The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Trenton NJ, the impact of the pandemic on education is becoming clearer with news the average ACT test score sunk to its lowest point in 30 years, and Senator Joe Pennacchio today said botched government policy is largely to blame.
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Trenton NJ, Governor Murphy policies of limiting school choice have made New Jersey the 10th worst state for racial equality in education. With predominantly “non-white” school districts receiving $23 billion less funding per year than predominantly “white districts”, WalletHub today released its report on the Best States for Racial Equality in Education.
Continue reading New Jersey Flunks Racial Equality in Education
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Trenton NJ, once again the Murphy administration called out for disadvantaging working families and low income parents. Center For Education Reform drops New Jersey from C to D . According to CER the Garden State’s political leadership needs to be badly weeded. The Murphy Administration has been arbitrarily rejecting expansion of successful charter schools with waiting lists as well as the opening of new schools to serve more students. While New Jersey has always been strong in having higher than average teacher standards, today’s leaders seem to be stuck in a great big pothole on the NJ Turnpike, unable to grasp that parents need more exits.
Continue reading Center For Education Reform Blasts Murphy Administration Charter School Failures
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Ridgewood NJ, while the Murphy Administration continues to backpedal on creepy the “Sex Ed” curriculum Dr. Gorman continued to promote for Ridgewood Schools at Monday night Ridgewood Board of Education Meeting :
Continue reading Creepy the “Sex Ed” curriculum Coming to a Ridgewood School Near You
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Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Board of Education meets on April 25, 2022 at 6:00 PM for an Executive Session and 7:00 PM for a Regular Public Meeting at the Education Center.
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Trenton NJ, State Senator Holly Schepisi poked fun at the Trenton Political establishment for suddenly pretending they had no idea how creepy the “sex ed” ie …child grooming public education curriculum was .
Continue reading Murphy Administration Continues to Backpedal on Creepy the “Sex Ed” Curriculum
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Ridgewood NJ, public school second graders will be getting lessons related to gender identity this fall under New Jersey sex education guidelines that will take effect in September.
Pink, Blue and Purple : A Lesson Plan from Rights, Respect, Responsibility: A K-12 Curriculum. Fostering responsibility by respecting young people’s rights to honest sexuality education
Continue reading Gender Studies Heading for Ridgewood in September
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Hamilton NJ, over the last month, the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association (NJPCSA) launched the most extensive paid and earned media campaign in its history to call upon the Governor to reverse his Department of Education’s charter school expansion denials. Parents, lawmakers, leaders and community members responded in unprecedented numbers.
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Trenton NJ, in a change of policy Governor Phil Murphy has decided School Districts that cannot meet state Department of Education standards will have the option of going completely remote. The governor’s decision largely leaves the issue in the hands of local districts as New Jersey continues to grapple with the COVID-19 crisis.
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Ridgewood NJ, at the Ridgewood Board of Education meeting on Monday , Ms. Poelstra the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum first shared the proposed Return to School Plan at a Special Public Meeting on Thursday, July 23. She repeated the presented at the July 17 Regular Public Meeting, as originally scheduled. At the start of the presentation, Ms. Poelstra shared data about the severity of the pandemic in New Jersey and how the actions we have taken have helped to mitigate the spread of the virus. She then reviewed the timeline from the mandatory emergency school closing on March 13 through July 31 when the district reopening plan is due to the County for review and approval. In May and June, administrative subcommittees were created to begin to think about what the district would need to do to transition back to school. The New Jersey Department of Education released The Road Back: Restart and Recovery Plan for Education on June 26. Since that time, the district started to develop its plans based on the guidance. This process involved administering staff and parent surveys, holding subcommittee meetings, attending NJDOE/Legal One webinars, collaborating with neighboring districts, and organizing comprehensive professional development for teachers over the summer. Last Friday, Governor Murphy announced that families will be allowed to choose an all-remote option, which is another challenge facing school districts. A few days ago, the deadline for the submission of the reopening plan was changed from July 27 to July 31. We still not have a checklist or template from the NJDOE about what needs to be included in the plan, yet districts are required to share our schedules with all stakeholders four weeks before the opening of school. This timeline reflects the rapidly changing situation, and we must be flexible and adaptable. Our goal is to have an education plan in place that allows our students to continue to learn while meeting the required health and safety standards.
Continue reading Ridgewood Board of Education Focuses on Getting Back to School
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Ridgewood NJ, As the US school year rapidly approaches, federal, state, and local government officials are working to develop and implement plans to resume classes. Proposals range from full-time, in-person classes to online/remote classes only, including a myriad of hybrid options in between. Much of the uncertainty and debate revolves around the direct risk to children and the role they play in community transmission. It is generally understood that children are at lower risk for severe COVID-19 disease and death than adults—although, certainly not zero risk—but it is much less clear how easily children transmit the infection to others, including adults or other high-risk individuals at home or in the community.
Continue reading Parents Weigh Return to In Person Classes , Remote Learning and Home Schooling
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Ridgewood NJ, In his State of the Union remarks, President Donald Trump expressed his desire to expand school choice options for all American children.”No parent should be forced to send their child to a failing government school,” he said.
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Ridgewood NJ, according to the NJ Department Of Education due to continued school closures, the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) is cancelling all statewide student assessments for the spring 2020 testing window. This includes the springtime administration of the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA), ACCESS for ELLs, and the Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) assessment. The NJDOE has been granted a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) to forego federally mandated statewide testing, accountability, and reporting requirements for this school year. The NJDOE is working to address the impact of canceling assessments on other aspects of education, including educator evaluations and school and district accountability. The cancellation of statewide assessments will not prevent students from meeting their graduation assessment requirements.
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Ridgewood NJ, The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) this week announced that it has issued guidance to school districts related to the current outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
While the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in New Jersey remains low, the NJDOE has issued guidance to increase flexibility for districts to provide home instruction in the event of mandated public health school closures related to COVID-19. Home instruction may include online instruction or through a contract with a neighboring school district.
Continue reading NJ Department of Education Issues Guidance for School Districts on COVID-19
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Ridgewood NJ, As another academic year begins throughout New Jersey, recognizing and reporting school-related threats remains of critical importance to the safety of students, faculty, and parents. NJOHSP and the New Jersey Department of Education recently sent a letter to administrators urging them to emphasize the seriousness of school-related threats and the concerns and consequences surrounding them. Recent mass shootings over the summer in Gilroy, California; El Paso, Texas; and Dayton, Ohio; coupled with the aftermath of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018, are unfortunate reminders that schools must remain vigilant in reporting suspicious activity.
Once reported, this information is immediately shared among local, county, State, and federal authorities. The statewide information-sharing process through the New Jersey Suspicious Activity Reporting System allowed for an in-depth analysis on the changing trends in threats and tactics affecting New Jersey, finding that social media remains a pervasive method used by juveniles and students to convey school threats.All threats, including those directed at schools, should be reported immediately to local authorities and NJOHSP’s CTWatch desk at 1-866-4-SAFE-NJ or tips@njohsp.gov.
