Governor Christie to sign bill today expanding Rutgers University
Governor Christie is expected to sign a bill later today that will give Rutgers University coveted medical and dental schools, substantially increasing the size and stature of the state university.
The bill, which passed the Legislature earlier this summer, will merge most of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey into Rutgers. The medical university’s campuses in Newark and New Brunswick/Piscataway will be taken over by Rutgers by July 2013.
The governor and other proponents of the move say it will shore up the struggling medical university and elevate Rutgers – enabling the state to attract more medical research dollars. (Alex, The Record)
Back to School: Race to the Top for School Districts: More Federal Education Intervention
Lindsey Burke
August 17, 2012 at 4:04 pm
The Obama Administration’s new Race to the Top District (RTT-D) competition, a competitive grant program on top of the more than 100 programs the Department of Education (DOE) already operates, entices cash-strapped school districts with another $400 million to implement the Obama education agenda.
For the past half-century, federal education funding and control have been growing at the expense of state educational autonomy. The last thing our struggling education system needs is for local school districts to become dependent on Washington for education funding, further centralizing school-level policies in the hands of federal bureaucrats.
RTT-D is an offshoot of the original Race to the Top (RTT), the Obama Administration’s $4.35 billion competitive grant program to states carved out of the “stimulus.” The DOE says the new district-level program will “help schools become engines of innovation”:
Race to the Top, launched in 2009, has inspired dramatic education reform nationwide, leading 45 states and the District of Columbia to pursue higher college- and career-ready standards, data-driven decision making, greater support for teachers and leaders, and turnaround interventions in low performing schools. The next phase proposes to build on those principles at the classroom level to support bold, locally directed improvements in learning and teaching that will directly improve student achievement and educator effectiveness.
Concern about the Administration’s push to nationalize the content taught in schools across America through the Common Core State Standards led some states to pass on the original RTT competition. States like Alaska, Texas, and North Dakota have never applied for RTT grants. Under the new district-level competition, the feds will appeal directly to school districts, offering up millions in exchange for adoption of the White House’s preferred policies.
Maybe an idea who’s time has come: D.C. students being paid for summer school
July 29, 2012
The District is paying 305 students with poor academic and behavioral records to attend summer school, The Washington Examiner has learned.
The rising ninth-graders are earning $5.25 an hour to participate in the “Summer Bridge” program, which targets students identified by D.C. Public Schools as less likely than their peers to graduate high school within four years.
The 95 students who voluntarily signed up for the summer school program will receive half of an elective credit. But to fill the 400-student session with at-risk students, DCPS reached out to the Department of Employment Services. More than 300 students flagged by DCPS and who had signed up for the Summer Youth Employment Program were told that school would be their jobs this summer.
A consortium headed by South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross has submitted a proposal for the state’s first renaissance school.
The school, called the KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy, will be built in Camden, one of three cities statewide approved for the schools under the Urban Hope Act signed by the governor in January.
If approved, the school will eventually serve 2,840 Camden students in grades pre-K through 12 and provide guaranteed enrollment for children in the Lanning Square neighborhood. The first class of kindergarten students would begin in 2014. It will offer a college preparatory curriculum , with the goal of at least doubling the number of Camden students who attain a four-year college degree by 2030, according to an announcement from the group. (Isherwood, PolitickerNJ)
What it is: The state Department of Education last week released a 23-page checklist for all new charter covering academic, financial and other operations. The framework sets standards on everything from how well students must fare on state tests to financial data on how much debt a school is carrying.
What it means: The Christie administration has continued to revise its accountability standards for charter schools as it faced increasing pressure from critics and local school districts. The new framework was announced at the same time that the administration cleared the way for another nine charter schools to open in the fall, including two that will provide a mix of online and in-person instruction. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
The ‘other’ online charters get ready for new school year in NJ
They are the online charter schools that haven’t gotten much attention in New Jersey, the ones that will blend online tools with in-person teaching.
That lack of attention is likely to change soon, however.
Acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf on Monday cleared the way for two of the so-called hybrid or blended charter schools to open out of Newark next month, offering students a full-day experience in the classroom, along with a heavy dose of online learning.
It’s a big distinction from the all-online programs that generated so much debate in the past month, where students would be taking classes out of their homes. The state on Monday postponed the opening of two such virtual schools for at least a year. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
Reader says , “The summer school “rules” were never clearly presented. “
The summer school “rules” were never clearly presented. I knew that they had summer school but the hours per day for remedial and new credit were not clear. A borderline D/F student had 24 hours to get registered if they failed the class at the final exam.
I researched summer school programs at other schools in New Jersey in an attempt to figure out how Ridgewood probably worked. There was a school that had summer school for less weeks and an hour more per day. This would be much more attractive to a family that had to make summer plans around a student in school.
They should have had the marketing club get the information out to the students. No one wants to go to summer school and it is targeted to students who did not do well the first time. Don’t make it like a punishment.
It would have been good to know what teachers would be in the classroom for summer school. My son had a terrible English teacher this year and there was no way we would send him to summer school with her. She should be editing book jackets in a cubicle somewhere away from children
The state’s first proposed full-time virtual charter school will have to wait at least year to begin educating students.
The state Department of Education today announced approval of nine new charter schools for September, but said the New Jersey Virtual Academy Charter School, a full-time online charter school, would instead be given a “planning” year to further develop “academic and operational components.”
However, two offering a mix of online and traditional learning did receive approval. Both Newark Prep and Merit Preparatory of Newark Charter School intend to offer “blended” learning in a school setting, Newark Prep serving high school students, and Merit Prep starting by enrolling sixth-graders. (Rundquist, The Star-Ledger)
Banning those whom you disagree with is intolerant and un-American
In a recent letter to the editor (The Ridgewood News, July 13, 2012) ( https://tinyurl.com/7hb3xvs ) the writer noted “I cannot understand why the continued and growing presence of the Tea Party in the Ridgewood Fourth of July parade is tolerated or permitted.” The writer then goes on to say that the Tea Party’s presence in the parade “alters the parade’s naturally inclusive character.” I don’t understand the logic: ban a group that the writer does not like to make the parade more inclusive, huh? The writer also states that the Fourth of July parade is a “non-partisan celebration of community service,” really?
July Fourth is not a day, as the writer says, “to honor public servants, elected officials, police, fire and other emergency service workers, military veterans, schools, hospital workers” (however honorable that may be). Even the parade rules state that the purpose of the parade is to celebrate The Declaration of Independence. I will point out that The Declaration is an extremely politically charged document, or as King George would have thought: partisan. We should not dishonor the sacrifice of our founders by changing the meaning of the day to some politically correct idea void of any connection to its true meaning of: Independence.
On March 23, 1780 a Revolutionary War battle was fought right here in Ridgewood, and many of our Bergen County citizens died in the Revolution. On July Fourth it is our duty to celebrate our freedoms, independence, and to remember the sacrifice of not only the American Revolution but all who have loved freedom. As Abraham Lincoln admonished us in his Gettysburg Address – “that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
The New Jersey Tea Party Coalition (a citizens movement) marches in Ridgewood on July Fourth to celebrate the birth of our nation and to promote a new birth of freedom. We are proud Americans and we participate in the parade to support the tradition of what John Adams called “the great anniversary.” We march as people of this great land to celebrate and promote our American freedoms, and the preservation of liberty. Those ideals belong to “We the People” – not to either political party. Supporting the principles within our Nation’s foundational documents is not partisan or offensive – It’s American!
Banning those whom you disagree with is intolerant and un-American.
Tim Adriance Co-founder of the New Jersey Tea Party Coalition
Restaurant review: Village Green in Ridgewood
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2012
By ELISA UNG
RESTAURANT REVIEWER
The dishes at Village Green look so striking that it’s almost a shame to eat them. Almost.They are constructed with such care and precision, it’s as if the ingredients were precious jewels. Thick chunks of crabmeat drape over delicate wontons; long, crisp-skinned gnocchi nestles in with pine nuts and cubes of butternut squash. Chambord pastry cream smothers layers of puff pastry.
I first awarded three stars to Village Green in 2008, and am now cheering on its evolution under chef Kevin Portscher, who purchased the restaurant last summer. The Culinary Institute of America graduate’s résumé includes five years in one of the most prestigious kitchen jobs in Ridgewood – chef de cuisine at Latour.
New legislation would abolish government involvement in airport security
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Senator Rand Paul has issued a press release in which he vows to lead the charge to “end the TSA” and put a stop to the needless and humiliating groping of toddlers and grandmothers.
Earlier this year, Paul was detained by the TSA after refusing to submit to an invasive pat down after already having passed through a body scanner. The incident prompted national headlines and caused the Senator to miss his flight.
>For every instance of kids walking into the street without looking I could site examples of mothers with baby carriages waiting in crosswalks as cars zoom past.
The fact of the matter is the majority of pedestrians killed or seriously hurt in town in recent years were in crosswalks. The law clearly states that pedestrians have the right of way and drivers MUST STOP for them.
The problem in Ridgewood is compounded by drivers who get annoyed by situations that “force them to stop” just like you expressed. Usually there is a very good reason for the car in front of you being stopped – they are probably obeying the law and yielding to a pedestrian. The impatient driver will make the determination that the driver in front of them must be daydreaming and pull their car around the stopped car, usually with the pedal on the floor….OPPS, I just ran over a person in the crosswalk! Oh well, I’ll just get a ticket for failing to yield to a pedestrian and go on with my life.
Bringing “Wall Street” into this issue is silly and irrelevant but since you did – The only obvious similarity between the two issue is this: Neither the self important Wall Street hot shots (who ran the world economy into a ditch) nor the distracted drivers who hit pedestrians in crosswalks go to jail. Oh, and both groups live in Ridgewood. What a surprise!
Finally, why is enforcing the law as it pertains to pedestrians in crosswalks or jaywalking for that matter an example of a “nanny state” mentality? If someone came up behind you on the Ridgewood Ave and stole your wallet out of your pocket, I’d bet you’d go straight to the police, right? I might argue (in your world at least) that you should have been more careful, had your wallet in your front pocket with your hand over it to prevent someone from pickpocketing you. I could go on to argue that by reporting reporting the crime to the police you were looking for the big bad Government to bail you out of your own stupidity. Just because you’re clearly inconvenienced by the law that compels you to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks doesn’t make the law go away. Do everyone a favor and slow down, yield to pedestrians and help solve the problem we have in Ridgewood. The life you save just might be one of your loved ones.
>Ridgewood will honor military families with a candle-lighting ceremony
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 BY JOSEPH CRAMER STAFF WRITER THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
There will be some extra illumination in Ridgewood this Sunday as military families gather for a candle-lighting ceremony at Van Neste Square in honor of Gold Star Mother’s Day.
A national observance in honor of mothers and families whose sons or daughters have been killed while on duty in the United States military, Gold Star Mother’s Day takes place on the last Sunday of September each year, accompanied by a proclamation from the president.
This Sunday will mark the first time an official commemoration has been conducted in the village, something American Legion Post 53 member Bob Paoli attributes to a simple fact.
