Faced with news of a letter circulating by the allies of Assemblyman Craig Coughlin (D-19) for speaker of the General Assembly, representatives with the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) undertook a counter offensive earlier today.

Their target was swing district Democrats and their message was simple:

Back someone else besides Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-32) and expect to find your NJEA funding shut down. An NJEA source this morning described that as an overstatement, and said no such threats have occurred, but acknowledged that the big teachers’ union has been part of the conversations.

The NJEA backs Prieto’s school funding plan as the speaker duels with NJEA antagonist Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3).

The communiques from the big and powerful teachers’ union demonstrated an uptick in intensity in the developing battle for speaker.

Sources tonight tell InsiderNJ that Coughlin has support in South Jersey and Middlesex County toward his speakership, and likely other toeholds of support, including Monmouth, Somerset and Union counties, and wobbly backers in pinpointed parts of Bergen and Essex (at least one apiece).

It  adds up to 29 or 30 in a caucus numbering 52.

There was no word whether Prieto would appeal to Republicans in the assembly for bipartisan support, but the NJEA has shown a willingness to work in the upper chamber with Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. (R-21), who welcomes an unlikely campaign funding source for Sweeney challenger Fran Greiner, the Salem GOP chairman.