Back to School: Former Essex County Teacher Of The Year Accused In School Sex Scandal
August 31, 2012 7:40 PM
WEST ORANGE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – A former teacher of the year is accused in a school sex scandal, and she’s just been arrested.
Erica DePalo made a video after winning Essex County Teacher of the Year in 2011.
“I don’t have any children,” DePalo said in the video. ”And I always say that I don’t have any children to go home and take care of, but every morning and every day that I go to school I have 110 children that are very near and dear to my heart.”
Those students are now buzzing at West Orange High School, where DePalo teaches 9th and 10th grade Honors English.
Students like Arnold Ajondo couldn’t believe the news that DePalo was arrested for having a sexual relationship with one of her students.
“I was kind of shocked,” Ajondo told CBS 2′s Cindy Hsu. ”I was a little surprised. She was really close with the students and we all liked her. She was always there after school if you ever needed any help.”
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012
BY CHARLES SAYDAH
THE RECORD
Charles Saydah is editor of The Record’s Your Views.
What sane person would want the likes of Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. as a teacher?
WE HEAR a lot about good teachers, particularly in New Jersey. The effort to reward them with the profession’s biggest prize — tenure, with its lifetime job guaranty — is at the center of Governor Christie’s tenure reform effort.
Unfortunately, outside of linking teaching skills to student performance on standardized tests, few elected representatives define precise characteristics of a good teacher. They say merely that they know one when they see one.
We ordinary people are as much at sea. Sure, we have a lot of pop culture prototypes to point to as exemplars. Richard Dreyfus’ portrayal of Indiana music teacher Glenn Holland in “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” Laura Dern’s portrayal of West Virginia science teacher Miss Riley in “October Sky” and Edward James Olmos’ portrayal of California calculus teacher Jaime Escalante in “Stand and Deliver” are among Hollywood’s more recent contributions to our collective understanding of a good teacher.
But try to put their strengths into words. A website called greatschools makes a noble effort, identifying seven standards of great teachers: They set high expectations for all their students. They have clear, written-out objectives, are prepared and organized, engage students and get them to look at issues in a variety of ways. They are masters of their subjects. They form strong relationships with their students, show they care about them as people and communicate frequently with parents.
But how would a character like John Houseman’s Charles W. Kingsfield Jr., the icy law professor in “Paper Chase,” fit into the general profile? He, too, set high expectations for his students. He, too, came prepared and organized to each class. He, too, engaged students and got them to look at issues in a variety of ways. He, too, was a master of his subject. Presumably, his students became great lawyers.
Back to School: Englewood Cliffs school chief promises to bring back the basics
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2012
BY REBECCA BAKER
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS — Robert Kravitz, the borough’s new school superintendent, said he believes that the problem of low math scores could have a simple three-word solution: parents with flashcards.
“My son, he may not like it, but we do math flash cards every night,” the 42-year-old father of three said. “I’ve heard too many parents making excuses for their children and for themselves. We need involvement.”
Kravitz, 42, a national award-winning principal in Fort Lee, is taking his stripped-down, family-centered vision of education to Englewood Cliffs, an affluent K-8 district with fewer than 500 students already performing well on state standardized tests.
RIDGEWOOD PUBLIC SCHOOLS 2012-2013 School Calendar
September 3 Labor Day September 4 Teacher Convocation, Opening Day September 5 Professional Development Day September 6 Opening Day for Students (minimum day) September 17 Rosh Hashanah (schools closed) September 26 Yom Kippur (schools closed) October 8 Professional Development Day (no school for students) November 7 Professional Development Day (no school for students) November 8 – 9 NJEA Convention (schools closed) November 21 Start of Thanksgiving Recess (minimum day) November 22 – 23 Thanksgiving Recess (schools closed) December 24 – January 1, 2013 December Recess (schools closed) January 21 Martin Luther King Day (schools closed) February 18 – 22 February Recess (schools closed) March 29 Good Friday (schools closed) April 8 -12 April Recess (schools closed) May 27 Memorial Day (schools closed) June 26 Last Day of Instruction (minimum day) RHS Graduation (5 p.m.) June 27 Closing Day for Teachers
TRAFFIC ALERT – LAKE STREET BRIDGE CLOSED FOR REPAIR – September 4
Please be advised that Bergen County has issued a “Notice to Proceed” for the replacement of the Lake Street bridge. This means that the bridge on Lake Street will closed and traffic will detour through Midland Park.
The project has a duration of 270 days. Work is scheduled to start Tuesday, September 4th. The project site is wholly in the Borough of Midland Park, but will effect traffic going to Lakeview Drive and Goffle Road from the Village. The detour will be for traffic to use Godwin Avenue. The road will be closed for the project duration.
Labor Day Message from Bergen County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan September 3,2012 Bergen County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan
As we celebrate Labor Day this Monday we are given the opportunity to honor the American worker. It is their efforts that provide us the goods and services we use to make our own lives better.
The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. Five years later New Jersey along with five other states became the first in the nation to recognize a Labor Day holiday.
America was built by people who embraced the virtue of hard work. Through the past two centuries men and women toiled in factories, built roads, bridges and dams. They built homes and skyscrapers; cars and trucks, bulldozers and airplanes. They made America an industrial giant and their labor created the great American middle class.
Other men and women have chosen work in public service. Whether it is the police officer, firefighter or EMT, protecting our lives with theirs, a laborer cleaning a park or an office worker helping residents find the services they need: they perform the functions that keep our communities safe, clean and orderly.
America is indeed a nation of workers and all work, however humble contributes to our community and should be honored.
John D Rockefeller once said: “I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.”
In these tough economic times, many of our friends and neighbors are without work or are working for less. Hopefully, by this time next year, America’s economic recovery will gain momentum and all those who are able to work will be rewarded with the dignity of a job.
I promise to re-double my administration’s efforts to reduce the burden on Bergen County taxpayers. We will continue to stretch every dollar so that you may keep more of what you have earned and better enjoy the rewards of your labor.
I wish everyone a happy and restful Labor Day Weekend.
Statement by Paul T. Conway, President of Generation Opportunity
Washington, DC – (9/3/12) – Generation Opportunity President Paul T. Conway, former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Labor, has issued the following statement:
“Labor Day is a day set aside specifically to honor the achievements of the American worker. But on this Labor Day, as Americans traditionally celebrate with family and friends, the sad reality is that millions of young Americans will not return to a full-time job tomorrow.
“Through no fault of their own, over twelve percent of young Americans are unemployed and have been denied the opportunity to contribute their talents and to achieve success.
“Due to failed leadership and failed policies over the last three and a half years, their lives and dreams have been delayed. It is no surprise that young adults, union and non-union alike, have little enthusiasm for leaders who defend the status quo while offering no ideas for more economic opportunity.
“Young Americans deserve more from their leaders and want solutions that place a higher value on the growth of businesses and opportunity as opposed to government.”
—
For Generation Opportunity, the polling company, inc./WomanTrend conducted a nationwide online survey of 1,003 American adults ages 18-29 between July 27 and July 31, 2012. This study has a ±3.1% margin of error at a 95% confidence interval, and sampling quotas were used to ensure the survey was representative of the larger 18-29 year old nationwide population with regard to race, region, and gender.
76% of Millennials plan to vote in the election for President this year.
Only 38% believe that today’s political leaders reflect the interests of young Americans.
89% of young people ages 18-29 say the current state of the economy is impacting their day-to-day lives (accepted multiples responses) (randomized):
51% reduced their entertainment budget;
43% reduced their grocery/food budget;
43% cut back on gifts for friends and family;
40% skipped a vacation;
38% drive less;
36% take active steps to reduce home energy costs;
32% tried to find an additional job;
27% sold personal items or property (cars, electronic appliances, or other possessions);
26% changed their living situation (moved in with family, taken extra roommates, downgraded apartment or home);
17% skipped a wedding, family reunion, or other significant social event;
1% other;
8% none of the above (accepted only this response);
3% do not know/cannot judge (accepted only this response).
84% of young people ages 18-29 had planned to but now might delay or not make at all a major life change or move forward on a major purchase due to the current state of the economy (accepted multiples responses) (randomized):
38% – Buy their own place;
32% – Go back to school/getting more education or training;
31% – Start a family;
27% – Change jobs/cities;
26% – Pay off student loans or other debt;
25% – Save for retirement;
23% – Get married;
12% – None of the above (accepted only this response);
4% – Do not know/cannot judge (accepted only this response).
76% believe that the lack of job opportunities is shrinking the American middle class.
64% of young people ages 18-29 believe the availability of more quality, full-time jobs upon graduation is more important than lower student loan interest rates.
Last month, Generation Opportunity released the non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) unemployment data for Millennials for July 2012:
The youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds specifically for July 2012 is 12.7 percent (NSA).
The youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year old African-Americans for July 2012 is 22.3 percent (NSA); the youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year old Hispanics for July 2012 is 14.0 percent (NSA); and the youth unemployment rate for 18–29 year old women for July 2012 is 12.6 percent (NSA).
The declining labor participation rate has created an additional 1.715 million young adults that are not counted as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.
If the labor force participation rate were factored into the 18-29 youth unemployment calculation, the actual 18-29-unemployment rate would rise to 16.7 percent (NSA).
With landmark lawsuit, Barack Obama pushed banks to give subprime loans to Chicago’s African-Americans
Published: 1:26 AM 09/03/2012
President Barack Obama was a pioneering contributor to the national subprime real estate bubble, and roughly half of the 186 African-American clients in his landmark 1995 mortgage discrimination lawsuit against Citibank have since gone bankrupt or received foreclosure notices.
As few as 19 of those 186 clients still own homes with clean credit ratings, following a decade in which Obama and other progressives pushed banks to provide mortgages to poor African Americans.
The startling failure rate among Obama’s private sector clients was discovered during The Daily Caller’s review of previously unpublished court information from the lawsuit that a young Obama helmed as the lead plaintiff’s attorney. [RELATED: Learn about the 186 class action plaintiffs]
Since the mortgage bubble burst, some of his former clients are calling for a policy reversal.
“If you see some people don’t make enough money to afford the mortgage, why would you give them a loan?” asked Obama client John Buchanan. “There should be some type of regulation against giving people loans they can’t afford.”
Banks “were too eager to lend to many who didn’t qualify,” said Don Byas, another client who saw banks lurch from caution to bubble-inflating recklessness.
“I don’t care what race you are. … You need to keep financial wisdom [separate] from trying to help your people,” said Byas, an autoworker.
Happy Capital Day?
By Lawrence W. Reed
Published: 27 August 2012
https://www.fee.org/articles/happy-capital-day-2/
Any good economist will tell you that as complementary factors of production, labor and capital are not only indispensable but hugely dependent upon each other as well.
Capital without labor means machines with no operators, or financial resources without the manpower to invest in. Labor without capital looks like Haiti or North Korea: plenty of people working but doing it with sticks instead of bulldozers, or starting a small enterprise with pocket change instead of a bank loan.
Capital can refer to either the tools of production or the funds that finance them. There may be no place in the world where there’s a shortage of labor but every inch of the planet is short of capital. There is no worker who couldn’t become more productive and better himself and society in the process if he had a more powerful labor-saving machine or a little more venture funding behind him. It ought to be abundantly clear that the vast improvement in standards of living over the past century is not explained by physical labor (we actually do less of that), but rather to the application of capital.
This is not class warfare. I’m not “taking sides” between labor and capital. I don’t see them as natural antagonists in spite of some people’s attempts to make them so. Don’t think of capital as something possessed and deployed only by bankers, the college-educated, the rich, or the elite. We workers of all income levels are “capital-ists” too—every time we save and invest, buy a share of stock, fix a machine, or start a business.
And yet, we have a “Labor Day” in America but not a “Capital Day.”
Perhaps subconsciously, Americans do understand to some extent that those who invest and deploy capital are important. After all, most people would surely have an easier time naming the “top ten capitalists” in our history than the “top ten workers.” We take pride in the kids in our neighborhoods when they put up a sidewalk lemonade stand. President Obama continues to be roundly excoriated for his demeaning remark, “You didn’t build that; somebody else made that happen.”
That’s not to say there aren’t bad eggs in the capitalist basket. Some use political connections to get special advantages from government. Others cut corners, cheat some customers or pollute a stream. But those are the exception, not the rule, in a society that values character. Workers are not all saints either—who among us doesn’t know of one who stole from his employer, called in sick when he wasn’t, or abused the disability or unemployment compensation rules? Those exceptions shouldn’t diminish the importance of work or the nobility of most workers.
Like most Americans, I’ve traditionally celebrated labor on Labor Day weekend—not organized labor or compulsory labor unions, mind you, but the noble act of physical labor to produce the things we want and need. Nothing at all wrong about that!
But this year on Labor Day weekend, I’ll also be thinking about the remarkable achievements of inventors of labor-saving devices, the risk-taking venture capitalists who put their own money (not your tax money) on the line and the fact that nobody in America has to dig a ditch with a spoon or cut his lawn with a knife. Indeed, what could possibly be wrong about having a “Capital Day” in odd numbered years and a “Labor Day” in the even-numbered ones?
Labor Day and Capital Day. I know of no good reason why we should have just one and not the other.
#####
(Lawrence W. Reed is president of the Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington, New York and Atlanta, Georgia. A shorter version of this essay was first published by FEE in 2011.)
Labor Day Union Money in Elections
Amy Payne
September 3, 2012 at 8:59 am
This election year, millions of Americans will donate to the political candidates and initiatives of their choice at the local, state, and federal levels. But for unionized workers, union dues come out of their paychecks and go to political causes—and they aren’t consulted on where that money will go.
In July, The Wall Street Journal’s Tom McGinty and Brody Mullins published an eye-opening report that “Organized labor spends about four times as much on politics and lobbying as generally thought.”
They broke down the unions’ political spending from 2005 to 2011: $1.1 billion “supporting federal candidates through their political-action committees, which are funded with voluntary contributions, and lobbying Washington, which is a cost borne by the unions’ own coffers.”
But that was only the beginning. Add to that another $3.3 billion for political activity from “polling fees, to money spent persuading union members to vote a certain way, to bratwursts to feed Wisconsin workers protesting at the state capitol last year.” Who pays for this? The workers, McGinty and Mullins report: “Much of this kind of spending comes not from members’ contributions to a PAC but directly from unions’ dues-funded coffers.”
Despite findings that 60 percent of union members object to their dues being spent on political causes, this practice continues. Why?
In the 27 states without right-to-work laws, many unions are able to put clauses in their contracts that allow them to fire workers who do not pay union dues. If a worker wants to work for a unionized firm, he or she is forced to join the union and pay the dues, which can run from several hundred to several thousand dollars a year.
In a new paper, Heritage’s James Sherk gives an example of this rule at work: “The United Auto Workers (UAW), which organized General Motors’ Michigan factories in 1937, is a case in point. Michigan does not have a right-to-work law, so union-represented workers must pay the union’s dues or get fired.”
Notice the year there—1937. The workers coming on the job in 2012 are bound by a vote taken by their ancestors, essentially. “General Motors’ current employees never had the chance to vote for or against the UAW. UAW representation was a non-negotiable condition of their employment.”
Sherk argues that these rules make no sense for today’s workers. Just 7 percent of private-sector union members voted for the union that represents them, and the vast majority of government unions organized at least 30 years ago. The workers inherit the representation of yesteryear, which negotiates their terms of pay, promotion, layoff, and retirement.
Once organized, unions remain indefinitely. Naturally, that gives union leaders little reason to be accountable to their members in any way—they’re not going to have to stand for re-election.
To give unionized workers the freedom they deserve, Sherk says, this system should end.
Congress and state legislatures should at the least require government and private-sector unions to stand for re-election. Re-election votes every two to four years would allow employees to regularly assess their union’s performance as their representative.…
An even better reform would be to give workers representative choice—allowing individual employees to choose who represents them, irrespective of who other employees select. This would remove the union’s monopoly over the workplace, allowing employees to negotiate contracts tailored to their needs.
Workers should have the freedom to choose whether they want union representation or not. And if they do want to join a union, they should be able to choose which union they join. This freedom would give them more say over paying union dues in the first place, and how those dues are used. It would also give them the opportunity to negotiate merit-based raises, which unions do not allow.
America’s unionized workers deserve the same freedoms as non-unionized workers—in an election year and every year.
Ale to the Chief: White House Beer Recipe
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog
WHITE HO– USE HONEY PORTER
Ingredients
2 (3.3 lb) cans light unhopped malt extract
3/4 lb Munich Malt (cracked)
1 lb crystal 20 malt (cracked)
6 oz black malt (cracked)
3 oz chocolate malt (cracked)
1 lb White House Honey
10 HBUs bittering hops
1/2 oz Hallertaur Aroma hops
1 pkg Nottingham dry yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar for bottling
Directions
In a 6 qt pot, add grains to 2.25 qts of 168˚ water. Mix well to bring temp down to 155˚. Steep on stovetop at 155˚ for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, bring 2 gallons of water to 165˚ in a 12 qt pot. Place strainer over, then pour and spoon all the grains and liquid in. Rinse with 2 gallons of 165˚ water. Let liquid drain through. Discard the grains and bring the liquid to a boil. Set aside.
Add the 2 cans of malt extract and honey into the pot. Stir well.
Boil for an hour. Add half of the bittering hops at the 15 minute mark, the other half at 30 minute mark, then the aroma hops at the 60 minute mark.
Set aside and let stand for 15 minutes.
Place 2 gallons of chilled water into the primary fermenter and add the hot wort into it. Top with more water to total 5 gallons if necessary. Place into an ice bath to cool down to 70-80˚.
Activate dry yeast in 1 cup of sterilized water at 75-90˚ for fifteen minutes. Pitch yeast into the fermenter. Fill airlock halfway with water. Ferment at room temp (64-68˚) for 3-4 days.
Siphon over to a secondary glass fermenter for another 4-7 days.
To bottle, make a priming syrup on the stove with 1 cup sterile water and 3/4 cup priming sugar, bring to a boil for five minutes. Pour the mixture into an empty bottling bucket. Siphon the beer from the fermenter over it. Distribute priming sugar evenly. Siphon into bottles and cap. Let sit for 1-2 weeks at 75˚.
WHITE HO– USE HONEY ALE
Ingredients
2 (3.3 lb) cans light malt extract
1 lb light dried malt extract
12 oz crushed amber crystal malt
8 oz Biscuit Malt
1 lb White House Honey
1 1/2 oz Kent Goldings Hop Pellets
1 1/2 oz Fuggles Hop pellets
2 tsp gypsum
1 pkg Windsor dry ale yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar for priming
Directions
In an 12 qt pot, steep the grains in a hop bag in 1 1/2 gallons of sterile water at 155 degrees for half an hour. Remove the grains.
Add the 2 cans of the malt extract and the dried extract and bring to a boil.
For the first flavoring, add the 1 1/2 oz Kent Goldings and 2 tsp of gypsum. Boil for 45 minutes.
For the second flavoring, add the 1/2 oz Fuggles hop pellets at the last minute of the boil.
Add the honey and boil for 5 more minutes.
Add 2 gallons chilled sterile water into the primary fermenter and add the hot wort into it. Top with more water to total 5 gallons. There is no need to strain.
Pitch yeast when wort temperature is between 70-80˚. Fill airlock halfway with water.
Ferment at 68-72˚ for about seven days.
Rack to a secondary fermenter after five days and ferment for 14 more days.
To bottle, dissolve the corn sugar into 2 pints of boiling water for 15 minutes. Pour the mixture into an empty bottling bucket. Siphon the beer from the fermenter over it. Distribute priming sugar evenly. Siphon into bottles and cap. Let sit for 2 to 3 weeks at 75˚.
Self-Driving Cars Approved by California Legislature
Published: Friday, 31 Aug 2012 | 12:47 PM ET Text Size
By: Aaron Sankin, The Huffington Post
In California, it’s illegal to talk on a cell phone handset while driving your car. The reasoning is pretty simple: with one hand glued to your smartphone, not only are you distracted chatting about what happened on last night’s episode of “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” but you also only have one hand to hold the wheel.
But what if you were sitting in your car and didn’t actually have to drive? What if all you had to pay attention to was getting to the next level in Angry Birds?
The California state legislature just moved that dream a little closer to reality by approving a bill paving the way for driverless cars to be allowed on Golden State freeways.
The bill, authored by State Senator Alex Padilla (D-Van Nuys), was passed by the state Assembly on Wednesday and then given the overwhelming thumbs up by the state Senate the following day.
If signed by Governor Jerry Brown, Padilla’s bill would legally allow autonomous vehicles on the road and charge the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles with determining the standards for self-driving cars, rules which current do not exist under the present vehicle code.
Clearing Ridgewood’s waterways may reduce future flooding woes
FRIDAY AUGUST 31, 2012, 11:16 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Work to shore up Ridgewood’s two main waterways has yet to begin; however, village officials anticipate the remediation of the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook and Saddle River will commence as soon as possible.
When completed, the rehabilitation project is expected to reduce flooding at both water arteries, which have been the sources of widespread flooding during major storms over the past decade.
Various “choke points and areas with easy access” along the waters are currently targeted for repair, Village Engineer Chris Rutishauser said Monday, one year after Hurricane Irene caused widespread flooding in Ridgewood and throughout the region.
Specifically, contractors are scheduled to remove sandbars, gravel bars and other debris, such as tree stumps and large branches that have exacerbated flood conditions over the years.
SATURDAY, 01 SEPTEMBER 2012 17:00 WRITTEN BY BOB SMIZIK
With no talks scheduled and both sides seemingly far apart on key issues, the NHL labor situation is not looking good and the possibility of a lockout by owners on Sept. 15 is a definite possibility.
NFL, Officials’ Union Meet again
Saturday, 01 Sep 2012 02:59 PM
The NFL and its on-field officials’ union failed to reach an agreement when they met Saturday morning, making it more likely replacement officials will work the league’s first week of regular-season games.
FRIDAY AUGUST 31, 2012, 11:19 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The year-long process to restore Ridgewood’s municipal building to pre-Hurricane Irene condition is moving closer to completion, and village officials believe the project will be finished next month.
Every Village Hall corner damaged by Irene’s crippling flood waters last year will be repaired and back in full use by Sept. 13, Village Manager Ken Gabbert told The Ridgewood News this week. An official reopening ceremony will be celebrated during a Highlights in Leisure Time (HILT) senior citizens club meeting later in the month, he said.
Contractors continued work this week, the one-year anniversary of the flood, but were “98 percent done,” Gabbert said, adding that extensive electrical work and other equipment installation still remained.
Lobby materials, video screens, directional signs, furniture, donated pool tables, decorative hallway molding and pictures have yet to arrive.
