It is not new for Sunlight Policy Center of New Jersey to have a presence at the NJEA Convention.

Here is what will be different on November 6-7: Sunlight is running a multi-pronged campaign focusing on a teacher petition with over 2,000 signatures demanding answers on why NJEA executives felt comfortable unilaterally spending $45 million of teacher annual dues for former NJEA President Sean Spiller’s “weird ego trip” to become New Jersey’s next governor. Over the two days, teachers in attendance in Atlantic City will watch LED billboard trucks circling the Convention Center and nearby hotels, be approached by street teams, and receive material dropped off in their hotel rooms, all in service of demanding transparency and accountability from NJEA executive leadership regarding how it spends their money. All 200,000 NJEA members, regardless of whether they attend the Convention, will receive text messages urging them to insist union executives address their concerns about decisions to spend their money on a losing campaign (Spiller came in a distant fifth) where teachers had no voice. ( Each vote for Spiller cost NJEA union members $533 in dues.)

“Sunlight Policy Center of New Jersey is focused on one thing – providing the facts to New Jersey teachers so they can make the best decision for themselves and their families,” said Michael Lilley, Sunlight’s president. “We already knew NJEA leadership used dues to make themselves millionaires, but now there’s the $45 million of dues wasted on Spiller’s run. All of this has been hidden from the very teachers whose dues funded it.  We see many comments from unhappy teachers on Sunlight’s social media feeds, but none have gone public with their anger for fear of retaliation.”

Much attention has been focused on a lawsuit filed by two teachers, Dr. Marie Dupont of Roselle and Ann Marie Pocklembo of Hamilton, which alleges NJEA’s handling of members’ money was wasteful and irresponsible, as well as an illegal breach of contract and a violation of the union’s fiduciary duty to its members. Complaints against the NJEA have been filed with the Internal Revenue Service and the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

In a letter published in the Wall Street Journal, Dr. Dupont explains the membership form she signed has “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.” But, in fact, her $1,500 in annual dues contributed to the $100 million donation NJEA gave to its PAC, Garden State Forward. Some of that money was forwarded to two other PACs, both of which backed Spiller’s campaign.

“I believe union officials should play by the rules,” she writes. “And I want my choice to stay out of union politics to be respected. Most of all, I want to hold accountable those who, behind closed doors, benefited themselves at teachers’ expense.”

The petition lists four demands directed at NJEA leaders (whom, Sunlight points out, earn upwards of $600,000 a year while the average salary of NJ teachers is $82,000):

#1 Tell Us How $45 Million of Our Dues Were Spent: The NJEA must hire an independent auditor to report back during this year’s NJEA Convention on how every dollar of the $45 million of our dues was spent on Sean Spiller’s campaign for governor.

#2 NJEA Leadership Must Apologize for Spending Our Dues and Hiding the Truth from Us: Sean Spiller and current NJEA leadership must publicly apologize to members during this year’s NJEA Convention for spending our dues while hiding the truth from members. 

#3 NJEA Leadership Should Never Be Allowed To Do This Again: NJEA leadership must publicly commit during this year’s NJEA Convention to a new policy that member dues cannot be spent on politics without explicit approval from members.

#4 NJEA Leadership Must Allow Members to Express Themselves without Fear of Retaliation: NJEA leadership must publicly commit to maintaining a climate where members can question and even dissent without fear of retaliation.

Here are the five visuals NJEA members will see over the next two days: