New Jersey Supreme Court rules school district can pay two teachers working on union business
(The Center Square) – The Jersey City School District can use tax dollars to pay two teachers who work full time for the union, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in a case with potential ramifications for districts statewide.
The ruling came in a case filed by two local residents challenging provisions in a collective negotiations agreement between the school district and the Jersey City Education Association.
The agreement authorized two teachers, or “releasees,” employed and paid by the district to work full-time on education association business, a practice known as “release time.”
While the releasees “clearly perform tasks” at the association’s direction, their “primary assignment” is “to resolve labor disputes at an early stage,” the court ruled. As part of their role, they reported to the school district “on the results achieved.”
“In sum, we hold that the release time provisions conform to the standard of (precedent), and that those provisions do not constitute gifts to the Association in violation” of the state constitution, the court ruled, reversing an earlier appeals court decision.
In a statement, New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) President Marie Blistan, Vice President Sean Spiller and Secretary-Treasurer Steve Beatty lauded the ruling, saying it respects “decades of precedent.”
“The case was without merit from the beginning,” the trio said. “It is well established that employees and employers have the right to collectively bargain the terms and conditions of employment. The contract provisions at issue in this matter were part of the legal collective bargaining agreement.
“This frivolous lawsuit was never about Jersey City,” they added. “It was brought by well-funded, out-of-state special interests pursuing a radical anti-union agenda that is out of line with the values we hold dear in New Jersey. After more than 50 years of collective bargaining, New Jersey’s public schools are rated the best in the nation. Perhaps these out-of-state groups should spend their time learning from our success instead of trying to undermine it.”
However, the head of Americans for Fair Treatment (AFT) said students lose when public funding goes to teachers working on union business.
“The teachers’ union has perfected the art of taking public funds in order to pay union officials,” David Osborne, CEO of AFT, said in an email. “Students are the biggest losers; according to the New Jersey Department of Education, few students in Jersey City Public School are performing according to expectations on statewide assessments. Before we fund union bureaucracy, we should teach kids.”
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