As the New Jersey Board of Education deliberates whether high school students should have to pass certain math and English exams to graduate, one state lawmaker wants to throw another subject into the mix.
Assemblyman Jay Webber, a Republican from Morris County, is sponsoring legislation to require students to pass a civics test, using the same set of questions asked of immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship.
His bill (A3894) is nearly identical to one introduced during the last legislative session by then-Assemblyman Charles Mainor, a Democrat. Mainor’s bill (A4226) never made it out of committee.
Under the latest proposal, students would have to correctly answer at least 60 of 100 questions. Students would be asked, for example, what the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution are called (answer: Bill of Rights), who becomes president if both the president and vice president can no longer serve (answer: Speaker of the House) or what stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful (answer: checks and balances).
Students would first take the test in ninth grade. Those who don’t pass would retake the exam each year until they passed. Local school boards would decide the method and manner in which the test is administered.
..the REA believes it a political move that they should now pay for their healthcare, and that the “social contract” always was that teachers would be low payed but have job security and free healthcare. I think the reality of what has transpired with our healthcare system has not yet dawned on the REA. Many people can not pay for their own healthcare let alone shoulder the burdens of theirs, increased taxes, etc.
…most people are now taking home less money than they did six years ago. No one is getting more than a 1 – 1.5% increase a year and everyone’s health care premiums are skyrocketing. And in the private sector, a lot of those premiums are paying for high deductible policies (my family policy is costing me $5200/year and only kicks in after the $3000 out of pocket). Again, everyone is bringing home less which means we can’t afford to pay more taxes. Sad, but true.
My employer switched to a high deductible health plan this year. I still pay $1000/ mth in premiums (employee share) plus now I have a $5k deductible.
So, my son sprained his ankle and now I get a $1000 bill from Valley because I haven’t hit my deductible yet. (That’s with the insurer negotiated rates). All doctor visits other than preventive care are out of pocket until the deductible is hit.
Thank you Obama for accelerating this for happening to me because our employer is trying to avoid the Cadillac tax.
New Jersey’s four-year colleges and universities reported 84 rapes on campus in 2014, according to new federal data. Adam Clark and Kelly Heyboer, NJ.com Read more
We have fought against Valley and garages and numerous other issues in this town. It is time to fight for our children, but so many parents feel intimidated by these teachers. They will be marching in their red outside before you go into the meeting. They have put us down. They tell us we are not educated that we don’t know the facts. The FACT is that we can not open our mouths because as soon as we do, you crush our opinion. We all see the signs around town, but maybe the teachers and the BOE should be looking at the how many houses don’t have signs…Unfortunately only two scenarios exist…the first the contract is settled which means the BOE gave into the bullying tactics of our teachers and unions. The only benefit to us is our children won’t be punished anymore…The second scenario is the contract doesn’t get signed in which case we will be living through hell. The disrespect these teachers have shown the students and parents is unacceptable. The days of teacher appreciation are over.
Ridgewood NJ, On May 19, nine RHS students participated in the Orlando Saa Foreign Language Poetry Contest, along with 48 different high schools. RHS had three winners: Jenna Casey, 2nd Place for French; Yihan Wang, Honorable Mention for Chinese; and Jeff Zachem, 3rd place in Latin
All If we take a step back it all seem very clear. $100+ million a year for a school budget is just not sustainable and needs to be reduced quickly. We are at a point now where housing values in our town (and Bergen county) have stalled and in many cases are retreating. The high tax burden is taking a toll and will only get worse quickly without some real action.
The best way to do this is to reduce benefits, (healthcare, vacation, reimbursement, free schooling for teachers out of district children, retirement, etc.), change the package for new hires, and also attack administrative costs.
Homeowners and more important the children are getting shortchanged. Just try to get a teacher or guidance counselor to help with a college letter, direction, or just recommendations. There is certainly no passion demonstrated or doing anything above the contract.
We cant afford year after year increases, real no other way
The problem is not paying the teachers, the problem is that our Board of Ed treats the teacher salaries as a lower priority. We should pay talent and retain talent. That is the heart of any great business, especially educational businesses.
The start of the solution is getting rid of the 35 people in that building on Franklin Ave. We have far too many administrators each of whom just creates the need for more administration, more secretaries and keep teachers from teaching kids. If the kids in Orchard and Somerville learn a little bit different stuff in math–WHO CARES? It will work out. They will be close enough by the time they get to HS. Use a simple curriculum outline and let the teachers teach.
Also, its enough with the bells and whistles. Make a decision about whether you want new text books or lap tops. You can read on a computer so you really should pick one or the other. Use the laptop and an older text book. They will get what they need.
We dont need rock climbing walls and the insurance that goes with them. Let them play dodge ball. What about considering the real costs of having Football–insurance, equipment, staff, etc. Get rid of the fat and focus on the mission of educating kids. To me it is simple, pay the teachers and let them teach.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Board of Education rejects state-appointed fact finder’s recommendations for a new teachers’ contract. The BOE’s rejection sends contract negotiations, at an impasse since July 2015, back to Square One.
As we have said for some time the gravely train for public employees has come to an end and proof postive is the BOE’s rejection of the compromise .The public is just not buying paying more for healthcare for teachers than for themselves and teacher union support for “Obamacare” has left many taxpayers to feel if it good enough for us its good enough for you.
However teacher advocates in town say , that the “BOE rejected third party, neutral, unbiased fact finder recommendations and refused to settle. REA was willing to compromise on several major issues and settle the contract. Teachers have been working without a contract for a full year and still performed all of their contractual duties.”
While other readers are glad the BOE is taking a stand , “God forbid you don’t agree with the teachers’ demands. I hope the BOE takes a tough position. Agree that with the schools’ ratings sliding downwards and raises should be performance based. As for the healthcare plans – why would you think you are entitled to a better plan than the taxpayers who pay for yours? The teachers obviously do not care about the children or their profession as much as they care about the almighty dollar. They need to work a little harder and bring the school ratings up before any increases and either contribute more towards their medical insurance or agree to a less expensive plan. Yes, that means $25 co-pays and higher deductibles”
While BOE members have taken the heat say one reader , “The withering and abusive “behind the scenes” attacks on our elected BOE officials should be an embarrassment to all teachers. Why should teachers get better health benefits than the taxpayers who help subsidize them? Surely some of the things these teachers and the REA have pulled are cause for dismissals? Why not bring in some younger teachers who actually want to work with our kids and would be thrilled to teach here?”
Thank you tonight BOE, for supporting Ridgewood properly. Not easy with all these teachers barking at you. The unions need to all be abolished. There was a time and place for these in the early nineteen hundreds. The kids are the real losers here. How can we have fair negotiations if every time it does not go their way. The sick outs start, the field trips are without teachers, and now after school clubs are being cancelled. So one sided and unfair. Shame on the teachers and their unions not the BOE. Some women had the nerve to say we will pay more taxes for these teachers…she is a party of one…even her husband won’t support that! Chuck talking about the bottom half of the county per student? Why weren’t you talking about your second shore home? That you are able to buy because of Cadillac healthcare and pensions we provide? Maybe it’s time for the truly aging overpaid teachers to go? Unions won’t allow it, That’s discrimination, etc. The fact is our teachers are paid fairly and must now use some of this pay to cover more healthcare. Same as everyone else. No one likes it but it has to be done. Healthcare is going to be the death of us all. Fact, I’d pay for the teachers healthcare premiums now if we could…my family now pays 20,000 per year, plus deductibles and $45 co-pays. Wake up teachers and know the facts not what the unions feed you. Enjoy your summer off, we”l be working to pay our very high taxes for you!
Wake up teachers and your rotten unions. Time to pay more and your fair share. That is the real need here. You Gimme, Gimme, Gimmes are wrong and this why the intelligent BOE is right. Thank you BOE for doing your jobs and not rubber stamping these unreasonable demands. The parents and students should wake up and know these facts. When these reasons are known by all, the educated will support the students and the BOE. The upcoming meeting at BF will have bus loads of teachers wearing RED. While the BOE, Tax Payers should be SEEING RED! Enough is enogh, stop kicking the unions can and caving in. All contracts are shoot high and hope to reach a middle ground. No, not any more. Thank you to all o0n the BOE for standing up for us and the students. The teachers have ruined this year for all our students and we can’t get that back. Shame on the unions more than the lemming teachers. Not to be mean but to bring up an old statement. Those who can’t do teach….I’d like to add those who can’t negotiate for themselves stand behind their cowardly oh so powerful Unions…ugh, makes me sick
BOE Meets on June 6 at 7:30 p.m. at BFMS Auditorium
June 5,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold a Regular Public Meeting on Monday, June 6, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
The Regular Public Meeting, originally scheduled to be held in the Board Room at the Education Center, will begin at 7:30 p.m., in the Auditorium at Benjamin Franklin Middle School. Action will be taken at this meeting.
The public is invited to attend the meeting at BFMS or view it live via the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us using the the “Live BOE Meeting” tab on the district website.
Click here to view the agenda for the June 6, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to view the 2016-2017 Budget presented at the May 2, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to view the Full Day Kindergarten Recommendation presented to the Board at their March 7, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to view the backup for the Ridgewood Board of Education’s Fact-Finding Presentation with The Ridgewood Education Association.
Ridgewood NJ, In recent days there have been many heated arguments on social media in regards to the lack of a teacher contract. We parents have been accused of not reacting sooner to the stalled contract negotiations. We have placed our faith in the elected officials of the Board of Education (BOE). The BOE officials are educated professionals who are expected to formulate opinions and make decisions regarding contract negotiations. They have access to information which is readily available. As parents our days are filled with work, sports and other activities. We don’t have the time to research and review this information ourselves.
The teachers think we ignore their protests. We witness their protests but we choose to ignore them because their actions are offensive. With every protest our indignation grows: with every field trip the teachers have elected to miss, with the Halloween parade where the chosen costume was a red shirt, with all the school events where the teachers were absent, with the recommendation letters the teachers have either refused to write or have written the bare minimum , with all the mornings we have watched the teachers stand outside the school and march in together, with every mass exodus at the end of the day and with the countless other signs we noticed.
Now they are threatening to take our clubs away from our children. They want us to react and so we will. We will educate ourselves so that we as parents can make a decision. The following facts collected from public sources should help us parents better understand the issues behind the contract negotiations:
It is being said that by not giving the teachers what they want, we will force them to retire and we will lose good teachers. It seems that some of the teachers who are paid well are very vocal yet they are the ones pushing the median up. It also implies that the young teachers are not as good as the older ones because if the seasoned teachers leave we will be left with poor educators.
When compared to the private sector, the teachers’ salaries are competitive.
The private sector has a 40-hour work week for 48 weeks. Teachers work 37.5 hours 37.5 weeks a year.
The teachers are guaranteed some type of a raise. Private sector positions have received few to no raises over the past several years.
The argument that the raises don’t cover the increase the teachers have to contribute into health care is the same across all industries.
Private sector positions are paying the same if not more into their healthcare and get fewer benefits.
Teachers have a union that they pay $840 a year to fight for them.
https://www.njea.org/members/about-membership/njea%20membership%20categories
If the private sector employee is not in agreement with what they are receiving, they have to accept it or move on.
With all of this being said, we try to raise our children by example. There are many good teachers in this community. We want to support our teachers. We all want what is fair, but the arguments that they are not treated fairly and are overworked and underpaid are no longer valid.
Many of these teachers are our friends and neighbors. As parents we should be able to express our opinions. The reason many people are afraid to speak up is due to the fact that we are put down and made to feel that our jobs are less important than that of a teacher’s. Just because we entrust you with our children does not mean that you should be treated any better than the rest of us.
We try to teach our children by example. What example are you teaching them- that if I don’t get what I want, I will make sure I will use all my sick days; that if I don’t get paid to start work until a certain time, I will stand outside until I am required to enter the building. The fact is that we will be sending our children into the world soon. Our children will not survive in the private sector if they choose to follow the example set by their teachers.
Shame on you teachers for saying that you care about our children because if you did, you would have attended the field trips, you would have incorporated your red shirts into Halloween costumes, you would have put effort into the letters of recommendation and you would have continued to do what make you happy- teach. Your recent actions, however, say otherwise.
To the parents- please read the information provided. The teachers will get a contract, they will get their raises, they will contribute to their health care and we will all be back in the same situation in three years.
Ridgewood NJ, After a long, drawn-out negotiations process between the village’s Board of Education (BOE) and the Ridgewood Education Association (REA) Ridgewood teachers may finally have a contract.
Ridgewood teachers have been working without a contract since June of 2015.The major hang up of the often heated discussions have been the teachers’ primary demand to reduce their healthcare premium contributions and the BOE’s reluctance to do so.
Joel M. Weisblatt, the state-appointed fact-finder, released his recommendations for an agreement between the sides on the evening of May 31.
The Ridgewood news is reporting that REA President Mike Yannone has told told them that his organization has accepted the recommendations of the fact-finder for a settlement, the BOE has not responded yet.
The Fact finder found :”The amount that teachers contribute to healthcare premiums will remain the same. Weisblatt explained there is an “absence of sufficient evidence” regarding the need to change the current structure, though he did recommend that teachers and secretaries who remain at the “top step” of the contribution level receive some compensation to defray the costs.”
For it’s part the BOE will discuss the report and recommendations at their Monday, June 6 board meeting. The members will then vote on whether to accept the recommendations or not.
“In accordance with New Jersey P.L. 2003, c. 126, the Board has made the May 16th Fact-finding Report and Recommendations public and has posted it to the District’s website. At the June 6th Board of Education Public Meeting, the Board will discuss the report and the recommendations. The Board will accept or reject the Fact-finder’s recommendations at that time. Click here to read the Fact Finders Report and Recommendations dated May 16, 2016..”
BOE Meets on June 6 at 7:30 p.m. at BFMS Auditorium
The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold a Regular Public Meeting on Monday, June 6, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
The Regular Public Meeting, originally scheduled to be held in the Board Room at the Education Center, will begin at 7:30 p.m., in the Auditorium at Benjamin Franklin Middle School. Action will be taken at this meeting.
The public is invited to attend the meeting at BFMS or view it live via the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us using the the “Live BOE Meeting” tab on the district website.
Click here to view the agenda and addendum for the May 16, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to view the minutes of the May 2, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to view the 2016-2017 Budget presented at the May 2, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to view the Full Day Kindergarten Recommendation presented to the Board at their March 7, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Gov. Chris Christie championed his message that charters schools are a boon to urban communities across the state during a visit to Village Charter School in Trenton Wednesday. Greg Wright, NJ.com Read more
Village Asks Parents and Guardians to Take Safe Routes Survey
June 2,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Public Schools is assisting the Village of Ridgewood in distributing a survey on safe routes to school. The data collected will assist the Village in creating safer walking and biking conditions in the Village.
Parents and guardians are asked to take the time to complete this brief, three-minute survey that was created by the New Jersey Department of Transportation. Here is a link to the survey, which is open until Friday, June 24: https://tinyurl.com/RidgewoodSurvey
