The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
file photo by ArtChick
August 14,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Franklin Center, a non-profit, public-interest media and public policy organization invited the Ridgewood blog to attend their “Amplify School Choice” conference in Denver.
The conference took place all day Thursday, August 11 through noon on Friday, August 12 at the SpringHill Suites in downtown Denver. Over 50 of America’s top bloggers and citizen journalists attended the event .
While we are advantaged with quality schools in Ridgewood , it is simply not true for so many parents and so many young people in New Jersey . We have all read about chronically under preforming schools all over New Jersey . The reality is your zip determines your educational opportunities and success.
The fact is urban education, despite 30 years of New Jersey Supreme Court required intervention by the state, is still failing students and their parents at an alarming rate. The theory from the Supreme Court was that money would solve the problem.
“But as we have all become aware is , “The Abbott school experiment is a colossal failure because it is based on the theory that throwing money at a problem fixes it. Problems facing urban schools are cultural and socio-economic. When people in power face up to that, we can make progress.
There’s not a lot of political profiles in courage because it is easier to toss tax money or make excuses than to say until underlying causes are dealt with, it won’t get any better, just more expensive with more kids’ lives wasted. A few politicians do get it. (Ingle, Gannett)
https://www.app.com/article/20110821/NJCOLUMNIST06/308210033/-1/NJCOLUMNIST/BOB-INGLE-Nutter-delivers-a-message-to-youth”
Not only have the policy been a abysmal failure but the cost to non “Abbott School” tax payers has been astronomical.
Governor Chris Christie pointed out recently the , ” New Jersey spends the 3rd most in the nation per pupil on K-12 education. For the upcoming fiscal year we spend 13.3 billion dollars on aid to K-12 education. How do we spend it? $9.1 billion goes back to school districts in direct aid. $3.25 billion is to pay for the pensions and health benefits for retired teachers. $936 million goes to pay the debt on schools, mostly in urban districts, to build new schools. $13.3 billion—and that does not count the money paid in local property taxes.
Who gets the $9.1 billion? Well, that begins to tell the story. By order of the Supreme Court, and coerced acquiescence by the elected branches of government, this coming year $5.1 billion goes to the 31 urban or SDA districts. $4 billion goes to the remaining 546 districts. That’s right. 58% of the aid from the state’s taxpayers goes to 5% of the state’s school districts. 42% of the aid goes to the remaining 95% of our districts. This is absurd. This is unfair. This is not working. And it hasn’t been working for 30 years.”
This is why Govenour Chris Christie has proposed giving all school districts same amount of aid, and provide some towns like Ridgewood property tax relief.
It is clearly time for some new ideas , and new student centered education policies . Here are a few we discussed at the “Amplify School Choice” conference in Denver.
School choice: a wide array of programs offering students and their families alternatives to publicly provided schools, to which students are generally assigned by the location of their family residence.
Open Enrollment : the process by which parents/guardians residing in a district may enroll their children into any school district in New Jersey.
Charter Schools: a publicly funded independent school established by teachers, parents, or community groups under the terms of a charter with a local or national authority.
Home Schooling : A “must read” for new homeschoolers! In New Jersey, the Legislature under the compulsory education law (N.J.S.A. 18A:38-25) has permitted children to receive “equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school,” including the home.
April 12,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, When a bright, happy preteen evolves into a self-absorbed or anxious teenager, apprehensive parents can’t help but wonder, “What’s wrong with my child?”
The answer could be “nothing,” other than the typical struggles adolescents have always faced, says Jeffrey Leiken, author of “Adolescence is Not a Disease: Beyond Drinking, Drugs and Dangerous Friends – The Journey to Adulthood” (www.Leiken.com).
As CEO of Evolution Mentoring International, Leiken provides mentoring for teens and young adults, going beyond the typical work of a therapist by building a relationship so that they come to see Leiken as a trusted confidant who answers their late-night text messages and isn’t quick to label them.
“I don’t start with the premise that there is something wrong with them that needs to be fixed,” Leiken says. “The teens and young adults I work with often are saner than the system they are in – a system that seems to forget we are raising humans, not building robots.”
Parents sometimes get caught up in that system, too, but in many cases they just need to chill, he says.
Leiken says parents who want to prepare teenagers for the day they will venture out on their own should:
• “Great advice, wrong source” – Enlist the aid of other adults. Parents are puzzled when they give excellent advice that their teenager promptly ignores. But adolescents often discard words of wisdom from their parents that they would embrace if the guidance came from someone else. That’s why it’s important to enlist the help of other adults who can offer coaching, training and guidance to the teen.
• Avoid letting fear be the guide. Too many parents are on edge, worried that if their teen isn’t in the top 1 percent of the high school class, they will be denied hope for economic prosperity, status and independence. Their anxieties can rub off on young people who become hesitant to take risks for fear of endangering their future. Instead of scaring them, parents need to encourage teens to step outside their comfort zones and take risks that will help them grow into confident, well-rounded adults.
• Help teens eliminate choices. One popular bit of advice parents hear is they should encourage teenagers to keep all their options open. That sounds like a good strategy, but isn’t. In reality, parents need to encourage teens to eliminate options – such as for colleges or careers – that aren’t and never will be right for them. The teens’ decision-making abilities will increase as a result.
“Parents also need to realize they don’t have to become experts in raising teenagers,” Leiken says. “They just have to become expert in raising their own teenager.”
About Jeffrey Leiken
Jeffery Leiken (www.Leiken.com) is the CEO of Evolution Mentoring International and is co-founder of HeroPath International. Leiken also is author of “Adolescence is Not a Disease: Beyond Drinking, Drugs and Dangerous Friends – The Journey to Adulthood.” He has presented at TED in Athens, Greece; guest lectured at Stanford University; and facilitated programs for teenagers on three continents and in seven countries, among other accomplishments. He has a master’s degree in educational counseling.
NBA Hall of Former Charles Barkley , ‘Unintelligent’ blacks ‘brainwashed’ to choose street credit over success
NBA Hall of Former Charles Barkley spoke candidly about the problems facing the black community when appearing on a Philadelphia radio station, accusing “unintelligent,” “brainwashed” African-Americans of keeping successful ones down.
While appearing on “Afternoons with Anthony Gargano and Rob Ellis,” Barkley was asked about a rumor that Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson was getting criticism from his black teammates for not being, quote, “black enough.”
Barkley went on a long monologue on the subject: ”Unfortunately, as I tell my white friends, we as black people, we’re never going to be successful, not because of you white people, but because of other black people. When you’re black, you have to deal with so much crap in your life from other black people. It’s a dirty, dark secret; I’m glad it’s coming out.”
Barkley said that young black men who do well in school are accused of “acting white” by their peers. “One of the reasons we’re never going to be successful as a whole, because of other black people. And for some reason we are brainwashed to think, if you’re not a thug or an idiot, you’re not black enough. If you go to school, make good grades, speak intelligent, and don’t break the law, you’re not a good black person. And it’s a dirty, dark secret.”
https://dailycaller.com/2014/10/25/charles-barkley-unintelligent-blacks-brainwashed-to-keep-successful-black-men-down-video/
