New NOW-NJ president says health care,

equal pay remain top issues

By BARBARA S. ROTHSCHILD • STAFF WRITER • January 18, 2011

Rita Spaulding, president of the New Jersey chapter of the National Organization for Women. (Jose F. Moreno/Courier-Post) RITA SPAULDING Hometown: Berlin Borough Family: Married, one daughter and two sons Career: Has taught in N.J. public schools for the past 17 years and currently teaches reading at Herma S. Simmons Elementary School in Clayton. NOW positions: President, NOW-NJ, Nov. 2010-present; NOW-NJ state board member and delegate representing South Jersey NOW-Alice Paul Chapter; past president, past membership co-chairwoman and Lesbian Rights Task Force member, South Jersey NOW-Alice Paul Chapter. Education: Bachelor's degree in elementary education from Rider University; Master's degree in reading, certifications in special education and supervision from Rowan University.

MOORESTOWN — A daughter of South Jersey is poised to reverse the fortunes of the National Organization for Women's New Jersey chapter.

Rita Spaulding, a member of the Moorestown-based South Jersey NOW-Alice Paul Chapter, was elected president of the statewide group in November.  The Berlin Borough resident defeated North Jersey incumbent Maretta Short for the top job.

Her eight-member board — which includes an unprecedented four members from her 265-member local chapter — wants to set priorities and put NOW-NJ back on the map during members' two-year terms.

Like many nonprofit groups in the current economy, the organization is facing fiscal issues and recently had to give up its Trenton office.  With 2,220 members, NOW-NJ also has experienced a decrease in membership — perhaps due in part to a complacency among younger women for whom gender battles no longer exist, thanks to gains made by previous generations.

For Spaulding, who grew up in Edgewater Park, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to gravitate to NOW.

"I always wanted to be in education or work in civil rights," said Spaulding, who teaches reading in a Clayton elementary school.  "Early on, the issues that feminism stands for made sense."

She was sensitized to women's issues as a teenager, when several of her friends needed abortions and she agreed it was the right choice for them.  Spaulding also felt strongly about equal pay for women and was overcome by "a sense of equality for everybody."

She first joined NOW in the 1980s, while living in North Jersey.  When she moved back to South Jersey, Spaulding joined the since-disbanded Elizabeth Haddon NOW affiliate before becoming active in the Alice Paul chapter in 1993.

She initially got involved as a volunteer escort for the Cherry Hill Women's Center, where she continues to serve, and was the chapter's co-president for three years.

The married mother of a daughter and two sons, Spaulding has served on the Lesbian Rights Task Force and as a member of NOW- NJ's board.  She is a member of South Jersey NOW's Hall of Fame and the first South Jersey president of the state organization since Glassboro's Elizabeth Volz left office in 2004.