file photo by Boyd Loving
Local Taxes are not exempt anymore, this makes taxes expensive for everyone, Higher Taxes do not make a community more inviting, balance need to be restored, We have high taxes and if Schools outperform, that’s the only win-win situation, dipping RHS ratings and Higher taxes will lead to less interest in Village of Ridgewood .
The SAT definitely has been dumbed down on the verbal side over the years (e.g., 1. hard vocabulary words have been eliminated, 2. analogy questions have been eliminated, 3. more context is now being given in the text of the text itself to allow the test-takers to figure out on the fly what hard or unfamiliar words mean, etc.). As a result, many students can score much higher on the verbal SAT than in years past without having worked hard over the years (or even in the months prior to the SAT test administration) to attain and maintain an excellent vocabulary. So those students with top vocabularies are finding this is not as much an advantage to them as it was for SAT test-takers two or three decades ago (i.e., less proficient students are readily getting the same or close to the same scores as they are getting). It doesn’t appear, however, that this is the case on the math SAT sections. The math SAT is still very challenging. Perhaps many of the Ridgewood High School students benefiting the most from SAT tutoring are making up for not working as hard as they should have in math from grade 6 or 7 onward, or for having had teachers or lower level classes during those grades that didn’t challenge them or that didn’t prepare them adequately to score very well on the math sections of the SAT.
Years ago at Back to School night we were greeted by a teacher who was only concerned that the parents hand over money for a workbook the students needed. When someone questioned what she was teaching, her answer floored me. “I don’t have to worry about my teaching and I could not teach at all and it would be legal. I have tenure and I’m really not interested in bonus money so I’m just going to sit and do nothing until I retire.” And she did. Daily assignments to that workbook to be done in class was just about all she accomplished. This, incidentally, was the required second year of a language class in which they learned nearly nothing. The most horrible thing about this story from years ago is that some teachers in the system still feel that way and nothing has been done about it.
Our rankings might improve if we fired a bunch of these entitled thugs and replaced them with educators interested in working with our kids. But we can’t because the teachers’ union protects incompetence with tenure. All they’re doing is trying to get more wages & benefits for their members. They have no interest in preparing our children for the workplace of tomorrow. Let’s try and get some younger teachers willing to raise their “give a crap” level than the current bunch of lazy thugs we’ve got.
photos courtesy of Boyd loving’s Facebook page
April 5 ,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, High winds toppled at least two (2) utility poles along a PSE&G right of way in the rear of 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood late Wednesday afternoon, 04/04. The right of way, which supports high tension electric lines running between sub stations in Fair Lawn and Waldwick, abuts a popular athletic field complex and running/walking track. Ridgewood Police, Fire Department, and Emergency Services personnel responded to make the area safe until PSE&G Electric Division crews could arrive to repair the damage.
US NEWS STATE of NJ RANK:
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Eleven (not even the TOP 11 BTW) of the top 25 on the list are magnet or Vocational schools (which is not “more than half the top 25” but I guess math is hard for you)
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Also these PUBLIC (non-magnet) Schools are ranked AHEAD of Ridgewood:
#5 – Elizabeth High School
#6 – Princeton High School
#7 – Chatham High School
#10 West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North
#11 – Livingston High School
#12 – Summit Senior High School
#13 – Millburn High School
#14 – Glen Ridge High School
#15 – Ridge High School, Basking Ridge
#18 – West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
#19 – Mountain Lakes High School
#20 – Tenafly High School
#23 – Northern Highlands Regional High School
#25 – Montgomery High School
#26 – Ridgewood High School
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US NEWS NATIONAL RANK:
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RIDGEWOOD IS RANKED #583 (almost below 600) in NATIONAL Rank
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US NEWS COLLEGE READINESS (arguably the most important ranking)
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RIDGEWOOD HAS A 53.6% COLLEGE READINESS rating (barely half of the students graduate as ready for college).
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STATE OF NJ’s OWN SCHOOL RANKINGS
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You are also ignoring that THE STATE OF NJ ranked Ridgewood High School as 83 out of the 385 NJ high schools.
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Neighboring Glen Rock was ranked #13
(the top twelve on the NJ State list are specialized “academies” and vocational schools which have academic standards for acceptance)
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Here’s some other (local) schools that are ranked higher than Ridgewood:
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#20 – Pascack Hills (Pascack Valley)
#25 – Northern Valley – Demarest
#28 – Tenafly
#29 – Mahwah
#45 – Northern Valley – Old Tappan
#46 – Pascack Valley
#48 – River Dell
#52 – Indian Hills
#55 – Emerson
#56 – Fair Lawn
#60 – Northern Highlands
#61 – Fort Lee
#72 – Waldwick
#73 – New Milford
#76 – Bergenfield
#82 – Ramapo
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Then Ridgewood at #83
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But at least we beat out Dumont (ranked #84)
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No Matter how you look at the data, it IS NOT good news for Ridgewood.
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April 4,2018
by Anne LaGrange Loving on Facebook
Ridgewood NJ, Tonight during the Budget presentation, Dr. Fishbien spoke about the stellar SAT scores among Ridgewood High School students. When asked how many families pay for private SAT tutoring, he replied that about 40% of parents responded to a survey, and of those about 40% self-reported that they paid for private SAT prep for their children. I think that number is likely quite a lot higher. It seemed like everyone I knew (in the late 1990’s) was paying for Kaplan or Huntington or some private individual to help improve SAT scores. Depending on how high the numbers actually are, this could mean that the stellar SAT scores are more a reflection of wealth (or the decision to allocate funds toward this effort) than it is a reflection of the Ridgewood High School preparation of students for this standardized exam. Just wondering whether my thoughts on this are off base.
photos by Boyd Loving
Free talk: Graydon sycamore assessment and removal
Have you been wondering what led the village to remove the historic sycamore tree from the island in Graydon–and even whether it was really necessary?
The expert consultant himself, Wayne Cahilly, will describe his assessment procedure at next Tuesday’s meeting of the Ridgewood Shade Tree Commission.
The public is invited to attend and to ask questions. For those still mourning and perhaps questioning the loss, this presentation may promote closure. Anyone wishing to learn how tree professionals make such decisions would benefit as well.
o What: “Risk Assessment in Municipal Arboriculture: The Graydon Sycamore Case Study”
o Who: Wayne Cahilly, Cahilly’s Horticultural Services, LLC, Dumont, NJ
o When: Tuesday, April 10, 7 PM
o Where: Ridgewood Public Library auditorium, 125 N. Maple Ave., Ridgewood, NJ
Shade Tree Commission chair Andrew Lowry, quoted in a press release from the group, said, “The Graydon sycamore was an icon in our village. Many residents had strong feelings about its removal. We hope this presentation will help people understand what went into making this tough decision and the complexities of risk assessment more generally.”
Adapted from the Shade Tree Commission press release:
Speaker’s background
In 35 years of working with trees, Wayne Cahilly has assessed the structural condition and health of more than 60,000 trees in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and elsewhere. A graduate of the New York Botanical Garden School of Professional Horticulture, he has served the Garden as Forest Manager, Arborist, Manager of the Arboretum and Grounds, and Manager of the Mapping Department. He lives in Dumont, New Jersey.
About the Ridgewood Shade Tree Commission
The purpose of the Ridgewood Shade Tree Commission is to protect, preserve, and enhance the village’s shade trees, defined as trees planted next to streets on village property. Goals are to foster public-private partnerships to educate the community about the contribution to the Village environment made by shade trees and to increase the number of shade trees in the village by actively promoting community tree-planting programs.
We hope to see you there.
Swimmingly,
The Preserve Graydon Coalition, Inc., a nonprofit corporation
“It’s clear—we love Graydon!”
[email protected] PreserveGraydon.org
At this time, many of our teachers and other public workers are paid more than many of the residents who pay them. The long term teachers are in the high middle class and lower upper class, and are above the pay grade of many of the residents that pay them. When you add in the benefits and pension, the majority are well above the average Ridgewood residents. We all know that a certain percentage of our residents are “rolling in it” and receive some of the highest pay in the nation. We also know that the teachers, when striking, seem to be demanding to be in the pay range of these really highly paid individuals. We also know that the benefits and pensions that our teachers receive put them at such a high total income level that many of our residents only dream of obtaining. Many of our residents are also business owners or in business for themselves. These people have to pay even more for their employees insurance and the employees pay between 20-25% of that while having high co-pays and deductibles. A $10.00 co-pay is a joke in the real world. To top it off, Ridgewood’s quality is declining by a huge amount while the teachers who are apparently not teaching get higher annual raises. Many residents have not seen a raise or bonus in years. We really can’t cry for the “poor teachers”.
photos courtesy of Ridgewood Emergency Services
April 4,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Stop the Bleed Day, a National Initiative program, held at Ridgewood Emergency Services drew an full house of interested citizens
to learn how they can be the first line of defense in helping to saving a life.
The Stop the Bleed program is a national awareness campaign and a call to action. Stop the Bleed is intended to cultivate grassroots efforts that
Ridgewood Emergency Services will actively participate in. No matter how rapid the arrival of professional emergency responders, bystanders will be
the first on the scene. Stop the Bleed trains and empowers the bystander to stop active, life threatening bleeding. Similar to how the public learns and
performs CPR, the public must learn proper bleeding control techniques, including how to use their hands, dressings and tourniquets. Victims can
quickly die from uncontrolled bleeding within 5 to 10 minutes from onset.
April 4,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Note: These streets are not listed in order of paving. The order of paving will be determined by the contractor and the Village Engineering Department. The paving season is April through November 2018, and some streets listed may be delayed until spring 2019, depending on weather conditions and logistical issues that may arise during the paving season.
Street – From – To
E. Ridgewood N. Maple Paramus Rd.
Bergen Spring Court
Somerville Spring E.R.A.
Spring S. Pleasant East End
Addison Irving Southern Parkway
Beveridge Norman Stratford
Bingham E. Saddle River Eastbrook Road
Chesterfield Sheffield Fairfield
Deerfield Sheffield Fairfield
Doremus Ackerman Godwin
Eastgate VanEmburgh Ave. Town Line
Fairway N. VanDien N. Pleasant
Fox Dead End East Side
Hamilton Norman Stratford
Hillcrest Morningside N. Monroe
Jefferson South End Orville
Jefferson Orville Hampshire
John Wyndermere Linwood
Litchfield Sheffield Fairfield
Madison N. Hillside N. Monroe Ave.
Madison N. Monroe Crest
Maynard To Dead End W. Ridgewood Ave.
MonteVista N. Monroe Heights
N. Hillside W. Ridgewood Ave. N. Monroe
N. Monroe W. Ridgewood Ave. Monte Vista
N. Pleasant E. Ridgewood Ave. Linwood
N. Pleasant Linwood E. Glen
Pershing Wall Linwood
Randolph Doremus East End
S. Irving Spring E. Ridgewood
Salem Van Emburgh West End
Sherman Godwin Washington
Sherman Washington Place North End
Terhune W. Saddle River East End
ValleyView N. Monroe Heights
ValleyView Heights Crest
Wall Pershing East End
Washington S. Monroe W. Ridgewood
West End Lincoln Bellair
West End Bellair Godwin
William Jefferson South End
William North End Jefferson
Woodland N. Monroe Crest
April 4,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Drugs and alcohol continue to be a pervasive problem in New Jersey’s cities as well as suburban areas. The New Jersey Department of Education released its most recent data of substance abuse cases reported by each school district . In the current list of the school districts cases in 2016-17, Ridgewood Schools broke the top 50 coming in 3rd in Bergen county and 49th over all with 17 reported cases , trailing only Englewood with 19 and tying Ridgewood field park with 17.
The state Department of Education has cautioned that these numbers are reported by each district, each jurisdiction is self reporting and is responsible and required by law for reporting its results fairly and accurately.
2018-2019 budget information
April 3,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Board of Education has approved the preliminary 2018-2019 school budget. Public presentations will be given at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 3 at George Washington Middle School Auditorium and on Monday, April 16 at Benjamin Franklin Middle School Auditorium.
Click here to view the 2018-2019 Preliminary Budget presentation, given at the March 20 Board of Education meeting.https://www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=13032001
This budget is out of control and the unions are to blame. Time for new teachers to be put into 401Ks – the pension system is broken beyond repair. Time to do away with tenure. Time for union employees to pay the same for insurance coverage as those of us that pay their salaries. The time for change is now as the status quo is not sustainable.
Why do they get platinum health insurance when most private sector plans are bronze level coverage? If you want it, pay much higher premiums. Why should Villagers be subsidizing better health care coverage for Village and BOE employees than our own family coverage? Makes no sense.
Reader says ,“We must attend the budget meetings at schools and speak up. Last night I watched budget meeting on TV and a gentleman protested that it was insanity to spend close to 800 thousand dollars alone on new windows for Ridgewood School Board of Ed . He said he and other residents were having a hard time making ends meet because of new tax laws on property taxes. Loncte and Fishbein were completely unsympathetic and rigid about spending all that money. Loncte said they had to spend that money in order to keep house sales high , because people chose Ridgewood for there good schools. Thanks to James we known that Ridgewood ranks less than other less expensive towns in Bergen County.”
