The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
>The Fly is curious. Has anyone filed an OPRA yet to determine the names of candidates #2 & #3? Were any internal candidates being considered? Reportedly, there were over 30 applicants.
It’s difficult to believe that BOE members are going to appoint another interim Super instead of just tapping the next person on their list. Could it be that Marty Brooks was the only candidate they ever looked at?
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>The Village Council will have a harder time seizing 120 Franklin Avenue for redevelopment after the New Jersey State Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that targeted property must be blighted and not merely underused.
The 42-page unanimous decision said that town officials cannot seize homes and businesses simply because they believe those properties can be put to better use.
The court wrestled with what constitutes blight in deciding a case from Gloucester County, where the town of Paulsboro sought to condemn a 63-acre tract made up mostly of wetlands.
Chief Justice James Zazzali wrote that Paulsboro considered blight to be property that is “stagnant or not fully productive” but could be rehabilitated.
“Under that approach, any property that is operated in a less than optimal manner is arguably ‘blighted,’ ” he wrote. “If such an all-encompassing definition of ‘blight’ were adopted, most property in the State would be eligible for redevelopment.”
Zazzali wrote that blight includes deterioration or stagnation that has a debilitating effect on surrounding property as outlined in the state constitution.
Ridgewood’s Village Council recently passed a resolution designating portions of North Walnut Street, Oak Street, and Franklin Avenue as “in need of rehabilitation.” The question now is whether that targeted area indeed has a “debilitating effect on surrounding property as outlined in the State Constitution” as per the Chief Justice’s interpretation.
Get ready for an expensive legal battle if the Village Council should decide to proceed with their redevelopment plan.
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U.S. formula: Cocky and dumb
Monday, April 2, 2007
Only 6 percent of Korean eighth-graders expressed confidence in their math skills, compared with 39 percent of eighth-graders in the United States, according to the latest annual study on education by the Brown Center at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
The problem is that the surveyed Korean students are better at math than the American students. Their kids are unsure and good, in short, while ours are cocky and dumb — not exactly a good position for the U.S. to occupy in an increasingly competitive global economy.
Competition? Bah
Unfortunately, we’re in that position of unskilled self-satisfaction by design. For those in American education with an aversion to competition, an aversion to the thought of winners and losers, the idea of putting self-esteem ahead of academic performance was an easy concept to adopt.
Rather than seeing self-esteem as something that flows from good performance, they made self-esteem the first priority, assuming that good performance would flow from an inflated level of self-satisfaction.
It’s like those no-score ball games. The goal is good feelings. Everyone plays, no one loses, every kid gets a trophy. It’s like the teachers’ contracts — no scorecard, no linking of pay hikes to performance, everyone’s a winner.
It’s a mind-set that sees score-keeping as too judgmental, too oppressive, too capitalist, too likely to deliver inequality and injured self-images, whether it’s with pay or on the ball field.
Or as Allen Guttmann, professor of English and American studies at Amherst College, said it in the Journal of Contemporary History: “A small but prolific group of French and German neo-Marxist historians and sociologists have argued that modern sports are a mirror image of capitalist institutions, and are, therefore, inherently repressive.”
Richard Bath reported on the same egalitarian thinking in Europe: “In 2002, Brian Harris, the head sports officer with Edinburgh city council, provoked criticism by suggesting that children on the losing side at a football match would be spared ‘psychological hurt’ if the referee scored a few goals on their behalf. A year later the head teacher of an English primary school ruled that parents should be banned from school sports day because children would be ’embarrassed’ if they lost a race in front of them.”
To additionally reduce psychological hurt, Chief Illiniwek, after 81 years, has danced his last dance as a mascot at the University of Illinois. Similarly, the Washington Bullets are now the Washington Wizards. Bullets was more accurate.
Ban the boos
Also upsetting can be booing, especially for lousy players. To fix things, “the organization that presides over high school sports in Washington state is considering a ban on booing at sporting events,” reports Joe Queenan in The New York Times, regarding guidelines for fan behavior issued by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association that would outlaw booing as well as offensive chants.
The booing ban is just the most recent in a series of decrees from the association regarding fans. “The association’s rules already prohibit handmade signs and artificial noisemakers at state tournament basketball games,” reports Queenan, and also prohibit “negative remarks about officiating before, during or after an athletic event, urging those dissatisfied with the officiating to submit a complaint in writing.”
An official is supposed to hear nothing but silence when he makes a bad call — no noise calling for an instant replay. Just send a letter, like to Congress.
The executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, Michael Colbrese, says he can’t understand why people “think it’s acceptable to boo in the first place.”
It might be the opposite. We might not be booing enough in the United States. In politics, for instance, try nowadays to boo George W. Bush and you end up several blocks removed and booing inside a chain-link cage.
The British yah-boo system is better. Hackneyed politicians in the House of Commons can’t get through more than a few lines of their speeches before being hit with a barrage of taunts and jeers. It cuts the pomposity.
Look back in history. The countries that got most in trouble were the ones that quit the booing, quit heaping abuse on their politicians. What’s bad is when everyone stays quietly in line, doing “Sieg Heil,” no matter how nuts it gets. And so, we’re now at the point where we can’t bring our own Jack Daniel’s to the game, can’t smoke and can’t holler. Why go?
Ralph R. Reiland is an associate professor of economics at Robert Morris University and a local restaurateur. E-mail him at rrreiland@aol.com.
https://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/reiland/s_500410.html
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The BOE president declares that his call to a fellow fireman (his subordinate) was just a call to a long-time friend. He didn’t harbor any concern to the obvious fact that he was a public official and a fire captain whose brother just happens to be the fire Chief, calling a subordinate to ask why his name and that of his wife appeared on the petition. In the case of the Hawes principal, she perused the petition and called “all of her parents” who had signed it.Chilling effect?
To echo a BOE statement, one might consider “this to be a most unfortunate situation for the Village and schools. It is not reflective of Ridgewood’s supportive community and its values.”Link to New York Times article running today.
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/14/nyregion/14math.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all
>Village Council Approves “Underage Drinking On Private Property” Ordinance
By a 4 to 1 vote, the Village Council last night approved a much debated “Underage Drinking on Private Property” ordinance. Councilwoman Kim Ringler Shagin cast the only “no” vote.
Although Council members claimed to have received many e-mails objecting to the ordinance, only two persons of the dozen or more who spoke at last night’s Public Hearing opposed its passage.
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June 12, 2007 VORMATH.INFO
Open Letter.
The mothers at VORMATH.INFO are deeply saddened that we need to provide the following public statement.
We have represented our families, our town, and ourselves in a respectful manner in this discourse on math curricula.
This Tuesday, we learned of Dr. Martin Brooks’ decision to withdraw as Ridgewood Public Schools’ next Superintendent. Dr. Brooks cited personal reasons. To speculate as to the nature of those personal reasons would be disrespectful .
For us, it has always been about the math.
We would like to see a more rigorous and mainstream math program in our schools. We believe in our fundamental right to express respectful public comment at Board of Education meetings, to create and sign a petition, and to speak freely to the press.
We have read through curriculum reviews and state standards because this is an intellectual debate. We have articulated to the best of our ability our personal experiences as well as the information we have found in support of our position.
We are an example of Ridgewood’s community and its values.
Chick here to sign the petition
https://vormath.info/WordPress1/
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>Hey Ridgewood; here’s a novel idea. Janice Dime, Paramus’ embattled superintendent, will soon be in need of a new job. Why don’t BOE members consider hiring her? She’d fit right in with their “we’re tired of hearing from loudmouthed parents” and “we know what’s best for your children so don’t butt in” philosophy.
No one on the BOE but Joe Vallerini blinked an eye when Dr. Porter gave his famous “so long as I’m the Superintendent, I’ll call the shots around here” speech, and from what I’ve read about Dr. Dime, she’s just as heavy handed and autocratic. We could probably get her cheap too.
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>The Board of Education’s statement on the reason for Brooks’ withdrawal is an outrage. In typical fashion they now blame the parents who spoke in the best interests of their children, and not themselves.This is a time for us to unify, and not divide, and make sure they get it right next time around. The Board, however, has elected to use the language of division in their announcement.The public discussion of Brooks’ appointment is “reflective of Ridgewood’s supportive community and its values.”When we speak on behalf of our children we are not “undermin[ing] the process.”Call the Board of Ed now. Demand that they retract their public statement and that they publicly apologize for their unfortunate choice of words
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From the Village Website!!!
Brooks Declines Ridgewood Superintendency
Dr. Martin Brooks has informed the Ridgewood Board of Education that because of personal reasons he will not accept the Superintendency in Ridgewood. It is the position of the Board that before Dr. Brooks’ arrival he was made to feel unwelcome. Anonymous phone calls, emails, blogs, and web postings by some community members questioned his integrity, ethics and educational philosophy. The Board considers this to be a most unfortunate situation for the Village and schools. It is not reflective of Ridgewood’s supportive community and its values.After an extensive nine-month process, using criteria and specifications developed in collaboration with the community, the Board selected Dr. Brooks to be the next superintendent. Some in the community took exception to the Board’s decision and have undermined the process.At its June 18, 2007, meeting, the Board will discuss the hiring of an interim superintendent and the initiation of a second superintendent search. As always, the Board will continue to focus on the education of more than 5,600 students in the Ridgewood Public School system.
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The Public Hearing for Ordinance 3065, “Consumption and/or possession of Alcoholic Beverages by Underage Persons,” will be held beginning at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 13th in the Sydney V. Stoldt, Jr. Court Room at Village Hall, 131 North Maple Avenue, Level Four.
Text of the proposed ordinance is available here:
https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/clerk/ORDnum3065.pdf
>When our very own regional newspaper admits that Reformed Math was, “… intended to have a low intimidation factor and may be more accessible to students — particularly girls and African-American students — who are less likely to enroll in higher-level math courses,” it has identified perhaps the greatest fear parents have with these programs: they will NOT adequately prepare students for higher math learning.
On that, everyone from Stanford to Harvard to New York University agrees. The BOE and its Superintendent of Curriculum have still not justified why this program has been forced upon the unwitting students of two of our elementary schools. Have these schools been targeted for being considered more “diverse” economically than the other elementary schools, with the expectation that their students will likely go to lesser ranked colleges? Could it be that Ridgewood itself is overflowing with African-Americans, who are under-performing? Is the fly missing something here? What does the great BOE know about our demographics that we, the good citizens of this Village, cannot see?
I get it…it must be the “stupid” girls. Girls are everywhere. And where there are girls, then it stands to reason that a dumb math program must follow. Ladies, you’ve earned it. That Barbie Doll who “hated math” has tagged you for life. Forget about equality in the classroom or in the workplace. In Ridgewood, the BOE has decided that you are DUMB…dumber than the dumb math program. If you go to Travell or Orchard, then there will be no Harvard, Princeton or Yale for you based on your “high” math scores.
The Record visited Travell third grade teacher Matthew Connelly’s classroom. Connelly told the Record that what he likes is that his class is, “using our multiplication skills to think about this math.” That’s nice Mr. Connelly, since the College Board is considering qualifying students of TERC as special education performers, thereby giving them extra time to “think” about math on the SAT’s.
>The fly heard Dr. Arilotta and Bob Muller got their hair blown out yesterday.
It must have been that the New York Times was coming to visit Travell and Orchard school and interview the district about their fuzzy Math. Hmmmh, the NY Times, why didn’t Marty Brooks want to come and speak with the Times about how he implemented TERC in his last district?
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>Because of scheduling conflicts, the Board of Education is postponing the public welcome reception for Dr. Martin Brooks, the incoming Superintendent of Schools at the Ed Center, originally scheduled for Monday, June 11, 2007.
