Reader Questions ” Tradition of Excellence”

“Tradition of Excellence” ?

OK, let’s look at the numbers, shall we…

Out of the 70 municipalities in Bergen County, we in Ridgewood pay the 37th highest property tax rates. This is to say that we pay *slightly less than* the average property tax rate. We certainly do *not* pay “high taxes” relative to some municipalities.

These guys pay the most (expressed per $1,000 of assessed value):

Bogota (Borough) 3.8
Ridgefield Park (Village) 3.723
Dumont (Borough) 3.525
Hackensack (City) 3.415

These guys pay the least:

Alpine (Borough) 0.801
Rockleigh (Borough) 0.873
Englewood Cliffs (Borough) 0.998
Saddle River (Borough) 1.013
Teterboro (Borough) 1.138

(Naturally, if you live in a fancy town with comparatively high home values, then you’re going to pay a high absolute tax rate versus someone who lives in a run down area of, say, Bogota.) –> obvious

Let’s examine how many Ridgewood High School students were accepted to the 10 colleges and universities that really matter to employers. They are (in no particular order):

Stanford University
Harvard University
Yale University
Princeton University
MIT
University of Pennsylvania
Brown University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dartmouth College

From this source:

It appears as though we’re only getting 2.4% into Ivy League schools. THAT’S TERRIBLE PERFORMANCE!

If were graduating a disproportionate number of students who actually get accepted to the best schools of higher education relative to, say, Alpine, then I’d say we’re “excellent”. If we’re not, then we’re merely average (at best). It’s that simple, folks…

And, shame on us if towns that pay less than Ridgewood are successful in getting their kids into the types of higher educational institutions that will help to secure their futures.

Fancy slogans like “Tradition of Excellence” are just words. The data doesn’t lie…

My grade for Fishbein and other so-called administrators: somewhere between a “D-” and a “D”