Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold a Regular Public Meeting on Monday, May 21, 2018. The Board meets at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3 at 7:30 p.m.
The public is welcome to attend the meeting, or to watch from home on Fios channel 33 or Optimum channel 77. Meetings are also streamed via the “BOE Webcast” tab on the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us.
Meeting webcasts are immediately available on the district website.
Ridgewood NJ, a coalition organized as the New Jersey Coalition for Diverse and Inclusive Schools, including the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and the Latino Action Network, and Shiloh Baptist Church, the African American Chamber of Commerce and others, decried the existing, still unrectified educational divide in this state and have filed a lawsuit to force integration in New Jersey Schools.
The groups filed the suit yesterday on the 64th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v Board of Education decision, which ruled school segregation unconstitutional. They argue that New Jersey’s segregated school system violates the state constitution and ask the court to stop the further assignment of students solely on the basis of residency. They also ask that the Legislature and education commissioner be ordered to devise a different system for placing students in schools. It is the first lawsuit challenging statewide school segregation filed anywhere in the nation in more than a half century.
The suit is highly critical of the state oversight of charter schools, alleging that segregation in these schools occurs not only because they are predominantly located in communities with large minority populations, but also “results from the failure of the State Commissioner of Education to perform his statutory and regulatory duties.”
The state’s largest teachers union, the New Jersey Education Association, also backs the effort.
“New Jersey’s public schools are as segregated by race and poverty today as they were in 1954,” said Ryan P. Haygood, President and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. “Sixty-four years after Brown, we have important promises to keep and still others to make to New Jersey’s students. This case is about finally making good on our promises.”
Haygood noted that the state’s racial diversity and racial segregation, in combination with its extreme wealth and punishing poverty, has fostered some of the fiercest segregation by race, ethnicity, and poverty in this country:
The median net worth for New Jersey’s white families is $271,402—the highest in America.
The median net worth for New Jersey’s Hispanic and Black families is just $7,020 and $5,900, respectively, together totaling less than 5 percent of the net worth of white families in the state.
Of the approximately 585,000 Black and Latino public school students in New Jersey, 63% of them attend schools that are more than 75% non-white.
Nearly half of all Black and Latino public school students attend schools that are more than 90% non-white.
More than 40 percent of white students attend schools that are at least 75% white.
“New Jersey cannot fulfill the promise of Brown, or the promise owed to our kids, without this lawsuit,” said Haygood. “No amount of good will, well wishes, or optimism will accomplish the systemic relief and fundamental transformation that is required. Integration is possible, it is necessary, and it is long overdue.”
Ridgewood NJ , Join Pro Arte in the last concert of the season, and the last concert with 2017 Grammy nominated Maestro Steven Fox. “Masters of Baroque” – Vivaldi’s Gloria and Handel Coronation Anthems. This will be a spectacular concert featuring members of Clarion Orchestra, NYC, and Soloists Esteli Gomez and Mikki Sodergren. Tickets can be purchased at the door the day of the event, or discounted tickets online: www.proartechorale.tix.com
For more info www.proartechorale.org or 201-497-8400.
Ridgewood NJ, Anyone interested in running to serve on the Ridgewood Board of Education? Currently the school budget is over $110 million and makes up the majority of the Village of Ridgewood’s property taxes.
Last contested Ridgewood School Board election was in 2012.
If you are considering serving on your school board, take advantage of NJSBA’s online briefings that provide details about the responsibilities of serving on a local board of education. NJSBA’s online briefings include three videos that address leadership, legal issues, and the role of a board member. Candidates can also listen to a recorded online radio broadcast, “What Board Members Need to Know When They’re Elected.”
July 30 4 p.m. is the deadline for candidates to file nominating petitions with the county clerk.
Nov 6 Annual School Election NOTE: Board members must undergo criminal history record checks through the New Jersey Department of Education within 30 days of election or appointment.
Trenton NJ, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed a bill Wednesday that allows New Jersey college students who are in the country illegally to obtain financial aid and pay instate rates for their college education.
Murphy called the United States the “world’s melting pot” where people come “in the hope of a new life,” when he signed the legislation at Rutgers-Newark, according to NJ.com.
Not a melting pot for everyone however, Governor Murphy’s bill to extend financial aid to illegal immigrants now makes New Jersey is one of the few states that discriminates against legal residents .
While legal immigrants are forced to pay out of state or international tuition rates , illegal immigrants pay instate tuition fees, treating legal immigrants as third class citizens .
For example at Rutgers University instate tuition is $11,619 while legal immigrants face a huge 116.19% gap paying out of state tuition of $27,560 . Gov. Phil Murphy is telling people crime pays .
Ridgewood NJ, U.S. News & World Report released its annual list of best high schools in the country. The U.S. News rankings include data on more than 20,500 public schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Schools were awarded gold, silver or bronze medals based on their performance on state assessments and how well they prepare students for college.
New Jersey high school students are assessed in math and English language arts via the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, exams. High school students are required to study a world language to graduate, according to the New Jersey Department of Education.
Ridgewood High School was ranked No. 24 in New Jersey and No. 577 in the country.
US News ranked Ridgewood High School 24th within New Jersey. Students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement® course work and exams. The AP® participation rate at Ridgewood High School is 60 percent. The student body makeup is 48 percent male and 52 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 28 percent.
The US News Score card :
College Readiness Index
55.5
AP® Tested
60%
AP® Passed
89%
Mathematics Proficiency
69%
Reading Proficiency
68%
To compare, Princeton is similar is size :
Princeton High School is ranked #230 in the National Rankings and earned a gold medal. Schools are ranked based on their performance on state-required tests and how well they prepare students for college. Read more about how we rank the Best High Schools.
All rankings:
#230 in
National Rankings
#9 in
New Jersey High Schools
#95 in
STEM High Schools
For details on the misinformation about the effects of additional apartments in Ridgewood, all you have to do is examine the poorly supported assumptions used in the decision to move to full day kindergarten. The town relied on a study (contracted for by developers) that concluded, with no real evidence, that the additional housing would bring no more than 50 students into the school system. The school board then argued that with 50 new students, the district would have roughly 4 additional students per grade. They did not look at existing apartments to get a sense of students per unit. The number 50 probably is a very low figure. Look at your own neighborhood to see the ages of kids when new families move to town. The distribution is not even across the ages. There is a high percent of kindergarten or younger students in new arrivals. It is rare that a new junior or senior arrives. The majority of new students in the first year will be in kindergarten, creating a bubble of overcrowding, one that will move through the schools and which will be continued as younger siblings move into the school system. Rather than 4 new students in kindergarten, we are more likely to see 15 or 20, based on past experience. The rooms do not exist for an additional kindergarten room or for anywhere near that many additional students in the existing classrooms. Expect a move to expand the schools, with its resulting new bond to raise the money.
Ridgewood Nj, Members of the Ridgewood Board of Education and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Daniel Fishbein will host residents for coffee and casual conversation on Monday, May 14 from 7-8:30 p.m. Please join them at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Ridgewood. Residents are welcome to drop in and share their thoughts, questions, suggestions and concerns.
Ridgewood NJ, as expected the Ridgewood Board of Education passed a massive budget increase of 4.3%, your tax hit is 3.6%. Two members of the board had great suggestions, and the other three don’t seem to care what public say had to say . All three need to be replaced and have needed replacement for some time .
During the presentation, they basically the BOE took 2% is for granted, but needed to justify 1.62% which is above 2%.
They killed the ridiculous windows project, but replaced it with different capital projects.
James Morgan tabled an amendment to the budget, in which these two newly added items were not a priority, so they can probably wait until the referendum, and let’s keep the budget under 2%. His amendment was defeated 3-2.
They spent a lot of time pretending they were cost focused as usual , which no one believes but frankly its school performance that’s lacking .
College-Ready Student Performance :
High school students take AP® exams to earn college credit and demonstrate success at college-level course work. U.S. News calculated a College Readiness Index based on AP exam participation rates and percentages of students passing at least one AP exam. The index determined which types of medals (gold, silver or bronze) were awarded to top-performing schools. College Readiness Index 53.6
Ridgewood NJ, the Board of Education budget vote is tonight. The BOE will be voting on a $110,000,000 school budget and to increase the school tax by 3.62%. The meeting starts at 7:30, & public comment is first. I know people have busy lives, but anyone who does not speak up now, should have no excuse to complain later.This number gets compounded year after year after year.
The school budget is 65% of our tax dollars, so this is going to be a big hit. 2 of the 5 board members believe they can keep the budget within the cap, and without losing any teachers/programs at the schools. I would like to see the entire board to work together to achieve that.
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold a Regular Public Meeting on Monday, May 7, 2018. The Board meets at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3 at 7:30 p.m.
The public is welcome to attend the meeting, or to watch from home on Fios channel 33 or Optimum channel 77. Meetings are also streamed via the “BOE Webcast” tab on the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us.
Meeting webcasts are immediately available on the district website.
Hamilton NJ, according to James Edward O’Keefe ,Project Veritas last month they sent undercover journalists who blanketed the state of New Jersey visiting dozens of teacher’s union offices. We wondered, how union leaders would react to claims that teachers were physically and verbally abusing students?
What you’re about to see is a man who is a union president, with a PHD, A LEADER; not working for children like the sign above his head says, but working to what he calls, “Bend the truth” and hide a potential crime.
In this undercover investigation, Hamilton Township Education Association President David Perry details the steps the teachers union would take to protect a teacher who physically abused and threatened middle school students from losing their job.
Dr. Perry says he would misrepresent the events of altercations between teachers and students by back-dating reports and instructed the teacher to not tell anybody about incidents with students.
The union president also stressed that a teacher who abuses his students needs to come to the union after any incident so that they can create a report that would best protect them from students that come forward about abuse.
Veritas will be releasing more undercover videos of teachers unions from ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY in the coming days and weeks. To be alerted as soon as they are published, sign up for our newsletter and check in to www.projectveritas.com frequently for any updates.
Ridgewood NJ, (from L) RHS sophomores C.J Lee, Olivia Jerdee, Annabel Mendoza, and Vanessa Cheng traveled to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as a team on Thursday, April 27 as semifinalist competitors in 2018 Euro Challenge. The Ridgewood team competed against over 100 teams nationwide and was selected to advance as one of the top 25 teams overall. Each team selected a Euro Area member and issue to research and propose a policy recommendation for. Ridgewood selected Germany, with a focus on investment policies fo infrastructure. St. Albans School (Washington D.C.) took first place.
Ridgewood NJ, Members of the Ridgewood Board of Education and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Daniel Fishbein will host residents for coffee and casual conversation on Monday, May 14 from 7-8:30 p.m. Please join them at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Ridgewood. Residents are welcome to drop in and share their thoughts, questions, suggestions and concerns.
