Reader says Ridgewood pays 29.10% more for education than the national average
National average cost per student for public education – about $12,743 per public school student. – https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66
Ridgewood 2010-11 Costs Amount per Pupil: $16,456 – https://www.nj.gov/cgi-bin/education/csg/12/csg.pl
Ridgewood pays 29.10% more for education than the national average,
Our residents do not make 29.10% more than national average wage to live here! This is what happens when teachers unions have the state in a stranglehold. Residents are leaving NJ because of high education costs Who will be left here to pay the taxes?
curious how much u think the avg wage in the US is.
National Avg as of ’12: $45k
Ridgewood Median income: $146k (that’s 3.2x’s for the math challenged)
NJ overall: $65k (that’s 44% higher than national avg)
So, ur right that our residents don’t make 29% more, it’s 320% more
enough with all of the stupid arguments about village services…i happily pay more in this town for better services. Education, Fire, Police…happy to pay more for better services
We already have the highest public safety wages in NJ, above both the state and Bergen County averages. That also means we have among the highest pension & healthcare benefits in the state. So for those keeping count that’s 1) highest wages in-lne with the Ridgewood median household income $146k; 2) job security for life because no one ever gets fired unless they steal or shoot someone off-duty; 3) over $3mn in lifetime pension benefits, and 4) unlimited healthcare subsidized massively by taxpayers. That’s four for four!
Amazing we’re only 29% above national average if those per student figures are correct. It should be more like 3x ! Cops already double the national average and 28% above Bergen Count avg which is the highest pay in NJ. Schools train our future leaders, public safety is insurance. Society should be valuing education & training over policing & fire protection, otherwise we’ll lose our competitive edge and get passed by the Chinese. Oh, wait…
The author of this post has an agenda. He wants to fire teachers and hire more police & fire. Why ?
I don’t know where you got your numbers from #1 but your number is really low.
According to the US Census Bureau report Median Household Income: 2011–2012 National and State Comparison
Real median household income in the United States showed no statistically significant change between the 2011 ACS and the 2012 ACS (see Table 1).4
The ACS 2011 U.S. median household income was $51,324 and the ACS 2012 U.S. median household income was $51,371. This is the first time since the 2007 ACS that median household income did not decrease. From 2006 to 2007 there was a significant increase in U.S. median household income of 1.9 percent
Looks like the BoE has some explaining to do… Ridgewood median income 2.9X national median in 2012 according to post #5, but we are only spending 29% more per student than the national average ? Where is the BoE spending it’s $99 million if not on our students ?
#5, I don’t understand your point. #1’s point still holds if the average income is $52k.
Another point to be added to this discussion is that the Ridgewood school system produces a far greater set of student outcomes than 30% above average.
i’m #1 (is it weird that it felt good to say that?)
to #5…really low? make it $60k then…whatever…the original poster is off by a massive order of magnitude
original post: “Our residents do not make 29.10% more than national average wage to live here! This is what happens when teachers unions have the state in a stranglehold. Residents are leaving NJ because of high education costs Who will be left here to pay the taxes?”
ridgewood’s median income is roughly 3Xs (that’s 300% again for the mathematically challenged) the national average and we only pay 29% more on services. what’s the original poster’s argument? we should pay less for teachers? i don’t think so…i moved here because it’s safe and has a great school system…so far i have been pleased on both fronts and happy to pay for it (even if i have to pay more)
i live the same distance from the firehouse (in ridgewood) as the people whose house just burned down (in midland park). My son choked on an apple a few years ago, they were there in 2 minutes. The house burns in midland park and that firehouse doesn’t get called for 15 mins because the midland park fire chief wanted his volunteer force to run it…i’ll take our current services, thank you very much
stop complaining about paying more for better service and please keep using inaccurate data to make your argument
I can come up with school systems in the tri-state area that pay more .
Paying more does not mean services are better.
A teacher making less doesn’t say screw it I’m not going to do my job.
Just because I have rich neighbors doesn’t mean I should pay our municipal employees more than other towns in NJ,
I think you will find proof that extra spending does nothing as far as the ‘end result’.
Just look at Paterson, which thanks to the ‘Abbot ruling’ spends the same or more than any Bergen county town on their students (using NJ state funds)
The students do not do well on state tests despite having money pissed away on their behalf.
I’m told by a former teacher there that the only requirement for advancement to the next grade is attendance.
So spending more means NOTHING if the kid doesn’t want to learn.
all this money to implement crappy curriculum like common core.
boy… we are a bunch of dopes.
“common core” does seem to make quality school systems and antiquated notion from a bygone era