>Tired of TERC? Annoyed by the appointment of a high priced out-of-town superintendent? Disgusted by a decaying high school? Mad about mold? Appalled by atrocious athletic fields? Tapped out from high property taxes? Well neighbor, why not organize a BOE recall election and vote the bums out?
Despite the appeal of an instant house cleaning, it would not be an easy task to get rid of Mr. Bombace and his merry crew. In order for a recall election to take place, 25 percent of the registered voters in Ridgewood would need to sign a recall election petition.
Currently, there are approximately 15,000 registered voters in the Village. So, you’d need 3,800 valid signatures on a petition (figure 5,000 just to be safe, because some people who aren’t registered voters will wind up signing). Remember, only 2,669 voters turned out for the most recent BOE election; almost double that number of signatures would be required on the petition for a recall election.
During a recall election, taxpayers could opt to vote Bombace & Company out of office, or re-elect them all. Thus, you’d need to have a slate of five running against them. Let’s not forget that this year’s BOE election was uncontested. That is, there may not be five other individuals willing to serve on the BOE.
So who’s ready to step up to the plate and get this project underway?
>I may be mistaken, but I believe it is 25% of the number of voters who voted in the last general election. Since Ridgewood had between 7,000 and 8,000 voters who voted that would mean the number of signatures would be less.
>Well PJ, host the petition on your website and let the fun begin.
I think it’s a great idea!!!
Remember to sign both, the Math and the Recall petition so we toss out all the bad stuff at once.
>Lets think.
Shelia has been there the longest. Maybe target her first. I mean her glowing introduction of Brooks had the folks in the back of the Board of Ed room laughing – if he was all that she said why would his last district ever let him go – and for a pay cut and longer commute no less.
Maybe cut off the head as the tail follows. So maybe target Bombace. This has all occurred under his leadership, correct?
Vallerini? I mean his own place of employement does not have TERC and he’s working with the GIFTED. If TERC isn’t good enough for his GIFTED why should he believe it to be good enough for us? Hey JV does Hawthorne use TERC? What about CMP2?
>$82 million – what does it get you?
In grammar school it can get you an insistence that you drug your child to make them fade into the woodwork.
In middle school it can get you many meetings with “guidance” and teachers. Meetings with plans that are immediately forgotten once everyone leaves the room.
In high school is when they completely ignore your child, who has given every sign of drowning at sea. They blame the child. Not once will they ever have the child evaluated or develop a plan for his or her success. Their only plan is to ship the kid off of the property and off of their NCLB accountability.
You might get some help if someone else is paying for it. You start by signing over your child to the school as a ward of the school. Your parental rights are void. The school says that they will never exercise their rights as foster parent but believe me they do take you to court. Or you have to take them to court, I should say. The cost burden was just recently alleviated somewhat by the Supreme Court which ruled that parents do not have to hire an attorney but I’m sure that judges will frown on it to the point of immobilzing any proceedings which would favor the professional litigator anyway.
Any parent reading this who has a child who is not classified and needs help at RHS knows exactly what I’m writing about. They only thing they get from RHS is for letters from the delusional “Vice-Principal” about how terrible their child is doing and that maybe they should think about putting their child in another school.
What do you get for $82 mil?
GRIEF AND CONDESCENTION
>Ridgewood had between 7,000 and 8,000 voters who voted ,,, i wish try 3000 voters
>In four years, my child has never had a problem getting help at RHS. I have worked with the vice principal (not delusional at all), individual teachers, guidance counselor, and grade administrator. My questions have been answered and my child has been treated with compassion and intelligence. It has not been easy all the time — for my child, for me or for the school folks. But I just wanted you to know that sometimes (often) the system works.
>Some folks are missing the point. I generally agree with 11:06 above. I think the vast majority of teachers and administrators in the RW district are all of the things mentioned. There are a few slackards, but take a look at the folks in your company or organization and you’ll find similar ratios of competents to incompetents.
My beef is with the Board members, but not on a personal level. It’s how they address challenges, areas of concern and simply day-to-day decisions. There doesn’t seem to any effort for discussion on any significant issue. The superintendent makes a recommendation, supports it with evidence and testimony from his direct reports (If you work for the Super, will you dispute his intent?) and then presents it to the elected Board members. The Board does not want to dispute the findings of the education professionals and the measure goes through virtually without challenge. Comments from the public are for the most part ignored and brushed off. There is never a dialogue with the public as in “You know, that’s a great point and I really will look into it further before I cast my vote.” That never happens. Look at the major decisions that we know about: The busing mess. The soccer mess. The TERC mess. The fields mess–except for a ludicrous compromise that involved lights, noise, but worsened the usage problem. The BoE is supposed to represent the voice of the constituency and it does not. The members merely validate the wishes of the paid educational bureaucracy. The BoE must protect the pubic from the bureaucrats, not sleep in the same bed. Wake up BoE!!!
>Obvously, I meant “public” not “pubic.”
>I am curious, based on Ridgewood election rules? Can you put on the ballot a referendum to remove TERC and its associated programs from the schools? What about other changes?