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April 3, 2024LILLEY: Montclair Resident Asks if NJEA President Is Using Teacher Salaries for Self-Promotion
Per the Montclair Local, we are learning more and more about how NJEA President/Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller conducts himself in office, and it’s not good. Already the subject of a whistleblower lawsuit by Montclair’s former-CFO that alleges malfeasance and retaliation, Spiller and the town council appear to be doubling down by subpoenaing the records of Sarah Avery, a Montclair citizen/activist who has been critical of Spiller. It’s a very bad look for Spiller.
Here’s why:
- Montclair councilman David Cummings made clear why he questioned the validity of the subpoena: “Is the Township being weaponized to go after people for Sean? This is a bad thing to do.”
- Like Councilman Cummings, the attorney representing the whistleblower claimed that the subpoena is further retaliation by Spiller and the council and is threatening to sue the council on behalf of Ms. Avery. Already in deep legal trouble, Spiller and the council appear to be courting more.
- The Local noted that Spiller plead his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination over 400 times in his deposition for the whistleblower lawsuit. It sure looks like Spiller has something to hide. No wonder he wanted to keep the transcript private!
- We do not know all the facts about what Ms. Avery has said about Spiller, but we do know that she stated that Spiller “uses teachers’ salaries to promote himself,” which is undeniably true. As Sunlight has documented, NJEA President Spiller is using millions of teachers’ regular dues to fund his Super PAC, Protecting Our Democracy, which is widely seen as a platform for Spiller’s personal political career. We applaud Ms. Avery for calling Spiller out for this blatant conflict of interest.
We trust the courts to judge the validity of this subpoena of a private citizen, but given Councilman Cummings’ assessment and what we know of Ms. Avery’s veracity, this heavy-handed action by Spiller and the council looks like a desperate act by desperate people. It’s a very bad look.
3 Comments
This smells of corruption.
According to the independent review of New Jersey’s response to Covid-19, “New Jersey students would have experienced less learning loss and isolation had school reopened earlier.” “Schools should have given greater weight to the devasting impact of school closures and perhaps pushed harder for schools to reopen in the fall of 2020.” The report said states with more powerful teachers unions were more likely to open in-person later in the pandemic. It describes the NJEA as “one of the strongest teachers’ union in the country.” Mr. Spiller, at the helm as NJEA president, undoubtedly played a significant part in keeping schools closed unnecessarily too long. With all the damage caused by extended school closures, it is breathtaking how comfortably nonchalant the NJEA seems to be with their decision to keep NJ schools closed. It appears the NJEA is more devoted to its’ PAC money which funds political ambitions – all in the name of Protecting Our Democracy. This seems like a farcical attempt to appear righteous and avoid teachers from knowing where their hard earned union dues are going.
Because this is so obviously corrupt (as is so much of what the NJEA performs), Spiller will have smooth sailing all the way to whatever elected post he desires. That means more damage is on the horizon, maybe the worst yet. I do give Mr. Lilley credit for revealing the truth, but I also believe that far too many will go along with this corrupt ride, despite the negative impact it has on NJ’s children.
It is easy to make corrupt decisions when it is not effecting your children or pocketbook or lifestyle. Greed, ambition and pleading the 5th over 400 times so to not self-incriminate, sounds like an eventual recipe for disaster. Perhaps teachers should pay better attention to how their union dues are being used. (?) If this is true.