Tag: Ridgewood Schools

Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, in Boise, laments ‘alarming degree of public ignorance’
Katie Terhune | Idaho Statesman

Two-thirds of Americans cannot name a single Supreme Court justice, former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor told the crowd that packed into a Boise State ballroom to hear her Thursday.

About one-third can name the three branches of government. Fewer than one-fifth of high school seniors can explain how citizen participation benefits democracy.

“Less than one-third of eighth-graders can identify the historical purpose of the Declaration of Independence, and it’s right there in the name,” she said.

O’Connor touted civics education during her keynote address at the “Transforming America: Women and Leadership in the 21st Century” conference, put on by the Andrus Center for Public Policy. She also described being a female lawyer in the 1950s, and challenged her listeners to help the next generation of leaders reach their goals.

O’CONNOR ON CIVICS

“The more I read and the more I listen, the more apparent it is that our society suffers from an alarming degree of public ignorance,” O’Connor said.

That ignorance starts in the earliest years of a child’s schooling, she said, but often continues all the way through college and graduate school.

O’Connor argued that learning about citizenship is just as important for American children as learning multiplication or how to write their names.

“We have to ensure that our citizens are well informed and prepared to face tough challenges,” she said. “If there is a single child not learning about civics or not being exposed to what they must do as citizens, then all our lives are poorer for that.”

To combat what she sees as a dangerous lack of civics in schools, O’Connor founded icivics.org, a website for educators and students. The site uses games, lesson plans and activities to make learning about government and citizenship less boring.

ON PRACTICING LAW AS A WOMAN

After graduating from Stanford Law School in 1952, O’Connor’s husband was drafted and she needed to find a job.

Many of her Stanford classmates went on to high-paying jobs with large firms. But O’Connor quickly learned that her own path to employment would be much harder.

“The problem was, I was female,” she said. “I couldn’t get a job; they all said no when I applied.”

Finally, O’Connor landed a job with the county attorney’s office in San Mateo, Calif. But the office did not hire female lawyers, so they wouldn’t pay her. O’Connor just worked for free.

“Eventually, I did start getting a salary,” she said. “I spent those years working through the problems women had in those years, like getting a job, and having gotten one, getting paid for it. Very few of my male classmates had that experience.”

O’Connor said the experience only strengthened her resolve. She eventually entered politics — including a stint as the Arizona Senate majority leader — before becoming a judge.

“That early experience made me realize that maybe I did have a role to play in helping shape the character of our nation,” she said.

ON A CALL FROM THE PRESIDENT

O’Connor was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981, just two years after she was named to the Arizona Court of Appeals

She still remembers the shock of the phone call from President Ronald Reagan.

“He said, ‘Sandra, I’d like to announce your appointment to the Supreme Court tomorrow. Is that all right with you?’ ” she said.

O’Connor served on the high court until retiring in 2006. Initially viewed as a conservative, she became regarded as the decisive swing vote in many cases.

ON PAVING THE WAY

O’Connor acknowledged that many of the women and men who came to Thursday’s conference were already in leadership roles, whether in their job, the classroom, or at home.

Those people need to take the lead again and create a better education for the next generation of leaders, she said.

“Everyone is going to grow up to be a citizen,” she said. “Democracy is not a spectator sport.”

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/09/06/201376/retired-justice-sandra-day-oconnor.html#.Uironn-ne8E

Why Is Education Commissioner Cerf Standing In Way Of School Choice?
September 4,2013

Ridgewood NJ, Today marks the beginning of another school year for most New Jersey students. Unlike Ridgewood, far too many New Jersey school kids will find themselves trapped for another year in some of our worst schools with no way out—no way to attend a better school that affords them the kind of opportunity for the future they deserve. This is unacceptable. Today, New Jersey should be embracing school choice and allowing parents the option to enroll their kids in schools that are not failing them.

Trenton, Newark, Camden , Atlantic City …..

Three months ago, however, Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf denied 850 New Jersey children the chance to attend the school of their choice. For years, the New Jersey Department of Education had been negotiating with two online charter schools to open up in the Garden State. The two schools jumped through all of the bureaucratic hoops, received government approval last spring, and even started hiring teachers and enrolling students.

But, at the very last minute, Commissioner Cerf stepped in and revoked the schools’ applications, claiming that there’s insufficient evidence that online learning improves student performance. Any New Jersey schoolchild could tell Commissioner Cerf that the evidence will continue to be insufficient if he doesn’t give virtual schools a chance in New Jersey. It’s elementary logic.

Think of the future ,thousands of New Jersey children are stuck in a failing public school with little opportunity to escape. Even our state’s brick-and-mortar charter schools are often inaccessible since they are subject to enrollment caps, rendering many children’s future subject to the luck of a lottery. Online learning, on the other hand, would expand school choice to any New Jersey schoolchild with an Internet connection. This new frontier of education is something that the Garden State should embrace, not shun for an outdated one-size-fits-all model that is failing too many of our kids.

Sadly, it’s too late for the 850 students to access online school choice this year since the two virtual schools’ application have already been denied. However, it’s not over yet. Americans for Prosperity – New Jersey will continue to push forward for a virtual school to open up next year. New Jersey schoolchildren have been waiting much too long for the guarantee of a quality education they deserve.

Meanwhile, call Commissioner Cerf at 609-292-4450! Urge him to stop impeding school choice and preventing New Jersey kids from being able to access the education they deserve!

 

PATTI JOHNSON IS 2013 ASHBY AWARD WINNER
September 3,2013

Ridgewood NJ, The 2013 winner of the coveted Ashby Award is Patricia Johnson, recently retired RHS Biology Teacher.

Patti taught in the Ridgewood Public schools for 40 years, starting at Benjamin Franklin Middle School and later at Ridgewood High School, where she taught Biology and AP Biology.

Patti has a BA from Sacred Heart University and an MA from Montclair State College (Now Montclair University), as well as numerous continuing education credentials. Over the years, she has been recognized by her peers for excellence in education, including the New Jersey Outstanding Biology Teacher of the Year by the Biology Teachers Association of New Jersey and the Ridgewood Teacher Recognition Award.

Tougher N.J. teacher evaluations aim to highlight the best
Saturday, August 31, 2013    Last updated: Sunday September 1, 2013, 12:21 AM
BY  LESLIE BRODY
STAFF WRITER
The Record

After years of pressure from sources as varied as President Obama and Governor Christie, teachers in New Jersey will face more stringent evaluations than ever when schools open in the coming days.

The push to improve teacher quality through tougher evaluations has intensified across the country in response to widespread concern that too many American students lag far behind their competitors abroad.

If all goes as Trenton officials intend, school administrators will spend more time in classrooms, checking how well their teachers engage students and prod them to think analytically. Teachers will also be judged by their students’ progress — not just on academic tests, but also in tasks like singing scales in music and doing sit-ups in gym.

Both Obama and Christie have expressed faith that changing the “drive-by” evaluations of the past, which blessed nearly everyone with a good rating, will create pressure for better instruction.

Many teachers, however, are leery. Their unions across the country have been adamant in arguing that one linchpin of new evaluations in many states — using test scores to isolate a teacher’s impact on students’ growth — has serious flaws in methodology. And many principals, who face more rigorous reviews themselves, wonder how they will find time to orchestrate more frequent, time-consuming classroom observations.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/NJ_teachers_to_face_tougher_evaluations_with_goal_of_highlighting_the_best.html#sthash.QLpzaMX1.dpuf

Some school districts quit healthier lunch program
(AP) Some school districts quit healthier lunch program
By CAROLYN THOMPSON
Associated Press

After just one year, some schools around the country are dropping out of the healthier new federal lunch program, complaining that so many students turned up their noses at meals packed with whole grains, fruits and vegetables that the cafeterias were losing money.

Federal officials say they don’t have exact numbers but have seen isolated reports of schools cutting ties with the $11 billion National School Lunch Program, which reimburses schools for meals served and gives them access to lower-priced food.

Districts that rejected the program say the reimbursement was not enough to offset losses from students who began avoiding the lunch line and bringing food from home or, in some cases, going hungry.

“Some of the stuff we had to offer, they wouldn’t eat,” said Catlin, Ill., Superintendent Gary Lewis, whose district saw a 10 to 12 percent drop in lunch sales, translating to $30,000 lost under the program last year.

https://www.breitbart.com/system/wire/DA8EDQ3G0
Kentucky students to first lady Michelle Obama: Your food ‘tastes like vomit’

https://dailycaller.com/2013/08/27/kentucky-students-to-first-lady-michelle-obama-your-food-tastes-like-vomit/

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE BOE RUNS A DAY CARE CENTER AND AFTERSCHOOL KINDERGARTEN ENRICHMENT PROGRAM?

The Infant Toddler Development Center (ITDC), a program of the Ridgewood Board of Education, is celebrating its 30th anniversary by offering some improvements to meet the needs of today’s families. ITDC, a fully licensed day care/preschool program for children ages six weeks through five years of age, is open to the public, with discounts offered to teachers. In addition to daycare and pre-school, the ITDC offers afterschool enrichment classes for half-day kindergartners.

Busing is provided from Ridgewood elementary schools. New hours of operation are 7:00am to 6:30pm, with flexible scheduling options available. The ITDC is located at 865 E. Glen Ave., Ridgewood, NJ. For more information, please call 201-445-0642 or email [email protected].

How Well Do State Education Departments Report Public School Spending?

New Jersey Scores a 78.00  grade C+  rank 10

Summary of Findings

Public schools are usually the most costly item in state and local budgets. Yet despite tremendous and persistent spending growth in the last half-century, the public vastly underestimates the true cost of public education.

To better understand the source of this misperception, this report examines the spending data that all 50 state education departments make available to the public on their websites. It reveals that very few state education departments provide complete and timely financial data that is understandable to the general public.

Half of all states report a “per pupil expenditures” figure that leaves out major cost items such as capital expenditures, thereby significantly understating what is actually spent. Alaska does not even report per pupil expenditure figures at all.

Eight states fail to provide any data on capital expenditures on their education department websites. Ten states lack any data on average employee salaries and 41 states fail to provide any data on average employee benefits.

When the state education departments provide incomplete or misleading data, they deprive taxpayers of the ability to make informed decisions about public school funding. At a time when state and local budgets are severely strained, it is crucial that spending decisions reflect sound and informed judgment.

The table below provides summary “grades” on financial transparency for state department of education websites. A description of how these grades were derived is presented in the Grading Criteria section, and detailed ratings appear on the individual pages for each state.

https://www.cato.org/cracking-books