Ridgewood teachers are some of the highest paid in the entire State. We all want raises and better health care from our employers but most of us are just happy to have a job now. In fact if anyone I know behaved the way these protesting teachers have been they would be fired. The teachers don’t seem to understand that things are not great for a lot of people since the recession and recovery has been slow. Those who enjoy the security of tenure, and automatic raises can’t seem to grasp what is going on for so many of us struggling to pay our taxes. Hold the line BOE. Teachers unhappy with their jobs in our school system should look elsewhere. We don’t need malcontents in our classrooms and there are a lot of people who would be very happy to have their jobs..
RIDGEWOOD — A state-appointed super conciliator will try this month to settle a labor dispute between the Board of Education and the district teachers’ union that’s left teachers working without a contract for more than a year.
There have been a number of disagreements throughout the 18 months of negotiations. But arguments over salaries, proposed changes to the union’s insurance plan and how much Ridgewood Education Association members must contribute to their health-insurance premiums have created deep rifts that two previous state mediators were unable to patch.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold a Regular Public Meeting on Monday, July 18, 2016 at 5 p.m.The meeting will be held in the Board Room at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place. The public is invited to attend the meeting or view it live via the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us using the “Live BOE Meeting” tab on the district website, or on Fios tv channel 33 or Optimum 77.
Click here to view the agenda and addendum for the June 28, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to view the minutes of 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.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police report that Ridgewood High School was the target of vandalism. The Ridgewood Board of Education reported criminal mischief at the Ridgewood High School occurred over the weekend. A rock was thrown through a window causing property damage.
All actors are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law
Readers say……..Not sure why the teachers seem to confuse a “tradition of excellence” with they, themselves, being excellent? The decline in our schools suggests they are, in fact, not continuing with the tradition… And health benefits and above property tax wage increases seem to be taken for granted. Offer them a diminished contract and if they don’t like it, they are fee to seek employment with another school board or in the private sector. If the grass is greener, walk!
Are we all aware of the actions the teachers are taking. They are so unprofessional and demonstrate a total lack of excellence and just no passion at all for the kids. They wait outside te high school as a group until the last minute required for school start, they lock the classroom doors during down time as not to be bothered to help a kid who may need it. They will not attend a single function, award presentation, and in many cases do not offer to help write a recommendation letter or even some guidance. Teachers that do offer to support anything outside what is in the contract are threatened and hassled by other teachers.
These are not good people, they do not care about the kids, and they are taking advantage of this town who values eduction. No one is getting 3% raised a year, everyone is paying more for healthcare, and very few only work 180 days a year.
Fire a few, I will take the job, after 40 years in corporate companies I could,use the relaxed job
If the teachers do not like the way they are being treated by the RW BOE then they can leave and go to another district (i hear patterson has openings)
…but wait… they’d have to give up the nice working environment, the great pay and benefits, the safe environment, the interesting and dedicated students and parents and much, much more. But most importantly, they’d have to give up tenure— the guarantee of employment — where they have the OPTION of working hard or hardly working at all and still get the same pay as their peers with no risk of getting fired.
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.The RW teachers KNOW what a great deal they have and are just greedy and have no real conviction of their stated beliefs – otherwise they would leave this “horrible” situation and get a “better” job elsewhere where they are “appreciated” and “paid what they deserve”.
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DO IT FER DA KIDZ… WE LOVE YER KIDZ…
Ridgewood NJ, One had to read a summary of the ‘Fact finder’s’ recommendation (link below) to figure out how utterly insane it is!
• Salary increases of:
• 2.2% for July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016 (retroactive)
• 2.8% for July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017
• 2.8% for July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018
• No change in the current healthcare insurance plan.
• No change in employee contributions to healthcare insurance premiums.
• The highest paid teachers and secretaries receive additional payments.
RETROACTIVE salary increases? NO change in health insurance Cadillac plan? I definitely want some of whatever the teachers are ingesting.
BOE Meets on June 28 at 5 p.m.: Please note change of date, time.
June 27,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold a Regular Public Meeting on Tuesday, June 28, 2016 at 5 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Board Room at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place. The public is invited to attend the meeting or view it live via the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us using the “Live BOE Meeting” tab on the district website, or on Fios tv channel 33 or Optimum 77.
Click here to view the agenda for the June 28, 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.
BOE-REA Negotiations
Click here to view the powerpoint presentation regarding the Fact Finder’s report and recommendations, presented at the June 6, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.Clickhere to view the presentation by Ms. Brogan and Mr. Morgan.
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.
That is how the real world works! The taxpayers are irritated because our district is one of the highest paying in the entire state and the quality of education is lagging – what happened to the Tradition of Excellence? The entire system of education needs to be revisited. Tenure should be abolished although nepotism will still cause problems just as it does in the private sector. Angry masses, as you refer to the taxpayers, simply want value for their tax dollars and are tired of demands by public servants for better benefits and salary increases than what is acceptable in the real world. I am starting to believe educators live in a protective bubble. You chose the teaching profession, hopefully out of a love of learning and children knowing that you could earn a decent living but not get rich. If money was your main motivation you should have considered a different path. Nurses, para-professionals, retail managers with the same level of education do not earn as much as teachers and do not enjoy the generous benefits including time off and generous pensions. Don’t tell me those professions don’t work as hard as you. You are not as special as you think.
Residents of Ridgewood , for the past 4 years I’ve proposed an amendment to our State’s constitution to end the patently unfair school funding formula. Under a new school funding plan which follows my proposal, the average home in Ramsey would see a reduction in property taxes of $2,411 per year. Call your Mayor, Council and Board of Education. Tell them to support the Fairness Formula! We can’t afford not to.
Join The Movement
The Fairness Formula: Equal Funding for Every Child, Our Path to Lower Property Taxes
Join Governor Christie’s Fairness Formula solution to New Jersey’s two most pressing crises that are hurting all New Jerseyans: the failure of urban education and property taxes. The Governor’s monumental Fairness Formula will provide equal education funding for every pupil throughout the state, valuing every child equally.
75% of all New Jersey districts would get more state aid than they do today. The biggest driver of New Jersey’s nation-high property taxes is the ineffective and unfair state school funding formula. The Fairness Formula will not only be equal for students it may also provide hundreds or even thousands of dollars in annual property tax savings for New Jerseyans in most communities. Join the movement today to being your path to lower property taxes.
JOIN THE MOVEMENT: It’s time for your voices to be heard. It’s time for the people to take back control of this issue and apply common sense to it. Sign up to join the movement and begin your path to lower property taxes.
For every resident of Bergen County, this is the MOST IMPORTANT issue that directly impacts your property taxes. Bergen County residents on average contribute the MOST money to the State of New Jersey and receive the least school aid in the State. Under the Governor’s proposal, the average school district in Bergen County would see an increase in school aid from the State of over 1000%. Every representative from Bergen County who cares about his or her residents needs to support this proposal. Real numbers of increased aid would be:
BOE has not made an offer.. on the contrary;
The Ridgewood Board of Education has refused to meet with the new state appointed Super Conciliator assigned to mediate the contract impasse.
The REA and BOE were recently assigned a state appointed Super Conciliator. This past Tuesday he offered three available dates of June 21, June 23, and June 27. The REA quickly informed the Super Conciliator and the BOE that they would make themselves available all three dates.
On Thursday, the BOE’s attorney sent an email to the Super Conciliator requesting dates after July 6 due an upcoming meeting of the SEHBP Commission where 2017 premium rate increases will be discussed. They also “heard” that the elimination of Direct 10 is an anticipated topic of discussion for the same meeting. They feel that both issues are key to resolving the current impasse.
#1. The commission doesn’t have the ability to eliminate a plan. That is done by the SEHBP design team which is not meeting until the Fall. Is it the Board’s intention to keep delaying negotiating until after the start of the new school year?
#2. Rates discussed will be recommendations and probably will not be adopted until another meeting later in the summer or closer to the Fall. Those are the rates which would be implemented on January 1, 2017.
REMINDER: The Fact Finder’s report had no change in healthcare plan and took into consideration the BOE’s projected premium increases which they budgeted at 10%. The Fact Finder’s report proved they could keep status quo health plan and settle this contract while balancing their budget under the 2% cap – without any additional increase in taxes. This upcoming meeting has no bearing on the Fact Finder’s recommendations which is the basis of the next round of mediation
#4. Delaying the process creates concern for finding availability of dates from the Super Conciliator that will work when trying to coordinate vacation and summer work schedules.
The BOE informed the public at their last meeting that they were willing to meet anytime with the REA to work towards settling this contract. Apparently that simply was not true. There is now an opportunity to meet with the new state appointed mediator as early as next week. Their refusal to meet is further indication of their lack of desire to settle a contract.
BOE Meets on June 27 at 6:30 p.m.
The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold a Regular Public Meeting on Monday, June 27, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Board Room at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place. The public is invited to attend the meeting or view it live via the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us using the “Live BOE Meeting” tab on the district website, or on Fios tv channel 33 or Optimum 77.
Click here to view the agenda for the June 6, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to view the minutes of the May 16, 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.
BOE-REA Negotiations
Click here to view the powerpoint presentation regarding the Fact Finder’s report and recommendations, presented at the June 6, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.Clickhere to view the presentation by Ms. Brogan and Mr. Morgan.
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.
Click here to read a Letter to the Editor of The Ridgewood News, published on April 8, 2016.
Click here to view the Ridgewood Board of Education’s Post Hearing Fact Finding Brief and attachments.
Click here to view an analysis of “Unused Funds’ identified by the REA during Fact Finding Proceedings, presented at the March 7, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to read a Letter to the Editor of The Ridgewood News, which appeared in the paper on March 4, 2016.
Click here to read the Ridgewood Board of Education’s Fact-Finding Presentation with The Ridgewood Education Association.
Click here to view the backup for the Ridgewood Board of Education’s Fact-Finding Presentation with The Ridgewood Education Association.
I am not a Christie fan but I will give him credit for trying to reel in the unsustainable pension and medical benefits public employees receive. it has to change. I don’t think it is right that money was diverted from the teacher’s pension fund starting with Christie Whitman and that has to be repaid. For heaven’s sake, it is time to freeze pensions and move onto 401K style plans and keep medical costs in line with what private sector receives. Long gone are the days when public employee salaries were lower than the private sector so delayed remuneration in the form of pensions, etc. made up the difference. As for Ridgewood’s current travesty with the NJEA and our BOE – I’m just sick. I wish all these complaining teachers could be replaced. And, yes, I’m one of those who wears the cloak of anonymity because I have kids in school and I know the teachers retaliate. Many are not as dedicated to their students and the field of education as they profess.
Average private sector wage increases for 2015 were above 3%. Pay raises for people with college degrees are fairing even better than that. Are there people who aren’t seeing wage increases? Yes. But perhaps that says something about the person or the job rather than the economy. Teachers have been taking home less money each year for a number of years. Teachers will never get bonuses, no matter how good the economy gets. Teachers will never get company cars, club memberships, or any other perks that are seen in the private sector. Teachers will NEVER get anything more than a mediocre pay raise because of the 2% cap. So when teachers fight for the scraps from the table it shouldn’t be a surprise.
Do you really want to devalue the profession to the point that nobody will ever want to be a teacher? There is already a teacher shortage, which will only get worse.
But keep up with the lies about teachers who don’t care. Teachers who earn $200,000 a year. Teachers who won’t write recommendations. Teachers who only work 181 days a year. Teachers who only care about taking from taxpayers while doing nothing. Keep up with these lies and tell the potential future teachers that it is not the best career path. Why would anyone subject themselves to such outright lies and hatred?
Reader responds …..What planet are you on???? Private sector wage increases above 3%??? Please provide your source because no one I know got more 3%. I got 1.5% after 4 years of 0%. My wife got 2% after getting .5% last year and 0% fand additional 4 years. Really, name your source. Everyone is taking home less and bonuses have shrunken. There are no company car, club memberships, expensive meals, expense accounts, perks. Keep lying dear teacher. There is no teacher shortage in Ridgewood; I can assure you that you can be replaced on a moments notice.
Perks? I guess if you define 12-14 hour days 12 months a year, putting hours on the weekend, long commutes, conference calls with other parts of the world at 2am, being “penalized for taking sick or personal time, skyhigh contributions to marginal healthcare perks, then I am lucky.
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.
