That is how the real world works! The taxpayers are irritated because our district is one of the highest paying in the entire state and the quality of education is lagging – what happened to the Tradition of Excellence? The entire system of education needs to be revisited. Tenure should be abolished although nepotism will still cause problems just as it does in the private sector. Angry masses, as you refer to the taxpayers, simply want value for their tax dollars and are tired of demands by public servants for better benefits and salary increases than what is acceptable in the real world. I am starting to believe educators live in a protective bubble. You chose the teaching profession, hopefully out of a love of learning and children knowing that you could earn a decent living but not get rich. If money was your main motivation you should have considered a different path. Nurses, para-professionals, retail managers with the same level of education do not earn as much as teachers and do not enjoy the generous benefits including time off and generous pensions. Don’t tell me those professions don’t work as hard as you. You are not as special as you think.
All so true.
$$$ does not equal best & brightest teachers. They have a fair contract on the table and should take it. The private sector has been pounded since ’08 and there are remnants of people here in Ridgewood whose careers have been shattered. They had no government job and received no bailout. Obamacare made private care insurance costs skyrocket. We all pay and the teachers have to share in their own costs. Take the raise and move on.
Right on the money !
So true 1:36! A lot of friends and neighbors have been suffering with job loss and underemployment. Most large companies have downsized increasing the workload of the remaining employees (long hours) with no salary increases and absurdly higher contributions towards medical insurance It is a take it or leave it situation out in the real world. Many have had to take jobs far away from home just to have a job. If you don’t like teaching in our school system, you really should try getting and keeping a job i the private sector which you seem to think is so lucrative compared to your teacher’s salary and benefits package.
There is NO CONTRACT on the table… as of this morning BOE refuses to negotiate despite neutral state appointed mediator suggestions. So what raise are you referring to? Teachers are sharing in the insurance costs with many paying 35% of the premium. Take home paychecks are less then they were 6 years ago with no chance of ever recouping the loss. No one is looking to get rich but keeping paychecks from continually being reduced would be appreciated.
“There is NO CONTRACT on the table… ”
Incorrect. In one of the patent absurdities of government unions, all teachers are getting paid per the expired contract and continue to enjoy all the benefits, including a platinum healthcare plan. No wonder they have little incentive to agree to anything that does not contain significant upside.
Looking for salaries that increase but never go down, platinum benefits that private sector folks cannot dream of and millions worth of retirement benefits that us peasants cannot dream of is indeed ‘looking to get rich.’
@2:28, but to be fair paychecks are being reduced because you are actually paying for some of your healthcare…that was long overdue and new hires will not be seeing decreasing paychecks. You all were so lucky to have so much covered for so long…
I heard the Class of 2016 received their diplomas in plain envelopes instead of the traditional imprinted folder. I guess that’s the new “Tradition of Excellence” we all have to look forward to despite a $102,000,000.00 budget. What will be cut next? Hand soap? Paper towels?
4:47 you are correct but it had nothing to do with luck…past practice, which attracted educated professionals to enter teaching, promised that despite lower salaries for required educational levels, medical benefits would be a given, as would a fair pension at retirement. The playing field has changed and the rug pulled out from under current teachers who entered the profession based on past practice ideology. Requiring payment of 35% of medical premium plus increased pension contribution has put many in difficult financial situations. If new hiring guidelines need to be implemented it needs to start with new hires and current teachers should be grandfathered.
Seriously…no approval of an honest, civil, response to a comment? That’s a first for me on this blog. So disappointing.
sorry my phone died I was on the road
If the teachers do not like the way they are being treated by the RW BOE then they can leave and go to another district (i hear patterson has openings)
…but wait… they’d have to give up the nice working environment, the great pay and benefits, the safe environment, the interesting and dedicated students and parents and much, much more. But most importantly, they’d have to give up tenure— the guarantee of employment — where they have the OPTION of working hard or hardly working at all and still get the same pay as their peers with no risk of getting fired.
.
.The RW teachers KNOW what a great deal they have and are just greedy and have no real conviction of their stated beliefs – otherwise they would leave this “horrible” situation and get a “better” job elsewhere where they are “appreciated” and “paid what they deserve”.
.
DO IT FER DA KIDZ… WE LOVE YER KIDZ…
Not sure why the teachers seem to confuse a “tradition of excellence” with they, themselves, being excellent? The decline in our schools suggests they are, in fact, not continuing with the tradition… And health benefits and above property tax wage increases seem to be taken for granted. Offer them a diminished contract and if they don’t like it, they are fee to seek employment with another school board or in the private sector. If the grass is greener, walk!
Are we all aware of the actions the teachers are taking. They are so unprofessional and demonstrate a total lack of excellence and just no passion at all for the kids. They wait outside te high school as a group until the last minute required for school start, they lock the classroom doors during down time as not to be bothered to help a kid who may need it. They will not attend a single function, award prestantion, and in many cases do not offer to help write a recommendation letter or even some guidance. Teachers that do offer to support anything outside what is in the contract are threatened and hassled by other teachers.
These are not good people, they do not care about the kids, and they are taking advantage of this town who values eduction. No one is getting 3% raised a year, everyone is paying more for healthcare, and very few only work 180 days a year.
Fire a few, I will take the job, after 40 years in corporate companies I could,use the relaxed job
@9:18, I hear you but not sure you are hearing us. So many of us worked and had the rules changed! Unlike our parents and grandparents, very few are in one job for their career. Instead we are downsized, merged, made redundant etc. every few years and that is HORRIBLE too! It really is the world we live in and as taxpayers we can’t afford to have the rules changed for us, but not for the people our taxes support. Taxes are crushing so many people, and while many in this town can afford the increase many simply can’t or know with every $$ increase their home is harder to sell.
@9:26 I do hear you, I’m a Ridgewood resident and taxpayer too and don’t want to see any unnecessary increases. I believe an adjustment to how the current budget is allocated would allow a contract to be reached.. I realize it isn’t easy for anyone and compromise is needed. It is the hateful, mean spirited comments that are hurled that are hard to take. No one is being malicious, greedy, or uncaring.
8:35, have you not seen how the teachers are behaving at the schools?
The teachers are attempting to bring to the attention of the public the circumstances they are working under. They are honoring the conditions of their contract down to the letter.They have always been dedicated professionals who have gone the extra mile for their students; arriving early, staying late, attending sports and performance events, participating in off hour events, chaperoning field trips on their own time, always giving more than what is required of them has become expected rather than appreciated.
We teach our children to stand up for themselves, make their worth known, work as a team to accomplish a goal. Why now, when the teachers employ the very same tactics, are they behaving badly? How would you suggest they make the public aware of just how much of themselves they devote to their students that is uncompensated and above and beyond what is contractually required?
10:34. Some suggestions that may help teachers get attention. Drive teaching with a passion that raises the school and student grades and scores. Help identify sub standard teachers and support their dismissal. Work to eliminate the need for students to have tutors and extra paid for help to do well on tests and homework.
As for conditions. Go find a district with poor conditions, before you mention these. recently RW teschers were whining they had to walk to far and had street rules changed so they don’t have to walk. Sounds like awful conditions.
Sorry many are not good caring people, these are folks who could not succeed in any other profession.
As mentioned above, open some spots, I am sure many highly educated, harder working folks will step up. Think about how many people you know who retired from a corporate job and took a teaching job. Sounds like a real easy retirement. You can even lock your classroom door.
It also requires passionate students to achieve success. When teachers have attempted to raise the level of expectation and standards of the class they have been met with resistance from parents when Johnny didn’t get an A. No amount of teaching without student independent application can result in success. Not doing homework, insisting on placement in a class level that is inappropriate, having parents argue for higher grades that have not been earned does not make for better scores.
I do know some very intelligent, successful retired corporate people who despite being an expert in their field had no clue how to teach it to children. Needless to say they time in front of a classroom was not long.
As for locking doors, this mandate is not teacher requested but rather security requirements of the district to protect the safety of the students.