NJEA President Marie Blistan, Vice President Sean M. Spiller, and Secretary-Treasurer Steve Beatty were formally inducted as NJEA’s officers in a ceremony at the Sept. 9 meeting of the Delegate Assembly (DA). NEA Vice President Becky Pringle officiated the induction, which was led off with an inspirational message delivered by Essex County Education Association President Anthony Rosamilia and East Orange Resource Professionals Association Mike Rollins. Dr. Eva Diane Lyle-Smith of the Camden Education Association performed the Star-Spangled Banner on trumpet.

Following the induction, Pringle offered remarks on NJEA’s future under its newest leaders.

“Extraordinary leaders have been described as possessing an understanding of the need to honor the past, manage the limitations of their current reality and be able to transcend both to position an organization or a movement for the possibilities that await them in an unknown future,” Pringle said. “In Marie and Sean and Steve, you have elected those kinds of exceptional leaders. These three officers will stand the fire with all of us, and they will do what needs to be done.”

Each of the new officers in turn addressed the DA.

“Over a year ago I embarked on this incredible journey,” Beatty said. “Being elected your secretary-treasurer isn’t the end of that journey, it’s just beginning. I’m grateful to be able to extend my reach to continue the work that I care so deeply and so passionately about.”

Thanking Blistan and Spiller for their confidence in him he said, “I only hope that I can rise to the level of your expectations and prove to be worthy of your support.”

Addressing NJEA members, who elected him from among four candidates, he sought the support of those members who had not voted for him.

Spiller spoke optimistically about NJEA’s future and its role and its role in the state and nation’s future.

“We are fighting for our children’s future and, yes, we are fighting for this nation’s future,” Spiller said. “Everyone deserves a chance at the American dream. And make no mistake. Those things are under attack and we are that last line of defense.

It’s an awesome responsibility ahead,” Spiller continued, “But it’s during difficult times that leadership matters most and that’s why I’m happy to serve as a leader with all of you.”

Blistan reflected on the history of NJEA and its legacy.

“The three of us begin our work in these roles profoundly aware that we inherit a union built over many years by the hard work and relentless determination of generations of advocates and activists,” Blistan said. “From the first meeting of this organization in December of 1853, people who cared about the well-being of our profession and the fate of public education have come together here to advance those causes through the power of collective action.”

Blistan noted that NJEA was approaching an important milestone: the 50th anniversary of winning  the right to collective bargaining for public-sector employees in New Jersey. Legislation enacting collective bargaining became law on Sept. 13, 1968. An important rally on the path to that legislation occurred in Monmouth County one year earlier with an impassioned speech by an NJEA staff member.

We must work tirelessly, not only for our own well-being, but also for the well-being of our students, their families, and of the communities that we all share. We must work for racial, social and economic justice to make our state and our nation stronger and fairer for everyone.

“When Jim George spoke at the Asbury Park Rally 50 years ago this fall, rallying members to support the fight to win our collective bargaining rights, he said these inspiring words: ‘A new order is at hand. A new generation has been conceived.  And we are not afraid!’” Blistan reminded DA members. “And 50 years later, we are not afraid either!”

Blistan also recalled NJEA member and parent Lucy Abbott, for whose son Raymond the school-funding case Abbott v. Burke was named. Abbott fought to ensure that her son and her students received an education on par with suburban communities. She tied Abbott’s struggle to the fight for justice throughout history.

“We must work tirelessly, not only for our own well-being, but also for the well-being of our students, their families, and of the communities that we all share, Blistan said. “We must work for racial, social and economic justice to make our state and our nation stronger and fairer for everyone.”

NJEA is proud to join with students, school employees, parents, and others in congratulating the 2017-2018 New Jersey County Teachers of the Year.

“Working in our great public schools is an honorable profession, and I am proud of these teachers for giving a personal face to our profession that students, parents, and our communities can identify with and recognize as the face of public education,” said NJEA President Marie Blistan.

“When an honor such as this highlights the work of some of our amazing educators, our whole profession celebrates their positive impact on our students and communities,” stated Sean M. Spiller, NJEA Vice President.

“Their achievements inside and outside the classroom make us all proud that they have chosen to make their careers in New Jersey’s public schools,” said Steve Beatty, NJEA Secretary Treasurer.

NJEA members have watched with horror this weekend as neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hatemongers have taken their twisted message of hatred to the streets of Charlottesville, inciting violence and attempting to instill fear in good people. Displaying symbols and espousing rhetoric reminiscent of Nazi Germany as well as the worst of America’s racist past and present, they have compelled all decent Americans to declare their opposition to hatred and racism.

NJEA’s leaders issued the following statement, condemning the hatred of the rioters and pledging to redouble NJEA’s efforts on behalf of racial and social justice:

“Racism is wrong, period,” declared NJEA President Wendell Steinhauer today. “It’s shocking that we even need to say that in 2017, but clearly we must. The images coming out of Charlottesville this weekend show that we have so much work left to do as a society. NJEA and its members will continue to lead in that work.”

NJEA Vice President Marie Blistan expressed NJEA’s condolences to this weekend’s victims of racist violence. “We mourn with the families and loved ones of those killed and injured as a result of this repugnant riot, and we pledge to continue to fight in their memory,” Blistan said. “As educators, we know the lessons of history, and we know what happens when good people remain silent. We will speak and act boldly for the cause of racial and social justice, both as an example to our students and our communities, to help create the society we want to live in.”

NJEA Secretary-Treasurer Sean M. Spiller sounded a similar note. “If anyone still questions why educators must take a position on issues of racial and social justice, this weekend is the answer. We must fight ignorance with knowledge and fear with integrity. There is no place for neutrality when justice is on the line.”

In early August, NJEA’s legal challenge regarding health insurance premium sharing for certain retirees, Pepe v. State, was dismissed at the Superior Court level by Judge Mary C. Jacobson – an adverse ruling for NJEA.

NJEA’s attorneys are carefully reviewing the decision and will be appealing this decision.

Pepe involved a challenge to the State’s practice of requiring school employees, who had retired with more than 25 years of service credit after June 28, 2015, but had less than 20 years of service as of June 28, 2011 (the enactment date of P.L. 2011, Chapter 78), to pay a portion of their health benefit premiums in retirement.

Before June 28, 2011, school employees retiring with 25 or more years of eligible service had been furnished with post-retirement health benefits premium free.

Chapter 78 repercussions

By way of background, in 2011, the Legislature passed Chapter 78, a complex piece of legislation which radically changed the terms and conditions under which both active and retired employees would pay for, and receive, pension and health care benefits.

In NJEA’s view, Chapter 78 imposed a 4-year temporary obligation period from June 2011 to June 2015, wherein retirees that had less than 20 years of service credit as of June 28, 2011 and retired with 25 or more years of eligible service credit, would be subject to premium sharing in retirement.

NJEA argued that members who retired after June 2015 with 25 or more years of eligible service credit, whether or not they had 20 or more years of service as of June 28, 2011, would not have to premium share based on the sunset of this temporary provision after 4 years.

When the 4-year temporary obligation was supposed to sunset in June 2015, the NJ Division of Pensions and Benefits continued to charge retirees who retired after June 2015.

Because of this decision by the State, NJEA, on behalf of three retirees, who retired after the 4-year temporary obligation, Linda Pepe, Kim Reilly, and Terry Delbow (all of whom had at least 25 years of eligible service at that time, but had less than 20 years of service as of June 28, 2011), filed a lawsuit challenging the State’s imposition of health care premium sharing on the retirees.

NJEA files lawsuit

NJEA filed a lawsuit in the trial court; Judge Jacobson was assigned to the case and considered the positions of NJEA and the State.

She acknowledged that despite the complexity of Chapter 78, the plain language of the law about sun setting seemed to favor NJEA’s argument, and that to reject it would amount to a “strained interpretation” of the section of the law.

However, she determined that it is not always appropriate to read a statute literally, but that a court must instead be guided by legislative intent and spirit as revealed in the statute as a whole, and in legislative history, and not in isolation.

Consistent with that principle, the Court relied on Senator Sweeney’s personal advocacy for the adoption of Chapter 78, and the Legislature’s concurrence with his view that “broad reform” in the form of premium sharing and reducing benefits was “necessary” for fiscal stability.

The overall intention of the statute, in the Court’s view, was holistic reform that was not limited to a temporary obligation period for those who retired between June 2011 and June 2015, but which went beyond that.

The Court also made reference to the “uniformity” that the Legislature purportedly strives for in health benefits.

While true that there is a general trend of aligning the rights and benefits of unionized employees, in terms of health care there is very little uniformity, given that in 2007, SEHBP broke off from the SHBP to divest itself of the same uniformity clause.

NJEA is working with our attorneys to prepare an appeal of this decision.

The 125-member political action committee of the 200,000 member New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) today voted to endorse 97 candidates for election to the New Jersey Legislature this November.

“As we finally exit the Christie era and work to rebuild our state, it is imperative that we elect pro-public education and pro-public employee candidates,” said NJEA President Wendell Steinhauer. “NJEA members have always been active participants in the political process, but now more than ever, we all realize the consequences of electing politicians who do not share our priorities or our values.

“Our members have met with the candidates for the Senate and Assembly and we believe these endorsed candidates share our commitment to ensuring New Jersey’s public schools will continue to lead the nation and that our members will get the relief they need from the broken promises and unintended consequences of Chapter 78.”

These legislative endorsements are in addition to the endorsement of Ambassador Phil Murphy for governor, made last spring.

NJEA PAC voted on the recommendations of local interview teams from each legislative district. Those endorsements are:

• LD 1 Jeff Van Drew (D) for Senate, Robert Andrzejczak (D) and R. Bruce Land (D) for Assembly

• LD 2 Chris Brown (R) for Senate and Vince Mazzeo (D) for Assembly. Your Choice for John Armato (D), Vince Sera (R) and Brenda Taube (R)

• LD 3 Fran Grenier (R) for Senate, No Endorsement for Assembly

• LD 4 Fred Madden (D) for Senate, Paul D. Moriarty (D) and Gabriela M. Mosquera (D) for Assembly

• LD 5 Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D) for Senate, Patricia Egan Jones (D) and Arthur Barclay (D) for Assembly

• LD 6 James Beach (D) for Senate and Louis D. Greenwald (D) and Pamela R. Lampitt (D) for Assembly

• LD 7 Troy Singleton (D) for Senate, Herb Conaway (D) and Carol Murphy (D) for Assembly

• LD 8 George Youngkin (D) for Senate and No Endorsement for Assembly

• LD 9 Christopher Connors (R) for Senate and Jill Dobrowansky (D) and Brian E. Rumpf (R) for Assembly

• LD 10 Your Choice between Emma L. Mammano (D) and Jim Holzapfel (R) for Senate, Gregory P. McGuckin (R) for Assembly

• LD 11 Vin Gopal (D) for Senate, Eric Houghtaling (D) and Joann Downey (D) for Assembly

• LD 12 David H. Lande (D) for Senate, Ronald S. Dancer (R) and Your Choice for Gene Davis (D) and Robert D. Clifton (R) for Assembly

• LD 13 Sean Byrnes (D) for Senate, Tom Giaimo (D) and Serena DiMaso (R) for Assembly

• LD 14 Linda Greenstein (D) for Senate and Daniel Benson (D) for Assembly

• LD 15 Shirley K. Turner (D) for Senate, Reed Gusciora (D) and Elizabeth Maher Muoio (D) for Assembly

• LD 16 No Endorsement for Senate, Andrew Zwicker (D) and Roy Freiman (D) for Assembly

• LD 17 No Endorsement

• LD 18 Patrick Diegnan, Jr. (D) for Senate, Nancy J. Pinkin (D) and Robert Karabinchak (D) for Assembly

• LD 19 Joseph F. Vitale (D) for Senate, Craig J. Coughlin (D) and Yvonne Lopez (D) for Assembly

• LD 20 Joseph P. Cryan (D) for Senate, Annette Quijano (D) and Jamel C. Holley (D) for Assembly

• LD 21 No Endorsement for Senate, David Barnett (D) and Lacey Rzeszowski (D) for Assembly

• LD 22 Nicholas P. Scutari (D) for Senate, Gerald Green (D) and James J. Kennedy (D) for Assembly

• LD 23 Christine Lui Chen (D) for Senate, Laura Shaw (D) and Charles Boddy (D) for Assembly

• LD 24 Jennifer Hamilton (D) for Senate, Kate Matteson (D) and Gina Trish (D) for Assembly

• LD 25 Lisa Bhimani (D) for Senate, Thomas Moran (D) and Richard Corcoran (D) for Assembly

• LD 26 No endorsement

• LD 27 Richard Codey (D) for Senate, Mila M. Jasey (D) and John F. McKeon (D) for Assembly

• LD 28 Ron Rice (D) for Senate, Cleopatra G. Tucker (D) and Ralph R. Caputo (D) for Assembly

• LD 29 No Endorsement

• LD 30 No Endorsement for Senate, Sean T. Kean (R) and Eliot Arlo Colon (D) for Assembly

• LD 31 Sandra B. Cunningham (D) for Senate, Nicholas Chiaravalloti (D) for Assembly

• LD 32 Nicholas J. Sacco (D) for Senate, Vincent Prieto (D) and Angelica M. Jimenez (D) for Assembly

• LD 33 No Endorsement for Senate, Raj Mukherji (D) and Annette Chaparro (D) for Assembly

• LD 34 Nia H. Gill (D) for Senate, Sheila Oliver (D) and Thomas P. Giblin (D) for Assembly

• LD 35 Nelida “Nellie” Pou (D) for Senate, Shavonda Sumter (D) and Benjie Wimberly (D) for Assembly

• LD 36 Paul A. Sarlo (D) for Senate, Gary Schaer (D) and Marlene Caride (D) for Assembly

• LD 37 Loretta Weinberg (D) for Senate, Gordon M. Johnson (D) and Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D) for Assembly

• LD 38 Bob Gordon (D) for Senate, Timothy Eustace (D) and Joseph A. Lagana (D) for Assembly

• LD 39 Linda H. Schwager (D) for Senate, Jannie Chung (D) and Annie Hausman (D) for Assembly

• LD 40 Kristin M. Corrado (R) for Senate, Paul Vagianos (D) and Christine Ordway (D) for Assembly.

As New Jersey’s state government careens toward a possible shutdown at midnight, Senate President Steve Sweeney has once again aligned himself with Chris Christie against the interests of New Jersey residents. He is maneuvering to force a rushed vote on Christie’s Horizon scheme, which threatens to raise health insurance premiums for millions of New Jersey residents and destabilize New Jersey’s health insurance market. Though he admits the bill is flawed and says he would support repealing it if the next governor asked him to, he refuses to stand up to the current governor.

The New Jersey Education Association, which previously criticized the Christie-Sweeney Horizon scheme, today called on legislators to rise above the Christie-Sweeney politics and do the work of the people who elected them. NJEA’s officers released this statement:

“Steve Sweeney has been in Trenton so long he’s forgotten that politics is about real people, not just about scoring points,” said NJEA President Wendell Steinhauer. “He’s holding the whole state of New Jersey hostage in his efforts to pass a bill that he admits is flawed and says he’d support repealing early next year. That’s the kind of cynical political game-playing that makes people so disgusted with politicians like Steve Sweeney. Legislators need to decide if they want to use their power to help the constituents or just be pawns in Sweeney and Christie’s latest political game.”

“Steve Sweeney’s leadership in the senate is more than questionable,” declared NJEA Vice President Marie Blistan. “He’s willing to shut down the state and disrupt the lives of millions of New Jersey residents for what reason?  Community and business groups from around the state testified against this bill. This seems to be revenge politics and New Jersey’s wellbeing is not the priority.  This is a shameless act of politics at its worst.”

“Steve Sweeney must be a lot weaker than most people think if he’s letting his legislative agenda be controlled by a lame-duck governor with a 15 percent approval rating,” noted NJEA Secretary-Treasurer Sean M. Spiller. “Maybe after eight years of carrying water for the Christie agenda, he’s forgotten how to stand up for New Jersey residents. Or maybe he knows exactly what he’s doing, and just doesn’t care that families across New Jersey are going to suffer because he won’t stand up to Chris Christie. Either way, he’s shown whose side he is on.”

NJEA is joined in its opposition to the Horizon bill by other unions, business groups and both major party gubernatorial candidates.

• NJEA at “Stop the Shutdown” Press Conference