'Conflict Of Interest' For Montclair's Spiller, Judge Rules

Montclair, NJ – An Essex County Superior Court judge has returned a ruling in the legal battle between Montclair’s 3rd Ward Councilman Sean Spiller and local education advocacy group Montclair Kids First.

On Monday, Judge Thomas Moore ruled that that Spiller’s simultaneous roles as a high-ranking union official and a member of the Montclair Board of School Estimate constitutes a conflict of interest under state law.

Spiller currently serves as secretary-treasurer of the New Jersey Education Association, which represents educators in the Montclair Public School District.

Montclair Kids First members have charged that Spiller’s position on the local board - which approves the tax levy for local schools – enables him to have inappropriate influence on the district’s budget, which is dominated by staff salaries and benefits.

Spiller, a 40-year-old former science teacher, has said that he’s a target of activists mimicking antiunion “education reformers” at the national level, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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