Down down down we go. We don’t need the cosmetic devices. “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it!”
How about spending some money on education instead of fancy finishes? No college asks “How beautiful was your school?” They ask “What did you learn there?” How many 3-D printers does Ridgewood own? How many students take the AP exams? How do they do? How many students who don’t wish to go to college but need education in more manual skills have that opportunity? We had all this up until the 80’s? We were very highly ranked in the 70’s, slightly lower in the 80’s, and as close to the bottom of current schools as we can get currently. Next year we well may be off of the charts.
We’ve given up “gifted and talented” classes, and there is no longer such a thing as homogenous reading and math groups–curtesy of the “no child left behind laws”. Our talented children are forced to hear the same math problem explained for days and get really bored and tune out school. We don’t seem to have robots, mechanical engineering, or any other learning based clubs. All the other schools are proudly shown off doing, and competing, in Club competition. Why not Ridgewood? Are our teachers too overwhelmed to be able to handle teaching to the child, not to the entire class? And why do our Administrators prefer to spend on beauty rather than things that will actually further our educational goals? Do we still have a debate club, a chess club, etc. etc.? Can all of our students sit at tables to eat or do we only one lunch period where students are sitting on floors, stairs, any where they can find someplace to plop?