The Newark Unity Slate—a compromise ticket designed by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, the city’s influential North Ward, and charter-school advocates—swept the city’s school board elections Tuesday night.
Of the 15 candidates on the ballot, the top vote-getter was Josephine Garcia. She brought in 3,566 votes, according to preliminary results by the Essex County Clerk’s Office.
Garcia was the North Ward candidate, aligned with Councilman Anibal Ramos. Reginald Bledsoe—Baraka’s pick— won 3,382 votes. The candidate backed by pro-charter advocates, Floshina Johnson, won 2,717 votes.
Presidential Executive Order on Enforcing Statutory Prohibitions on Federal Control of Education
EXECUTIVE ORDER
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ENFORCING STATUTORY PROHIBITIONS ON FEDERAL CONTROL OF EDUCATION
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to restore the proper division of power under the Constitution between the Federal Government and the States and to further the goals of, and to ensure strict compliance with, statutes that prohibit Federal interference with State and local control over education, including section 103 of the Department of Education Organization Act (DEOA) (20 U.S.C. 3403), sections 438 and 447 of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), as amended (20 U.S.C. 1232a and 1232j), and sections 8526A, 8527, and 8529 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (20 U.S.C. 7906a, 7907, and 7909), it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. It shall be the policy of the executive branch to protect and preserve State and local control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, and personnel of educational institutions, schools, and school systems, consistent with applicable law, including ESEA, as amended by ESSA, and ESEA’s restrictions related to the Common Core State Standards developed under the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
Sec. 2. Review of Regulations and Guidance Documents. (a) The Secretary of Education (Secretary) shall review all Department of Education (Department) regulations and guidance documents relating to DEOA, GEPA, and ESEA, as amended by ESSA.
(b) The Secretary shall examine whether these regulations and guidance documents comply with Federal laws that prohibit the Department from exercising any direction, supervision, or control over areas subject to State and local control, including:
(i) the curriculum or program of instruction of any elementary and secondary school and school system;
(ii) school administration and personnel; and
(iii) selection and content of library resources, textbooks, and instructional materials.
(c) The Secretary shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, rescind or revise any regulations that are identified pursuant to subsection (b) of this section as inconsistent with statutory prohibitions. The Secretary shall also rescind or revise any guidance documents that are identified pursuant to subsection (b) of this section as inconsistent with statutory prohibitions. The Secretary shall, to the extent consistent with law, publish any proposed regulations and withdraw or modify any guidance documents pursuant to this subsection no later than 300 days after the date of this order.
Sec. 3. Definition. The term “guidance document” means any written statement issued by the Department to the public that sets forth a policy on a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue or an interpretation of a statutory or regulatory issue, including Dear Colleague letters, interpretive memoranda, policy statements, manuals, circulars, memoranda, pamphlets, bulletins, advisories, technical assistance, and grants of applications for waivers.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Ridgewood NJ, Today, April 27, the Ridgewood High School Department of Fine and Applied Arts will present the final Maroon & White Music Recital for the 2016-17 school year. The last of five such events for this year, the concert will be held in the newly renovated RHS Learning Commons beginning at 3:45PM, followed immediately by a reception in the Carroll Art Gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.
The recital will feature three outstanding musicians, presenting a varied program and will begin with a performance by Stefanie Haas, a freshman trombonist making her Maroon and White debut. Miss Haas, who has performed as a member of the All-Bergen County Band, as well as the Region I Intermediate Band and Junior Jazz Ensemble, will perform the second and third movements of Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s renowned Concerto for Trombone. Kari Wong, a junior harpist who has also been recognized for her outstanding performance on the oboe in the All-Bergen County, Region I, All State and All Eastern Bands, will perform Susann McDonald’s Ballade, Claude Debussy’s First Arabesque, and the Chanson dans la nuit by Carlos Salzedo. Grace Gu, a sophomore pianist and First Prize winner in the 2015 Cremona (Italy) International Music Academy and Competition, will round out the recital by performing the first movement of Mozart’s Sonata No. 2 in F Major, Frederico Mompou’s Paisajes II – El Lago, and the Concert Paraphrase on Verdi’s Rigoletto by Franz Liszt.
Following the concert, audience members are invited to a reception in the Carroll Art Gallery, which is currently showing the Maroon and White Senior Art Exhibit.
The Maroon and White Recital Series began in 1964 as a means of highlighting outstanding Ridgewood High School musicians in a featured solo capacity. Over the past five decades, the series has expanded to include art exhibits as well as a recital featuring only dancers. Musicians and dancers are selected through competitive audition, while artists are chosen after an extensive portfolio revue. Past Maroon & White recitalists include Jonathan Spitz, principal cellist with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Elizabeth Ostling, associate principal flutist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the piano duo of Sarah and Susan Wang, renowned Broadway singer/dancer Ali Stroker, Stephanie Buesser, dancer with Ballet West, New York City choreographer Yael Nachajon, Broadway director Marc Bruni, jazz organist Jared Gold and many others. The list of past artists includes Lauren Roth of Lauren Roth Art, renowned illustrator Kyle McCullough, Giovanni Forlino, whose work can be seen on display at the Getty and Guggenheim museums, plus a host of professional freelance artists who work in a wide variety of visual art related fields.
As a father of five children, I admit to you that I have not always been able to monitor what my children watch on television. Even using the antiquated term television doesn’t aptly cover the shows and videos that our children “stream watch,” making it nearly impossible to monitor what they view.
For this and other reasons, we have included digital citizenship as part of our program of studies district wide, so that our children learn the importance of self-responsibility and good decision-making on issues of technology, the Internet and what they view in the media.
Over the past several days, I have received notifications from the New Jersey Youth Suicide Prevention Advisory Council and the National Association of School Psychologists concerning the March 31st Netflix release of the television drama series, “13 Reasons Why,” about a student who commits suicide. This series has become very popular with our teen youth.
Below is an excerpt from the notification from the New Jersey Youth Suicide Prevention Advisory Council: Perhaps you have heard that on March 31st Netflix released a new series called “13 Reasons Why.” If you are not aware of this, you should know that the youth you may come into contact with have most probably heard of it and may have already watched it. This series has become an instant attraction to young people. Across the country, youth are binge watching this series and are reacting to it with friends and on social media.
“13 Reasons Why” is a series about a young high school girl, Hannah, who takes her own life and sends out 13 cassette tapes to those whom she blames for her death. The series was adapted from a book of the same name. While the show is fictional, the series is extremely graphic and raises significant concerns about the emotional safety of those watching it – especially for those youth who may have had some experience with mental health issues, suicidal thoughts or behaviors.
We, at New Jersey’s Youth Suicide Prevention Advisory Council, want you to be aware of this series and how to provide some safety for youth around the show’s content and any feelings the show may be bringing up for them. In order to address these issues with teenagers we need to remember to ask about what they are feeling and seeing and we need to listen. While there are some very disturbing and graphic scenes and ideas, there are some strengths in the series that provide excellent opportunities to have a conversation about suicide prevention and how to protect yourself and your friends. We encourage parents to watch the series with their children and have these conversations openly rather than simply criticizing a series that most teens are already watching.
We have provided a handout from the National Association of School Psychologists which provides some excellent guidelines for discussion and response whether you are an educator, mental health professional, parent or youth. We encourage you to share these talking points, as well as the resources listed below, with anyone who has contact with youth including teachers, counselors, parents, etc. We understand that this material can be difficult and if you do not feel comfortable or if you are interested in further education on how to become a partner in youth suicide prevention, how to get additional suicide prevention education or training, or if you are in need of mental health support for yourself or others, we encourage you to reach out to the following resources.
The document from the National Association of School Psychologists referred to above has been shared with district administrators and counselors and is also attached here as important reading for parents and guardians. Also included below are some resources for further information on the responsible use of technology, mental health, and training and education.
It is also important to note that the Ridgewood Board of Education and Village of Ridgewood are active members of the Ridgewood Stigma Free initiative, comprised of community stakeholders who are dedicated to raising awareness of the disease of mental illness and creating a culture where residents who suffer from mental illness feel supported by our community to seek treatment without fear of stigma.
As May is “Mental Health Awareness” month, my colleagues all over Bergen County and across the state and country will be sharing information about mental health. Please look for my posts on my Twitter account @RWDSupt or on Facebook @RidgewoodPublicSchools.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter on a very serious and important issue.
Sincerely yours, Daniel Fishbein, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools
If you have not visited this website, I suggest you do so. It is dedicated to help all parents navigate the world of technology and keep us current on how our children use technology. Mental Health Resources: National Association of Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK NJ Hopeline: 1-855-NJ-HOPELINE (654-6735) 2nd Floor Youth Helpline: 888-222-2228 (call or text) West Bergen Mental Health: 201-485-7172 Training and Education Resources: Traumatic Loss Coalitions for Youth: 732-235-2810 (https://ubhc.rutgers.edu/tlc/)
Ridgewood NJ, U.S. News and World Report released its annual ranking of America’s best high schools on Tuesday, and 25 New Jersey high schools made the top 500, including three schools in the top 100.
Schools with selective enrollment, including specialized high schools run by county vocational districts, typically rank ahead of many of the state’s traditional high schools. Ridgewood High School came in an impressive 26th in the state and 583rd in the country.
U.S. News and World Report used state supplied numbers ;Total Students 1,714 , College Readiness (district average)53.6%,Proficient in English (district average)71%,Proficient in Mathematics (district average)56%.
The U.S. News and World Report summarized , “Ridgewood High School is ranked 26th 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 49 percent male and 51 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 30 percent”
U.S. News’ ranking attempts to identify the best high schools in the country, using a school’s graduation rate, performance on state math and English tests and scores and level of participation on Advanced Placement exams are the primary factors in the U.S. News ranking. Schools with the highest ranking demonstrated strong performance among all students, including minority and low-income students.
The list is based it’s analysis on more than 28,000 public schools, according to U.S. News. The 25 New Jersey schools ranked in the top 500 each earned a gold medal from U.S. News, meaning their students have the highest level of college readiness.
What are the rules when it comes to transgender students and New Jersey’s schools? Find out what some experts have to say.
By Eric Kiefer (Patch Staff) – April 24, 2017 11:16 am ET
ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — If you’re a New Jersey student who was born a female but who identifies as a male, are you allowed to use the boys’ bathroom? Or if you were born a male but identify as a female, can you play girls’ softball? These are some of the questions that a North Jersey school community hopes to address at an upcoming public forum.
Bloomfield public school administrators plan to host a “Transgender Symposium” at the high school on Wednesday, May 3. According to administrators, the free, public forum will help the community understand the changes that will come with the rollout of the district’s official transgender policy, which the Board of Education adopted last year.
State Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Sen. Teresa Ruiz, chair of the chamber’s Education Committee, penned a letter to state education officials this week, indicating that the use of PARCC as a high school exit exam violates legislative intent.
The letter, addressed to state Board of Education President Mark Biedron and acting Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington, asks the board to revise its rules governing graduation testing requirements. The letter comes a month after the state Assembly adopted a resolution (ACR215) which also stated that using PARCC to fulfill graduation testing requirements is inconsistent with legislative intent.
You have a valid point. The question is what authority does a RW crossing guard have.
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School crossing guards may or may not have the authority to direct traffic. It depends on state and local statues regarding whether a school crossing guard has the authority to perform the duties of a traffic control officer or not. If allowed, it likely requires the guard to complete specific training and may require the guard to be placed under the auspices of the police department rather than the board of Ed or the township. Also there may be issues of additional liability insurance, minimum fitness tests, etc.
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I’m not sure of the laws in NJ and RW regarding this but it is an area that you should investigate to see if it makes sense.
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A cop giving out tickets to frustrated drivers (who drive recklessly) may also act as a deterrent.
The corner is dangerous for one simple reason. When the guard halts traffic flow to let kids cross the east side of Glen, cars headed east on Glen as well as cars trying to turn east from Van Dien onto Glen (many after dropping their kids off) stop.
When the kids are done, cars already on Glen gets priority as they have no stop sign. Meanwhile traffic keeps piling up on Van Dien. This leads to visibly frustrated people who try to desperately look for an opening (between traffic on Glen) to dart in.
The solution to this problem is either to 1) Have stop signs for traffic on Glen as well, at least during school hours, or 2) Have a more mobile and active crossing guard who can direct traffic as well as kids, stopping cars on Glen to allow traffic from Van Dien to blend in periodically.
Once again, it seems like people are confused between ‘nice and caring’ and ‘effective.’ EVERYONE likes someone who is nice and caring. However, a crossing guard needs to be effective before being the former.
The point of having a crossing guard is to help school children cross the road safely, in the midst of traffic flow. But it involves more than just holding up a stop sign and lowering it once kids are through. If traffic keeps building up on Van Dien and people keep getting frustrated, it will not lead to safer outcomes for anyone.
Once again, I do not know who this person is and from all comments, it appears that she is a lovely person. I am sure that is true.
But my comments are simply based on what I have seen driving past that spot a few times. The last time I was there, I was at the head of the line of cars waiting on Glen as kids crossed. There was a lady trying to creep in from Van Dien trying to turn onto Glen east. Once the kids were through, the crossing guard lowered the sign. She could have easily asked me to stop, pointed at a few cars from Van Dien to make their turn, and then asked me to continue on. But she just stood there looking semi-bewildered by the situation.
Ridgewood NJ, The State of New Jersey requires all drinking water in our school facilities to be tested for lead during the 2016-2017 school year. The Ridgewood Public Schools are currently conducting those tests; the results of the schools we have received are listed below. The District promises to post results within 24 hours of notification for the remaining schools.
Please note that this summer of 2017 we are replacing old water fountains with filtered water fountains throughout the district.
Ridgewood NJ, GOP Gubernatorial candidate Joseph R. Rullo gave us some thoughts on public education policy ,”The NJ Abbott school districts need to be held accountable for wasteful spending and all districts need to work together to reduce cost. This will reduce the impact of inevitable changes in funding formulas with state aid. After all school districts cut wasteful spending, we need to implement fair funding formulas for property tax relief. One example is all school districts can drastically reduce costs by combined purchasing power. Another example is drastically reducing the number of Superintendents and redundant assistant Superintendents. High cost business administrators should also be reduced.”
Rullo , went on ,”Since the start of No Child Left Behind and continued under Race to the Top, NJ parents and students have been saddled with the Common Core Standards. Parents feel like they can’t help their children with their homework because it is something they have never learned before and the children are left floundering in schools with too many children and not enough teachers to explain things to them. The State then decided to force the PARCC (Partnership for Readiness for College and Careers) test on our children. This has resulted in schools and teachers focusing their teaching efforts, not on learning, but on test results. This is wrong and only hurts our children who deserve a comprehensive learning program not a regimen of tests.”
Rullo said as Governor I will end PARCC testing completely and direct the Department of Education to draw up new, independent education standards that will return NJ to the top of the best educated Students in the Country.
With the Trump budget increasing spending on school choice and the Secretary of Education pushing choice as well as local control Rullo is a big supporter of school choice and home schooling.
Rulo added , “Students come out of High School and don’t know how to balance a checkbook, write a resume or know anything about personal credit. Common Core needs to become Common Sense. Teachers need to be allowed to teach and not recite facts mandated from Washington, or some Corporation making money from our tax dollars. We need to provide better opportunities for students who decide to enter the workforce directly from high school with expanded vocational schools. The future of New Jersey depends on it!”
Trenton NJ ,The Department of Education today released the 2017 Taxpayers’ Guide to Education Spending.
“The annual spending guide is a tool designed to provide transparency to New Jerseyans about how schools spend their taxpayer dollars to educate students,” said Acting Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington.
The Taxpayers’ Guide to Education Spending includes two types of total expenditures for school districts’ annual budgets:
Total Spending Per Pupil – Comprises all district expenditures, including costs paid by the state on behalf of districts, as well as fees and tuition paid for out-of-district programs; and
Budgetary Cost Per Pupil – Comprises costs borne by the school district, excluding costs that aren’t comparable among school districts, such as transportation and facilities costs.
For the 2015-16 school year, the average Total Spending Per Pupil in the state, which includes pension payments made by the state and other ancillary costs that vary by district, is $20,385. This is 3.8 percentage points higher than the prior year’s average of $19,641.
The Budgetary Cost Per Pupil, which does not include pension payments made by the state and other district-specific costs, increased by 1.4 percentage points, from $14,736 in the 2014-15 school year to $14,939 in 2015-16.
The Taxpayers’ Guide to Education Spending can be found online
By Adam Clark and Carla Astudillo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on April 20, 2017 at 4:03 PM, updated April 20, 2017 at 4:38 PM
TRENTON — The median salary among New Jersey teachers is $66,117 this school year, about a 2.4 percent increase from last year, according to new state data.
The statistic reflects a wide range of teacher salaries that vary from district to district based on regional cost of living, grade levels offered in the district, faculty experience and other factors.
Northern Valley, a regional high school district in an affluent part of Bergen County, has the highest median teacher salary, $105,650. That’s more than twice the $43,911 median salary in East Newark Borough, a tiny K-8 district in a low-income area.
Use the tool at the bottom of this story to lookup any district or charter school and compare it to other districts.
Ridgewood NJ, lead tests done at both Willard school and George Washington Middle School produced only one non compliant drinking fountain in each school.
Following the NJ DEP instructions the Ridgewood School System tested 25 samples at Willard with only one fountain containing non compliant lead levels and at George Washington Middle School the Ridgewood School System took 27 samples and all but one were compliant.
Readers are already questioning the results . According to the CDC High levels of lead in tap water can cause health effects if the lead in the water enters the bloodstream and causes an elevated blood lead level.
Most studies show that exposure to lead-contaminated water alone would not be likely to elevate blood lead levels in most adults, even exposure to water with a lead content close to the EPA action level for lead of 15 parts per billion (ppb). Risk will vary, however, depending on the individual, the circumstances, and the amount of water consumed. For example, infants who drink formula prepared with lead-contaminated water may be at a higher risk because of the large volume of water they consume relative to their body size.
The pipes at these schools are probably 50+ years old. Questions remain as to weather the school ever tested these faucets before? Are the elevated lead levels only a recent occurrence and if so how long were the students subject to these elevated lead levels ?
The other issues that puzzles parents is how can it be just one faucet? And why was this not tested earlier? Why did the school system have to wait for the state to develop rules to test every faucet if they knew that old plumbing can cause problem and the risks of lead poising are very well known ?
As taxpayers we are often reminded that safety is a top priority for our students but that priority seems to often get pushed to a back burner when it does not involve raising taxes .
The school crossing at Linwood towards BF NEEDS an additional Crossing Guard
during rush hours morning and afternoon.Thats an intersection
that needs a wider right turning lane from BF street up Linwood towards town.Left turns there are also very tight. That corner needs a review.Current crossing Guard does a great job but is outgunned..
