the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood school teachers have a median income of $90,735 which is the 17th highest in the state . Yet according to comments on a recent Ridgewood blog post, “Observations about the Ridgewood Infant Toddler Daycare Center (ITDC) controversy” many Ridgewood teachers feel very entitled to subsidized daycare in Ridgewood.
One reader chimed in , “This whole thing makes no sense. We are not a big corporation who offers subsidized day care to its employees. We are a village with a very expensive school system that covers 13 years, K-12. We pay our teachers well, and deservedly so. But we have no business subsidizing a losing-money day care for a few teachers (almost half of whom do not even pay Ridgewood taxes). This is a hard NO. There are many daycares around for families to choose from. If the RFP produces a good bidder, then there will still be one at Glen School. But financial shortfalls (if they should occur) will no longer be on the backs of the taxpayers”
While other silly commenters resorted to pulling the race care ,“In addition to several false claims, to advocate for the closing of a childcare center is selfish in any situation. But to do so during a pandemic is heartless and evil. Those healthcare providers and teachers are essential workers who put themselves in harms way during a pandemic and now you want them out of a job? If you
move to Ridgewood, you are fully aware of the high taxes that go to education in the town. Not wanting to pay now is a disgrace to the community. Early child development is essential to education. Quality childcare leads to strong students in the K-12 years. Your comments about out of towners and hard earned dollars screams notes of insularity and white privilege. What have you done to help out during this pandemic? If nothing, well the least one can ask is do no harm.”
This rings particularly hollow when the two non white Ridgewood Board of Education members were the focus of bigoted protests when they dared not “know their place” and asked questions as to the financing of the Ridgewood Infant Toddler Daycare Center.
Other commenters play the “anti education card” which is used anytime anyone questions anything that goes on in public education , “In Response to Anonymous Comment #12, I wrote that discounted daycare is a benefit offered to K-12 teachers in Ridgewood. If that is not the case, please set the record straight. The use of pejorative language to guess at my occupation and malign educators does nothing to advance the cause of privatizing the ITDC. In fact, Anonymous Commenter #12 shows a disdain for the field of education which Board members were elected to maintain at the highest standards. Access to affordable daycare is an attractive benefit in any field aiming to attract and maintain top talent. No, I am not a teacher in the Ridgewood school system nor am I a parent with a child in daycare. I am a proud graduate of Ridge School, GW, and RHS disheartened by the tenor of the discourse surrounding the education of our youth, including those not yet in the K-12 system. I was also compelled to respond to the original post because the argument is so unconvincing. Stating that the ITDC is losing money “every year” is inaccurate and pointing specifically to the shortfall “this year alone….” would be comical if the writer weren’t deadly serious. Hopefully, Ridgewood residents/blog readers/voters are more savvy to the pandemic realities affecting costs and revenue .”
And finally one commentator sums the whole issue up in a nutshell ,”This is not a benefit offered to the Ridgewood school teachers. It is a daycare center that some teachers use. And apparently the tuition is so low, that there are budget shortfalls in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. So instead of increasing the tuition for those parents, the board of bed fills the gap. This is wrong. Teachers are not promised this as a benefit, nor should they be.”
Bravo James, right on point. Let someone else run the daycare business
Is it true that some of the out of town children of a former Ridgewood Board of Education trustee have sent letters and made social media posts in support of keeping the ITDC as is? Why are they involved? Did their parent enlist their support? And why is he/she involved?
BOE budget is out of control. Thank you Ms. Kwak and Mr. Dani for identifying an opportunity for property tax relief.
The ITDC adds no educational value whatsoever to the school system. It’s a perk for teachers and other school district employees. RFP is the way to go. No need for the district itself to run it. No need at all.
Its OK.
Were RICH and STUPID
…and they know it.
Nothing will change.
Do regular Joes who live in town get to use the ITDC? Or do they just subsidize the teachers who use it?
My kids all went to ITDC. They loved it, we loved it, it’s a great program. We paid tuition for the privilege.
My uneducated opinion on the situation is that since its part of the Ridgewood system, it’s subject to the New Jersey Union/Corruption Tax, so no level of tuition payments will make their books whole. Finding another operator may be the only way, and that would be a shame, because the people there are simply great…we would hate to see the program die.
There’s very clearly a hidden agenda here. One of the regular board meeting callers who whines that the ITDC is unsafe and unclean (which is ridiculous) has ties to the other nursery School that used to be housed at the Glen School. That nursery School was pushed out of the building when the board run programs expanded and the people associated feel that ITDC should have been displaced instead. They’re clearly holding some sort of grudge and decided to call up every board meeting trying to get ITDC shut down. Don’t be surprised when that daycare submits a proposal to run ITDC which no doubt will be the one that the Board pushes to approve.
No, it’s very difficult for a Regular Joe who lives in town to get a spot at ITDC. My kids were on a waiting list from the time they were 8 months old until the entered kindergarten (total span of time was about 7 years . . . . in 7 years, they never had a spot for any of my kids).
I truly believe a school district should not be competing with other businesses. That’s kind of a basic premise of government. RPS has no business being in the business of day care . If they must exist, ITDC should be limited to RPS employees who cover the entire cost of the the entire cost of the program without taxpayer funding. Have some sort of use yearly assessment so if there is a shortfall, they take it from that assessment. And use that assessment to supplement capital improvements.