice out independent investigation. “The push going forward has to be connecting the challenges people are facing to the corruption we’re seeing with this administration. That’s what we can build a movement around,” Kim said. Kim is committed to this message, and he sees the distrust Americans have with their leaders as an opportunity to build a large coalition across the political spectrum who can respond to an anti-corruption message. You see a vision of it coming together with House members of both parties going around a stonewalling leadership to force a vote on a congressional stock trading ban. Yet it’s an uphill fight. Seeing Hakeem Jeffries praise Trump for pardoning Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) over public corruption, claiming that the case (brought by the Biden administration) was “very thin,” demonstrates how hard it is to move the politicians on the issues, if not the public. And I had to ask Kim about his ultimate vote in favor of the GENIUS Act, which creates a regulatory framework for stablecoins, in light of the outrageous self-enrichment from the Trump family in crypto, including their own stablecoin. Why go along with that if fighting corruption is such a signature issue? “I struggled with it,” Kim conceded, admitting that there are “legitimate problems” with the legislation. But the bill had the votes to pass without him, and he decided to try to make it less bad through amendments around cracking down on illicit activity. A second crypto bill being negotiated now, on market structure, has “a much wider slew of problems that get to the heart of the president’s involvement… If I don’t see substantive measures to rein in president’s actions, it’s not something I can support.” Before entering Congress, Kim spent a decade in counter-terrorism work on the National Security Council. He framed the deadly, unilateral and unlawful strikes on Caribbean fishing boats as their own form of corruption, in this case a corruption of process. “I’ve been in the room for deliberations about strikes against terrorist actors,” he said. “I know the efforts that need to go into that in terms of legal clearance, intelligence gathering, and assessments of collateral damage. As far as I can tell, none of that is happening the way it should… They know what they are doing is wrong and they are trying to deceive the American people about it.” He believed the boat strike issue was breaking through to his Republican colleagues “in a way others haven’t,” and believed all options, including restricting appropriations, need to be on the table “because of the lawlessness we see.” Kim has taken his reform approach to the campaign trail, beyond his own race. He worked to elect James Solomon as mayor of Jersey City, a Working Families Party candidate going up against establishment-backed former Gov. Jim McGreevey, attempting a comeback after a scandal-plagued tenure. Solomon won a runoff handily on Tuesday. “This is the rise of a new era defined by public servants who work for the people,” Kim posted on X about the race. First, I want to thank you for reading the _Prospect_. At the end of the day, you’re helping build a more just and fair world by taking the time to read independent and fearless journalism. We hope that when you read our work it isn’t just idle entertainment or cynical ragebait, but something that informs and inspires you. If you agree with that, and I hope you do, we’re asking that you take the next step and consider supporting our work. We don’t have corporate sponsors or billionaire backers – we have you, our readers. A significant portion of the money it takes to send reporters into the field to write the hard-hitting stories you expect from the _Prospect_ comes from readers just like you. Can you chip in today? Your support funds deeply reported investigations into power, how it works, and what it means for you. Donate **Mitchell Grummon** _Publisher_ ### _Recommended Reading_