Ridgewood NJ, is the new “Third Culture People (3CP)”, “White Fragility” , DEI initiative just more anti-white agenda wrapped up in a bow of “diversity”? Several readers have began to seriously question Ridgewood Schools ability to educate promoting this overtly racist agenda ,especially after this summers attacks on the Ridgewood Police Department and seeming endless protests with little or no positive action or honest intellectual discussion and worse the blatant bigoted attack on the two non white Ridgewood School board members .
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.
Ridgewood NJ, Lockdowns and school closures have meant many women have had to stay home to care for children who can’t attend school in person. How many? Almost a million mothers have left the workforce and many won’t be returning any time soon if lockdowns continue.
Wyckoff NJ, a seventh-grade language arts teacher brought up on tenure charges by the Board of Education will not be reinstated as directed by a state-appointed arbitrator, board Wyckoff President Robert Francin.
The Board of Education certified four charges against teacher Scott Levy last May, alleging “acts of misconduct during the 2019-2020 school year, as well as a recurrent pattern of misconduct over a period of years.”
The district alleged that Levy “physically assaulted a seventh-grade student,” “engaged in the harassment and inappropriate touching” of two students, and “has accumulated a substantial record of misconduct in his teaching position for which remedial measures have been taken and failed.”
Ridgewood NJ, the New Jersey COVID-19 Activity Level Report indicates that our region is still at the high level. Cases in Bergen County rose the previous two weeks by 7 and 6 percent respectively. News reports suggest that New Jersey may have peaked; however, they also warn that March could be challenging due to the new strains of the virus entering our area.
Governor Murphy Signs Executive Order to Implement New Policies for the 2020-2021 School Year
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Governor Phil Murphy today signed Executive Order No. 214 to affect the following changes for the 2020-2021 school year: 1) waiver of the graduation assessment test requirement for any 12th grade student who has satisfied all other statutory graduation requirements; 2) removal of Student Growth Objectives (SGOs) as a component of formal educator evaluations; and 3) extension of the time in which certificated teachers or those in the process of becoming certificated teachers can serve as substitute teachers. Continue reading Governor Murphy Waives Graduation Assessment Tests for the 2020-2021 School Year
….Tis the season of giving and the fly has head from a number of members of the Facebook group , “Ridgewood Moms and Dads ” , that Ridgewood Teachers have been allegedly asking for VISA gift cards for Christmas gifts . How is this okay? I guess being in the top 20% of all districts in terms of pay plus the pension and benefits aren’t enough? In May of 2019 the pay for extra point scandal emerged but apparently the lessons have not been learned ….
Cliffside Park NJ, Will snow days be a desire of the past? The year 2020 has been like nothing we have ever seen before. It has been the year of struggle, uncertainty, and fear. In this time of unprecedented events, aside from small businesses, education has been severely impacted. I am a college student that attends a public institution here in New Jersey. Results from the pandemic, like budget cuts, have just been unfathomable.
“Even if we agree that teachers work as much as the average worker, they are only working 10 months out of the year and those are 6 hour days, not 8 hour days.
And lets not talk about “teacher prep time” done before and after their 6 hour day, that is canceled out by the “overtime” done by the average worker before and after their 8 hour day.”
“Public unions gotta go. Unionizing against the public is a travesty. Ppl turned a blind eye while good times rolled, but we’re in a right spot now. And the decade of transformation has just started!
Expect fewer white collar jobs, normalization if demand for IT specialists and entertainers, high inflation and much higher taxes on top earners as well as property owners.
Covid merely accelerated the existing trend. With these issues, last thing taxpayers can afford is subsidize 20th century style “public servants.” Especially those who teach their children how to hate their own family and nation.”
“residents here in Ridgewood know more about what happens than the eggheads at the BOE & REA who theorize on how to control thoughts as they trade bon mots at their cocktail parties. Should corona last for the long run, the intelligentsia and NJEA unions will be toast as they cling to their days gone by like the Luddites they are. I pity the truly great teachers in the district who have been lumped into the mix with the Marxists.”
“Such excellent commentary from fair minded people calling out Fishbien and the REA for what they truly are… have never been”doing it for the children” as they tell you every other second but just concerned for their over the top pay and how to continue getting paid for half an effort..the teacher as hero myth had truly been debunked forever now…”Sorry Billy, Mrs Jones doesn’t really care if she ever sees you again” the children will quickly learn this and remember for their lives..no memories of nice empathetic classroom leaders just a money grabbing union worker…disgraceful.
How NOT ONE teacher feels it in their soul that this set up is unfair to the parents and taxpayers of Ridgewood belies their collective greed and union fueled expectations of more more more…NOT ONE voice calling for some sort of give back to the generous community during these highly stressful family conditions is unconscionable and sad.”
“In a normal society, this virus would be handled by having the sick or vulnerable stay home for as long as necessary, while encouraging the young and healthy to go about normally with life. Teachers that are sickly could stay home and go on unemployment like everyone else in the country. Young college grads with education degrees can temporarily Take their place. Very simple. How are parents that are not teachers or other government employees supposed to work and feed their families if they have to stay home and care for their children who are doing remote learning? This point is rarely brought up. How have day care centers and summer camps in NJ been open since June, but schools cannot reopen? Why are day Care workers and summer camp workers lives valued less than teachers lives? I drove by the Ridgewood YMCA parking lot last week and witnessed large numbers of children, of various ages, over the age of two years old, standing very close together and not wearing masks. Why is this permitted when masks are required in NJ outdoors when not social distancing?
Locking down everyone is actually making everyone more sickly in mind, body and soul. Why is it that the government and their followers only care about people sick or dying from covid19, but not from any other cause, like the annual flu, being killed in riots, or from not being able to receive necessary medical treatment? Yes there is a pandemic, however, like it or not, the fact is that less than 0.5 percent of all people will die from it. It is obvious that the pandemic has become a convenient, catch all excuse, which is being massively abused. This is to the detriment of all humanity, the effects of which will be ever lasting. Wake up people! Please please start thinking for yourselves and you will realize what is actually going on here. Only when teachers and all government employees are treated the same and feel the same pain as small business owners have, during this pandemic, will people actually see the truth, be on the same team and be able, willing and ready to work together.”
Ridgewood NJ, The following is an excerpt from a letter dated Monday, August 17 from Ridgewood District Superintendent Fishbein to district parents (Superintendent Fishbein appears to be hinting that he will change plans and ask the state to authorize the Ridgewood District to resume instruction this fall via so-called “Remote Learning” only, delaying an actual physical return of students to their schools until later in the school year):
“I’ve seen some of those kids in the village and the park. Having been a misbehaving kid myself (and grown up ok), I’m less troubled by the above story. Kids of all stripes do silly stuff. They need their asses kicked to remind them who’s in charge. I do wholeheartedly agree on 2 points:
1. schools, even good ones like RDWD, need to tone down the preaching. Marxist BS doesn’t work and has no place in school. Focus on academics.
2. Schools need to open full time come fall. The union’s actions are disgraceful, targeting kids on a pretext of “safety.” What a joke. Who do they think they are? I don’t see grocery store cashiers protesting for “safety” even though they are way more exposed. Ditto for truck drivers who bring our food, amazon delivery, etc etc. I’ve lost any respect for the Union after this. The BOE need to start taking action on behalf of taxpayers. This is ridiculous. I’ve just received the fall schedule promo presentation from the school. A silly schedule that follows no logic and a ton of marketing material, inc video interviews. Our educators fancy themselves college professors or Fortune 500 salespeople, with all that pomp. They are not. They are paid a ton of money to deliver basic education to young kids. This entails being with kids! Not sitting at home on zoom. The parents need to wake up to the fact that they are being had.”
