Other services
Financial assistance
• assistance for legal aid to
individuals whose job status
is threatened (actions taken
against tenured and nontenured
individuals, academic freedom,
increment withholding,
suspensions, assault and battery
cases, etc.)
• assistance for legal aid to local
associations which need help
because of their advocacy and
representation role (factfinding,
arbitration, injunctions,
restraining orders, strikes, etc.)
• interest-free loans to individuals
participating in strike activity or
other organizational strategies
• assistance to individuals for
salaries lost while jailed because
of a school employee strike
• interest-free loans to local
associations in need of help
because of a strike or other job
action.
• assistance to local associations
in representation elections
• assistance to local associations
in unit disputes
Legal services
• legal opinions written by the
NJEA attorney upon written
request of a member or a local
association
• advice on such legal matters
as tenured and nontenured
teacher rights, withholding
of increments, tax problems,
wage freeze, organizational
management, etc.
• provide legal defense for
association leaders and
members who participate in
strikes
46 – AR Handbook
Leadership training
• assist with the training of
association representatives
and other association leaders
in grievance adjudication,
negotiation skills, organizational
management, leadership skills,
etc.
Miscellaneous
• help members organize the
unorganized
• provide information for
individuals and associations in
such areas as insurance, travel,
certification, and pensions
• help local associations resolve
student disruption problems
• assist in membership promotion
• help local associations improve
their communication with their
members through newsletters,
fliers, etc.; provide staff
assistance to local associations
in representation elections
Protecting members’ rights
One of NJEA’s prime objectives is
to protect its members’ employment
and civil rights. NJEA believes
school employees should be
free from arbitrary and capricious
decisions by employers. When such
decisions occur, school employees
should have the resources to defend
themselves in the proper administrative
or legal channels.
NJEA, therefore, provides the
following services in protecting its
members’ rights.
Contract Enforcement –
Grievance Processing
NJEA assists its locals with upto
date approaches to protecting
negotiated contracts through a
grievance procedure which ends in
binding arbitration. The Association
provides trained staff to help locals
prepare grievances and assists as
needed, including the preparation
and presentation of grievances before
an arbitrator.
Legal Protection
NJEA members are assured of free
legal protection in cases involving
suspension, discrimination, assaults
on members, academic freedom,
and the protection of tenure. In cooperation
with NEA, NJEA pays all
approved legal costs in such employment
related cases.
Personal Liability
No school employee in New Jersey
needs to worry about personal liability
claims as a result of job performance.
An NJEA-sponsored law,
holds harmless all school employees
and requires school boards to carry
sufficient insurance to maintain this
protection.
Tenure/Due Process
NJEA is firmly committed to the
concept of due process for school
employees and, therefore, monitors
and challenges all attempts to weaken
the tenure law. NJEA provides
publications and workshops to
inform members on how to protect
their employment rights under the
tenure law.
Minority Rights
NJEA provides local associations
with assistance in developing minority
involvement programs and
assists members in their efforts to
fight racial or sex discrimination
in their employment. NJEA maintains
a Minority Leadership and
Recruitment Committee, encourages
ethnic-minority members to
become active in all levels of association
work, and identifies and
recommends ways to attract ethnic
minorities to the association and
school employment.