Posts tagged Working New Jersey
New Jersey’s Sean Spiller Wants to Lead the NEA. These Teachers Say Follow the Money
June 29, 2026 // Spiller is seeking the presidency of the National Education Association (NEA)—the NJEA’s national affiliate—roughly a year after unsuccessfully running for governor. Roselle teacher Dr. Marie Dupont and Hamilton Township teacher Ann Marie Pocklembo allege in a lawsuit that Spiller and other NJEA officials backed his primary campaign with $40 million of union members’ mandatory dues without their consent. The teachers argue that by funneling their dues through a union-controlled PAC and political organizations with union ties, the NJEA violated its contract with members.
Unions spend big on politics — often at the expense of their members
December 2, 2025 // “When I signed my union membership card, I did not check the back saying I wanted to contribute to the union political action committee,” writes Marie Dupont, a teacher and NJEA member, in The Wall Street Journal. “That was a contract stating my dues wouldn’t go to the union political apparatus, but a handful of insiders ignored that choice and broke that trust.” NJEA funneled general funds through Garden State Forward, Working New Jersey, and Protecting Our Democracy — all election-focused organizations that not only backed Spiller but also were headed by the NJEA president. These questionable activities landed NJEA in court with a lawsuit alleging that the union misled its members, including Dupont, who is a lead plaintiff.
Opinion: A Teachers Union Candidate Took My Money and Ran for Office
October 22, 2025 // in a lawsuit filed Sept. 30 in New Jersey Superior Court, that it was also an illegal breach of contract and a violation of the union’s fiduciary duty to its members. On paper, the union tells teachers that giving to its political organizations is voluntary. The membership forms we signed, which function as a contract between a member and the union, have a separate box to check for voluntary donations to the union’s political action committee. I didn’t check that box and therefore believed my money wouldn’t be used by a PAC. That wasn’t true. In 2013 union officials created an obscure political group called Garden State Forward and funded it with more than $100 million in teachers’ dues.