Tag: NJEA

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Reader says, “It is very possible that 99.9% of BLM protesters are being manipulated without their knowledge”

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photo courtesy of Boyd Loving

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, a reader made some interesting observations and adds some valuable advice :

“It is very possible that 99.9% of BLM protesters are being manipulated without their knowledge, so do not condemn these children, and the participants in this photo appear to be mostly children. How can they be held responsible for their actions? They are children because… Hey, Google, when does the human brain develop fully? ANSWER – it takes at least 20-30 years (you cold look it up).

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Did Protesters Drive Away Shoppers and Dinners and Will they Return to Ridgewood

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photos by Boyd Loving

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  a reader asked , “Do you think that the Village had intelligence that there would be a protest like this and that’s why they cancelled the CBD restaurant mall  ?” It does appear to be the case and the Village can be commended for taking action to ensure the safety of residents ,businesses and protesters ,but it does raise some issues as to why the Central Business District continues to get the shaft from the Village. Will Ridgewood CBD continue its comeback attempt to once again be a viable post pandemic downtown  or will shoppers and dinners flee and not return do to protests and unrest ?

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Ridgewood “Black Lives Matter” Protesters Demand a more “Woke” Classroom

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photo courtesy of Boyd Loving

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the “Black Lives Matter” protesters  made the following demands to create a more “woke” classroom in Ridgewood . The demands clearly put ideology over learning and  attempt to drag Ridgewood’s $115 million dollar school budget into the “cultural revolution” ie even more Marxism.  We are left to wonder how long Ridgewood residents  will continue to pay exorbitant property taxes and what impact this will have on the quality of education.

“Among the demands are four specific ones, related to education in Ridgewood. One, that the village’s “Eurocentric” curriculum be dismantled. Two, that there be “mandatory anti-racist training’s for students and teachers.” Three, that there be “more Black teachers, staff and leadership.” And four, that there be a “Ridgewood Public Schools Resource office” to support students of color.

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New Teacher Healthcare Plans Claims to Save Teachers and Taxpayers Money

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Governor Phil Murphy today signed legislation providing substantial health care cost savings for New Jersey’s educators while reducing costs for taxpayers, removing longstanding and onerous provisions resulting from a 2011 law known as Chapter 78. 

The legislation (A20/S2273) is the result of collaborative negotiations between the Murphy Administration, legislative leadership, and the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA). 

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Political Correctness : Pascack Valley Regional High School Board Votes to Remove Mascots

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Montvale, NJ,  the Pascack Valley Regional High School District Board of Education meeting on June 22, the Board voted to remove the “Cowboy” and “Indian” as the Pascack Hills and Pascack Valley High Schools’ respective mascots.  This decision was in response to ongoing presentations and discussions with students, faculty, staff, and administration regarding how such mascots are not inline with the district goal of equity and inclusivity.

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Time for School Choice : New Jersey Is the 10th Worst State for Racial Equality in Education

School Choice by ArtChick

photo by ArtChick

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

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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Feds to Investigate Safety of Crumb Rubber Turf Fields

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by Linda McNamara

The Ridgewood Board of Education is proposing more artificial turf for Stevens  Field,a district owned field,  despite mounting evidence that it  presents significant  health and safety concerns for those using the fields and to the environment. A recent article in the NJEA Review Magazine ,” Use it? Ban it? quotes  the following statements from Dr. Philip Landrigan, a  Public Health and Pediatrics Professor at Mount Sinai :“ The companies that are marketing the fields don’t talk about the heat hazards, they don’t talk about the chemical hazards,  they don’t talk about the costs that are going to be associated with dismantling the fields when they reach the end of their natural life span, when they must be treated as hazardous waste ….. a better solution is to build fields that are properly drained and are planted with tough species of grass that do not require pesticides.”

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Schools Out Forever : Pandemic Brings New Demands for Home Schooling and Home Schooling Technologies

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Until the coronavirus pandemic closed schools, only a minority of children were taught at home. In the United States, an estimated 1.7 million children were homeschooled out of a national school population of 56.6 million.

School closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak mean millions of parents and guardians who have grown accustomed to sending their children to traditional schools are now faced with the task of educating them at home.

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Reader takes Dim View on “Remote Learning”

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“Here’s the feedback.

– Spoiled ineffective RW parents can’t manage their privileged selfish children.

– Spineless RW school system won’t implement (let alone enforce) any mandatory structure nor enforce any substantive academic standards.

– Teachers whine about how hard they are working and what challenges they are overcoming

– NJEA/NEA are conflicted over whether it is more beneficial to the teachers (I mean students, wink, wink), to push for reopening schools in September or to push to keep schools closed in September.

– RW parents post teacher support signs on their lawns and publically espouse what heroes the teachers are while privately complaining about how the teachers are failing to address their kids needs (while never making sure their child attends virtual class or does his homework).”

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Ridgewood School District Working on Virtual Alternatives High School Graduation and Promotion Ceremonies

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  at the Monday night School Board meeting ,Dr. Fishbein began by stating that Governor Murphy has closed schools for students for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year and that students would finish the year via virtual home instruction. He expressed that no one wants to be back in the schools more than educators. Dr. Fishbein thanked the teachers for their hard work and commitment and expressed they have done an amazing job planning and executing virtual learning for our students. Acknowledging the challenges of remote instruction, he reiterated that educators would prefer to be in school with their students and to celebrate all of the end-of-year traditions that are being impacted by the current public health crisis.

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NJEA commends decision to keep school buildings closed

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, NJEA released this statement following Gov. Murphy’s announcement today that school buildings will remain closed for the rest of the academic year.  Remote instruction will continue, and NJEA members will remain focused on meeting the needs of New Jersey’s students.

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New Jersey Teachers’ Pension Fund Identified  as One of Eight Seriously Underfunded State and Local Pension systems that could soon Face a Crisis

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, , the New Jersey teacher pension system is paying out about $4.5 billion a year in retirement benefits and other kinds of payments to 104,000 beneficiaries. Yet contributions by active teachers and state government amount about $2.8 billion annually, leaving a $1.7 billion deficit. When the market is good, investment returns help make up the difference. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, for instance, a nearly 10 percent market gain generated $2 billion, which the fund largely used to pay retirees. This year, however, market gains have largely evaporated for everyone.

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Its Not Economic Benefits Over Human Life ,Economic Benefits are Human Life

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the staff of the Ridgewood

Ridgewood NJ, a recent article on NJ Insider attempting to quell the push to get the economy going promoting the false dichotomy that some how “Ranking Economic Benefits Over Human Life is Offensive ” . Life  is a functioning economy end of story . Only someone who lives at the charity of others would  not understand this.

Funny but the politicians in Trenton see fit to simultaneously raise the fuel tax and tolls on the NJ Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway  so apparently “Ranking Economic Benefits Over Human Life ” is ok for them . So if we can raise taxes , we can go back to work.

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NJEA makes Deal with Senate President Steve Sweeney to Cut health benefit costs

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) and Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) announced a deal they estimate will cut $1 billion in public employees’ health benefit costs.

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School support staff has grown 2.7 times as fast as students since 1990

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, according to Corey DeAngelis Director of School Choice, Reason Foundation; Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute , School support staff has grown 2.7 times as fast as students since 1990 in public schools has grown 2.7 times as fast as students since 1990.
Students: + 23%
Support staff: + 61%
Per pupil spending: + 39%
Maybe this is why our schools are failing?