“Such excellent commentary from fair minded people calling out Fishbien and the REA for what they truly are… have never been”doing it for the children” as they tell you every other second but just concerned for their over the top pay and how to continue getting paid for half an effort..the teacher as hero myth had truly been debunked forever now…”Sorry Billy, Mrs Jones doesn’t really care if she ever sees you again” the children will quickly learn this and remember for their lives..no memories of nice empathetic classroom leaders just a money grabbing union worker…disgraceful.
How NOT ONE teacher feels it in their soul that this set up is unfair to the parents and taxpayers of Ridgewood belies their collective greed and union fueled expectations of more more more…NOT ONE voice calling for some sort of give back to the generous community during these highly stressful family conditions is unconscionable and sad.”
“In a normal society, this virus would be handled by having the sick or vulnerable stay home for as long as necessary, while encouraging the young and healthy to go about normally with life. Teachers that are sickly could stay home and go on unemployment like everyone else in the country. Young college grads with education degrees can temporarily Take their place. Very simple. How are parents that are not teachers or other government employees supposed to work and feed their families if they have to stay home and care for their children who are doing remote learning? This point is rarely brought up. How have day care centers and summer camps in NJ been open since June, but schools cannot reopen? Why are day Care workers and summer camp workers lives valued less than teachers lives? I drove by the Ridgewood YMCA parking lot last week and witnessed large numbers of children, of various ages, over the age of two years old, standing very close together and not wearing masks. Why is this permitted when masks are required in NJ outdoors when not social distancing?
Locking down everyone is actually making everyone more sickly in mind, body and soul. Why is it that the government and their followers only care about people sick or dying from covid19, but not from any other cause, like the annual flu, being killed in riots, or from not being able to receive necessary medical treatment? Yes there is a pandemic, however, like it or not, the fact is that less than 0.5 percent of all people will die from it. It is obvious that the pandemic has become a convenient, catch all excuse, which is being massively abused. This is to the detriment of all humanity, the effects of which will be ever lasting. Wake up people! Please please start thinking for yourselves and you will realize what is actually going on here. Only when teachers and all government employees are treated the same and feel the same pain as small business owners have, during this pandemic, will people actually see the truth, be on the same team and be able, willing and ready to work together.”
Today, August 13, we submitted a “supplemental petition” to the Village Clerk to cure the defects she identified with our original submission. The law allowed us just ten days to fix the issues identified by the Clerk, collect new signatures, and resubmit. Thanks to tremendous support from the community we were able to meet this tight deadline. And we did so with 582 signatures from Ridgewood voters, once again well more than the 410 threshold needed to put the question to consolidate Ridgewood’s elections on the ballot in November as a binding initiative.
Ridgewood NJ, The following is an excerpt from a letter dated Monday, August 17 from Ridgewood District Superintendent Fishbein to district parents (Superintendent Fishbein appears to be hinting that he will change plans and ask the state to authorize the Ridgewood District to resume instruction this fall via so-called “Remote Learning” only, delaying an actual physical return of students to their schools until later in the school year):
Ridgewood NJ, as previously reported by the Ridgewood blog, the Ridgewood School district has undertaken 3 major Summer Facilities Projects ; Orchard School Soil Remediation, RHS Gym 3 Floor Remediation and Replacement and Stevens Field Turf Replacement . All three appear to be making good progress .
“The Department of Health in collaboration with the Department of Education, has developed guidance to help local health departments assist schools in providing a safe environment for students and staff,” said Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. “Understanding that COVID-19 may impact certain areas of the state differently, the Department will provide data by 6 regions of the state to inform local decisions.”
New Haven Ct, The Department of Justice today notified Yale University of its findings that Yale illegally discriminates against Asian American and white applicants in its undergraduate admissions process in violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The findings are the result of a two-year investigation in response to a complaint by Asian American groups concerning Yale’s conduct.
Ridgewood NJ, With the scholastic fall sports season rapidly approaching, legislation sponsored by Senator Michael Testa and Assemblyman Erik Simonsen to allow additional time for high school and middle school athletes to pass sports physicals was signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy.
“I’ve seen some of those kids in the village and the park. Having been a misbehaving kid myself (and grown up ok), I’m less troubled by the above story. Kids of all stripes do silly stuff. They need their asses kicked to remind them who’s in charge. I do wholeheartedly agree on 2 points:
1. schools, even good ones like RDWD, need to tone down the preaching. Marxist BS doesn’t work and has no place in school. Focus on academics.
2. Schools need to open full time come fall. The union’s actions are disgraceful, targeting kids on a pretext of “safety.” What a joke. Who do they think they are? I don’t see grocery store cashiers protesting for “safety” even though they are way more exposed. Ditto for truck drivers who bring our food, amazon delivery, etc etc. I’ve lost any respect for the Union after this. The BOE need to start taking action on behalf of taxpayers. This is ridiculous. I’ve just received the fall schedule promo presentation from the school. A silly schedule that follows no logic and a ton of marketing material, inc video interviews. Our educators fancy themselves college professors or Fortune 500 salespeople, with all that pomp. They are not. They are paid a ton of money to deliver basic education to young kids. This entails being with kids! Not sitting at home on zoom. The parents need to wake up to the fact that they are being had.”
Ridgewood NJ, Governor Phil Murphy and Department of Education Interim Commissioner Kevin Dehmer announced that New Jersey’s public and private school districts will be open for in-person instruction for the start of the school year. Public school districts can begin the school year via remote-only instruction if they cannot adequately meet critical health and safety protocols outlined in the state’s school reopening guidance, “The Road Back,” which was released in late June. Districts who need to delay the implementation of in-person instruction will be required to submit information to the Department of Education (DOE) describing the health and safety standards that they are currently unable to adequately meet, how they will address outstanding issues in a timely fashion, and a proposed timeline for reopening physical school spaces to students and staff for in-person instruction.
“I’m torn about these statistics. On the one hand, kids are bound to associate closely, and so have high risk of infection.
On the other hand, not sending them to school for what will be seven months in September, is clearly harmful to their development.”
Ridgewood NJ, Many parents, caregivers, and guardians face new and difficult choices about how their child will return to school in the fall, such as deciding between in-person and virtual learning.
According to the CDC, schools play an important role in students’ educational achievement, health, and wellbeing. Working with local health officials and with parents and caregivers, schools also have an important role in slowing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) while protecting students, teachers, and staff and helping ensure students have safe and healthy learning environments.
Trenton NJ, in a change of policy Governor Phil Murphy has decided School Districts that cannot meet state Department of Education standards will have the option of going completely remote. The governor’s decision largely leaves the issue in the hands of local districts as New Jersey continues to grapple with the COVID-19 crisis.
Ridgewood NJ, With reopening schools being a hotly debated topic and in-person learning essential for letting parents go to work this fall, WalletHub today released a nationally representative School Reopening Survey, which found that 55 percent of parents want their children to learn in person. Below are highlights of the survey, along with a WalletHub Q&A (audio available).
