More Questionable Use of Teachers’ Dues: Another $7 Million in Political Spending and a “Violent, Anti-Semitic, and Anti-Christian” Editor of NJEA Review

Despite the recent lawsuit filed by two teachers against former-President Sean Spiller and the NJEA for misusing $45 million of teachers’ dues, NJEA leadership brazenly continues to spend millions of dues on politics without the knowledge or consent of the very teachers’ whose dues are paying for it. Now it looks like those dues are also paying for the editor of the NJEA’s monthly magazine, NJEA Review, whom Rep. Josh Gottheimer believes should be fired for “violent, antiSemitic, and anti-Christian” social media posts. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill strongly agrees, and we’ll see if she disavows NJEA support if the NJEA fails to comply.  Will this bring about another lawsuit, with the NJEA’s legal fees paid for by teachers’ dues? All of this reflects how NJEA leadership is spending teachers’ highest-in-the-nation dues without any accountability to members.

Another $7 million of dues spent on politics, bringing the total to $122 million. The latest Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) filing from the NJEA’s Super PAC, Garden State Forward, shows that the NJEA plans to spend another $7 million on the general election in November. As is now well established, Garden State Forward is funded by teachers’ highest-in-the-nation dues, so that’s another $7 million of dues to be spent on New Jersey politics, bringing the total dues spent on politics to $122 million since 2013.  And once again, there has been no direct communication to teachers from the NJEA informing them of this use of their dues, so once again NJEA leadership is spending teachers’ dues on politics without their knowledge or consent.

This is brazen behavior by NJEA leadership after they wasted $45 million of teachers’ dues on Spiller’s vanity run for governor while hiding the truth from teachers. The Spiller scandal has resulted in a lawsuit filed by two teachers for the misuse of their dues as well as the circulation of a petition demanding accountability from NJEA leadership.  But apparently, NJEA leadership doesn’t care.  They aren’t accountable to their members and will do as they please.

Once again, teachers are kept in the dark about how their dues are spent.  As always, there is no mention of this $7 million expenditure on the NJEA website, nor in the October edition of the NJEA’s monthly magazine for teachers, NJEA Review (scroll down on the website to the NJEA Review section), nor on the NJEA’s Facebook page. Just as NJEA has done in the past, as Sunlight has amply documented: NJEA leadership hid the $45 million of dues backing Spiller until they were forced at the very end of the primary campaign to admit it; and they have hidden the $122 million of dues spent on politics by Garden State Forward since 2013.  Since the NJEA’s legal fees are paid by members’ dues, it looks like NJEA leadership doesn’t care if they are sued by members.

Dues are also paying for a “violent, anti-Semitic, and anti-Christian” editor of NJEA Review. And speaking of the misuse of dues, according to the New Jersey Globe, Congressman Josh Gottheimer has called for the firing of the editor of NJEA Review, Ayat Oraby, for “violent, anti-Semitic, and anti-Christian” rhetoric in a series of inflammatory social media posts.  Gottheimer explains in an official letter to NJEA President Steve Beatty:

Ms. Oraby has an extremely troubling public record of promoting divisive, violent, and hate- filled rhetoric that has no place in our great state …

Gottheimer further claims that Ms. Oraby’s comments are in “obvious violation of NJEA’s advisory on social media, which makes clear that NJEA members could face disciplinary actions for ‘discriminatory speech and speech that encourages or condones violence.’”

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mikie Sherrill averred her strong agreement:

I’m outraged by Ms. Oraby’s antisemitic, pro-Hamas social media posts. This is unacceptable and the NJEA needs to immediately act and fire her from this position. An individual with bigoted views has no place as an editor of a magazine distributed to our state’s teachers.

Will Sherrill disavow NJEA support if they do not fire the editor? Sherrill has of course been endorsed by the NJEA and it’s reasonable to assume that a fair portion of the $7 million to be spent on the general election will back Sherrill.  Will Sherrill disavow the NJEA’s support if they do not fire Oraby?

We note that both NJEA Review and Ms. Oraby’s compensation are paid for by teachers’ dues. But what if a teacher is Jewish or Christian? What if a teacher does not want to pay for the salary of a radical extremist? Do these teachers have any say in how their dues are spent? And what if Oraby’s behavior brings about another lawsuit against the NJEA and more dues-funded legal fees?

All of the above underscores how teachers’ dues are being misused by leadership without any regard for the interests of members. That’s likely because historically there has been very little accountability for NJEA leadership.  That’s how $122 million of dues could be spent on politics without teachers’ knowledge or consent.  Thanks to Gottheimer (and Sherrill?) and the two brave teacher-plaintiffs, some accountability may be on the way.