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Ridgewood NJ, Who is funding New Direction New Jersey, the dark money group supporting Governor Murphy’s agenda?
No surprise: it’s New Jersey’s most powerful special interest, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA). This $2.5 million in surreptitious spending is just one example of how the NJEA obscures its political activities from the public and even its own members. There are many others.
Continue reading NJEA: New Jersey’s Political Machine
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HOLMDEL NJ, The high school teacher who was blamed for a yearbook censorship controversy in Wall Township in 2017 filed a motion in the Superior Court in Monmouth County on Thursday, seeking immediate relief from a Board of Education (BOE) policy that has blocked her from being able to tell her full story to the media.
In her original lawsuit filed on May 6, 2019, Susan Parsons alleged she was framed by members of the school administration as the person responsible for digitally altering a student’s 2017 yearbook photo to remove a “Trump: Make America Great Again” logo from his shirt, a narrative she was unable to refute due to an ongoing BOE media gag order.
Continue reading Teacher Blamed for Trump Yearbook Controversy Claims Her Free Speech Rights are being Violated
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Trenton NJ, Senate President Steve Sweeney joined in a panel discussion sponsored by the League of Municipalities for its 27th Annual Mayors Legislative Day where he discussed the cost-cutting reforms in the “Path to Progress” report, including those that will produce savings and efficiencies for municipalities, school districts and their employees. Senator Sweeney participated as a member of the “Meet the Legislative Leaders” panel discussion.
“The proposals developed by the study commission will deliver savings for state and local government alike,” said Senator Sweeney (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland). “Municipalities, local school districts and the taxpayers will realize the benefits of the proposals to address soaring pension and benefit costs, hold down property taxes, make government and school districts more efficient, and leverage state assets.”
Continue reading Senate President Steve Sweeney Continues Push for State Health Benefits Plan for all School Employees
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Monroe Township NJ, Declaring that teachers and school districts are paying too much for their healthcare coverage, Senate President Steve Sweeney today called for the merger of the high-cost School Employees Health Benefits Plan into the lower-cost State Health Benefits Plan to take advantage of the cost savings negotiated by the Governor and the state’s largest public workers union.
Speaking at a meeting of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, Senator Sweeney said legislation merging the two healthcare plans would be a cornerstone of the Path to Progress legislative package that will be introduced to implement recommendations of the bipartisan Economic and Fiscal Policy Workgroup.
Continue reading Senate President Steve Sweeney calls for the merger of the high-cost School Employees Health Benefits Plan into the lower-cost State Health Benefits Plan
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TRENTON NJ, AFP Foundation State Director Erica Jedynak issued the following statement in response to recent Bureau of Labor Statistics survey data indicating a 30,000-member reduction in public sector labor unions in New Jersey following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Janus vs. AFSCME in 2018.
“The SCOTUS decision in Janus vs. AFSCME was a game changer. Public workers in New Jersey are no longer forced to choose between their jobs and compelled speech and association. They now have the power of choice—to decide whether their hard-earned checks are used to support unions or not. The latest data indicates workers are exercising their newfound rights by the thousands. AFP Foundation will continue its partnership with the My Pay My Say campaign to educate and support workers and would encourage workers who have questions to reach out.”
Continue reading NJ Public Workers Starting to Make Their Own Choices
Funny how teachers & staff only go to a board meeting when THEIR interests are effected, for example, when THEIR contract expired. How come they don’t appear at other Board Meetings? Funny how RBOE isn’t in the top 10 public school districts according the the State of NJ. Keep paying those high taxes for tenured teachers that can’t get reprimanded or fired. The teachers union sounds more like mafia. How about Ridgewood teachers spend a day in Newark or Jersey City classroom and see what a REAL school day is like.
Let’s talk about the “abbot districts” as established by NJ Supreme Court.
The state mandate the same $$$ is spent per student in every district.
Nice thought, but it won’t work. Why?
The teachers union objects to school choice so underperforming lazy tenured teachers can slide while the students do not learn.
More important is that in Paterson , an abbot district, students only need to attend in order to progress from one grade to another, and get a diploma.
So let’s get the secret out… A diploma from one of these districts is as worthless as a piece of toilet paper.
If the motivate students could choose a school to attend, with a voucher, they would excell.
But thanks to the NJ teachers unions it will never happen. They own Gov Murphy
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Trenton NJ, Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland) issued the following statement in response to Governor Phil Murphy’s veto of legislation (S2455 – Sweeney, Oroho/Murphy, McKnight, Mosquera) which would produce substantial cost savings in health care expenses by transferring county college employees and retirees from membership in the School Employees Health Benefits Plan to membership in the State Health Benefits Plan:
“The Governor’s veto will cost the county colleges and their employees millions of dollars in future healthcare savings. Once again, the Governor has chosen to stand with the New Jersey Education Association’s union leaders and against the interests of the taxpayers of New Jersey, the county colleges, their hardworking professors and staff, and the students who will be forced to pay higher tuition. It is a terrible irony when we have a Governor calling for free county college tuition at the same time that he refuses to reduce health care costs and produce savings that could be used in support of the colleges and their students.”
North Bergen NJ, ‘Several current and former educators and political insiders in Hudson County claim teachers are pressured to make political donations to a campaign fund linked to North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco. Some said their jobs and promotions can be affected by whether and how much they give’, according to NBC4’s I-Team, led by investigative journalists Jonathan Dienst and David Paredes. The current dispatch from the I-Team follows a previous report from November focusing on Sacco’s family employment in North Bergen.
The report also includes an audio clip sent to them in which Mayor Sacco allegedly speaks about the I-Team investigation, saying of NBC “they are liars. They are incompetent. ‘You’re either totally incompetent or totally corrupt.’ One or the other. OK, that’s both response to them. They are not your friends. They will twist what you say.” Sacco allegedly also says that the NBC4 team is ‘behaving like criminals’.
According to the report, Sacco’s team contends that the I-Team is colluding with Sacco nemesis Larry Wainstein, a claim they deny.
Read the I-Team report here.
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Trenton NJ, Legislation sponsored by Senator Joseph Lagana which would require school districts and charter schools to adopt nepotism policies cleared the Senate Education Committee today.
“We must ensure that our school districts are hiring the most qualified people for the job, without allowing personal relations to taint their judgment,” said Senator Lagana (D-Bergen/Passaic). “All hirings should involve a competitive application process and end with the hiring of the best possible candidate.”
The bill, S-2637, would direct boards of education of school districts and county vocational school districts to adopt and implement a nepotism policy. The adoption of such a policy would be required to receive state aid. At minimum, the policy would have to include the provisions outlined in the bill.
The bill would also direct the board of trustees of a charter school to adopt and implement a nepotism policy, incorporating the provisions outlined in the bill.
The policy would apply to relatives of school board members, chief school administrators, school business administrators, school board attorneys and directors of personnel.
A school district or county vocational district could exclude per diem substitutes and student employees from its nepotism policy.
The bill was released from committee by a vote of 3-0, and next heads to the full Senate for further consideration.
Congratulations to the residents of Hohokus for taking the lead and continuing to understand impact the runaway spending has on the quality of life within their town. School budgets and unending increases for the same are wreaking havoc on what has been a wonderful section of Bergen County to live in. Ironically the very things that towns used to tap out as being a reason to buy a home in the town has become the very reason to no longer want to stay in the town or buy a house in the town. We all support our teachers but it’s about time our teachers Now supported us and understood the damage full extent of the damage their Union and salaries are doing to the very Villages that pay them
file photo by Boyd Loving
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Ridgewood NJ, back in August the New Jersey Teachers Union (NJEA) along with Ridgewood’s REA endorsed the ethically challenged Bob Menendez ,
According to a Senate Ethics Committee report, Senator Bob Menendez broke federal law and completely abused his position as senator when he should have been serving the people,” U.S. Senator Bob Menendez received a strongly-worded bipartisan admonition from his Capitol Hill colleagues on the ethics committee.
Even more ironic is that the NJEA along with Ridgewood’s REA endorsed Senator Menendez after allegations that the Senator flew to Dominican Republic. to have sex with under age prostitutes .
Continue reading NJEA and REA Endorse Ethically Challenged Bob Menendez for U.S. Senate
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Ridgewood NJ, according to the Ridgewood Education Association , “Last week we were notified by the Board of Education that they are no longer in agreement with the contract settlement negotiated with the assistance of a state appointed mediator on Oct. 9. The issue pertains to the new salary guides that by agreement must be agreed upon by both parties. We submitted guide proposals to the Board on Oct. 10 and they waited almost three weeks to tell us they found them unacceptable and that they have a misunderstanding as to what the settlement actually means. Upon first learning this on Oct. 30 we informed the Board how we interpret the settlement and met again with the Board’s negotiating team on Friday to reiterate that point. Tonight the Board has indicated they need even more time to approve the settlement. We find this unacceptable and as such we find ourselves back at an impasse and potentially back at the negotiating table. Ridgewood’s teachers and secretaries have now been working for 128 days under an expired contract. Email Board President Vince Loncto at [email protected] and tell him to honor the agreement and settle now! “
There are still some dedicated teachers in the system but more often than not, tenure destroys motivation. Ridgewood teachers are very, very lucky. They receive top teaching salaries and for the most part their students do receive support from homes where education is prized. The NJEA and its demands will continue to bankrupt the state. Nurses do not earn as much as teachers nor do they enjoy the same benefits packages. That is not to say that effective, caring teaching is not an extremely demanding job but all the complaints about their salaries/benefits are hard to entertain. Personally, I think those who teach in less desirable districts should be the high earners. That is where you find the dedication and what used to motivate those entering the profession – hoping to make a difference and inspire learning.
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Lodi NJ, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo announced the arrest of STEPHANIE A. CARAFA (DOB: 03/12/1986; single; employed as a school teacher) of Lodi, New Jersey on charges of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact and Endangering The Welfare Of A Child. The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Robert Anzilotti and the Lodi Police Department under the direction of Chief Donald Scorzetti.
Continue reading Lodi Teacher Arrested For Sexual Relations With Student
