>The Ridgewood Blog invites all readers to comment on the pro’s and con’s of BOE budget :
“Well, which is it that you object to, the accounting standards or the teachers’ union? Look, I agree that the union is out of control, I don’t know how to fix that, I’ll be the first to admit. But the fact is, voting down the budget or cutting OTHER things from the budget A) doesn’t solve the problem of the teachers taking too large a chunk, and B) harms my kids as services or opportunities are taken away. I feel like the only way to ensure my kids keep getting the truly quality education that they get in Ridgewood (and if you don’t believe me, just go live somewhere else like California and see what your money does or doesn’t get you), the only thing I can do is hold on to what they’ve got… I’m just being honest here. You can see the budget yourself…exactly which line item would you suggest they reduce, if they can’t reduce the teachers’ salaries and benefits? Make a suggestion…let’s hear it. I’m not hiding behind the kids, I’m trying to save their education as best I can. What are you doing to HELP? “
“And one more thing…you keep complaining about taxes going up like it’s something unique to Ridgewood. From 2000-2006, Ridgewood’s level of tax increase ranked 448th lowest out of 568 communities in New Jersey. That doesn’t exactly place us in the forefront of rampant tax increases. I’m not using the “everybody’s doing it” excuse, just giving you a little perspective…the cost of education and its illogical tie to property taxes is a statewide problem. Be honest, you don’t really care about the education budget or how much is spent on our kids. You only care because of what it does to your own property taxes. If the costs were buried in some statewide budget like in many other states, you’d be content to let the school board use its judgment to do what they felt was right. That bothers me. Fix the real problem, the whacky funding formula for NJ schools. “
“wait a minute… you can’t compare percent increase to the dollar increase. An increase of $10 million in five years is not the same as a 15% increase in other districts.
As per the quality of education… I doubt the it has increased by $20M to the quality of education I received 10 years ago in the RPS.
Salaries going up is one thing… and my friends are teachers and I support quality education… but.. . The increase is not just for salaries and what are the kids gaining from this?
Building maintenance should be part of the regular budget. New books should be part of the regular budget, and IT improvements should be included in the regular budget, not a supplement to the annual tax increase…
What new programs were created as a result of the tax increase?
Why do I have to volunteer for the BOE when I can voice my opinion as a resident and make a bigger impact?
Why compare Ridgewood to California when we can compare it to 5 years ago? Is the budget increase merely sustaining performance levels or are we seeing a difference. I would rather pay more to see a significant difference if it could be justified as opposed to merely the status quo of raising taxes. Why do Ridgewood residents pay Ridgewood taxes and still send their kids to private schools?
Honestly the biggest change in RPS education that I have noticed is a lack of interest of parents to hold their kids accountable. I am not saying that you are one of them, but kids these days are spoiled rotten and parents blame the schools before disciplining their kids. When was the last time you heard of parents checking their kids homework, or their class notes, etc. Maybe you are a good parent, but I grew up with kids in this town that were not as motivated as I was because their parents were always on vacation.
MAYBE WE SHOULD BE HOLDING THE PARENTS MORE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF OUR SCHOOLS AND NOT JUST THROW MONEY AT THE PROBLEM. “
“Let’s not confuse the issues. Parenting skills may be a problem, but the discussion here is on the school budget. Here’s what’s worrying me. In his book, “The World is Flat,” Tom Friedman makes the argument that the US is woefully behind in training the next generation of science and technology experts, inventors and scientists. That means everything from doctors, engineers, astronauts, mathemeticians, comptuer scientists, accountants, etc. Who IS training for these positions? Pretty much every country that can, but especially, China, Korea and India. So what does Ridgewood propose to help turn this trend around? Believe it or not “a rich, humanities-based education.” Is this the right way to go? Did anybody on the BoE ask this question? No. The televised budget discussion was a touchy-feely session where all in attendance looked relieved that they couldn’t come up with a penetrating important question–or, didn’t have to answer one.Who is going to inherit the high-tech legacies and companies built by Jobs, Wozniak, Watson and Grove? Apparently, not us Ridgewoodians.We’re digging our own graves. One budget cycle at a time.”
>In five years they increased their budget $10M. I wish my salary increased that much.
What are we gaining? Budgets like these don’t require you to spend all the money allocated from the previous year. How much is being rolled over?
How many bs projects are being created to spend money so that budgets can be increased like painting cars that don’t need to be painted?
>You can easily get the answers to your questions by reviewing the budgets. It is all very clear…the district’s costs have increased. That’s the plain and simple truth. Perhaps you’ve noticed how prices in general go up from year to year in your own life? Did you think that didn’t happen for schools? Duh. In the publicly-accessible budgets, you will see that there is no “stockpile” of money rolling over from year to year. You obviously don’t have children in the schools — or if you do, then you are one of those parents who chooses not to be informed and not to take an active role in your kids’ education. If you paid attention you would see that there are not projects being created simply to spend money. That’s insulting. The development of the budget is a very difficult and detailed task…consider yourself lucky that you don’t have the courage to actually run for the BOE and take it on. And what does your BS about painting police cars have to do with the schools’ budget? NOTHING…go take up that issue with the Village. Leave my kids out of it.
>BB the budget is 80 million bucks thats a lot of bananas …dont hide behind the kids ,the BOE budget is about unions getting more .Public education has nothing to do with childern any more its just a make work projects for unions..
>now come on BB you know that budget doesn’t meet even minimal accounting standards
>Well, which is it that you object to, the accounting standards or the teachers’ union? Look, I agree that the union is out of control, I don’t know how to fix that, I’ll be the first to admit. But the fact is, voting down the budget or cutting OTHER things from the budget A) doesn’t solve the problem of the teachers taking too large a chunk, and B) harms my kids as services or opportunities are taken away. I feel like the only way to ensure my kids keep getting the truly quality education that they get in Ridgewood (and if you don’t believe me, just go live somewhere else like California and see what your money does or doesn’t get you), the only thing I can do is hold on to what they’ve got… I’m just being honest here. You can see the budget yourself…exactly which line item would you suggest they reduce, if they can’t reduce the teachers’ salaries and benefits? Make a suggestion…let’s hear it. I’m not hiding behind the kids, I’m trying to save their education as best I can. What are you doing to HELP?
>And one more thing…you keep complaining about taxes going up like it’s something unique to Ridgewood. From 2000-2006, Ridgewood’s level of tax increase ranked 448th lowest out of 568 communities in New Jersey. That doesn’t exactly place us in the forefront of rampant tax increases. I’m not using the “everybody’s doing it” excuse, just giving you a little perspective…the cost of education and its illogical tie to property taxes is a statewide problem. Be honest, you don’t really care about the education budget or how much is spent on our kids. You only care because of what it does to your own property taxes. If the costs were buried in some statewide budget like in many other states, you’d be content to let the school board use its judgment to do what they felt was right. That bothers me. Fix the real problem, the whacky funding formula for NJ schools.
>wait a minute… you can’t compare percent increase to the dollar increase. An increase of $10 million in five years is not the same as a 15% increase in other districts.
As per the quality of education… I doubt the it has increased by $20M to the quality of education I received 10 years ago in the RPS.
Salaries going up is one thing… and my friends are teachers and I support quality education… but.. . The increase is not just for salaries and what are the kids gaining from this?
Building maintenance should be part of the regular budget. New books should be part of the regular budget, and IT improvements should be included in the regular budget, not a supplement to the annual tax increase…
What new programs were created as a result of the tax increase?
Why do I have to volunteer for the BOE when I can voice my opinion as a resident and make a bigger impact?
Why compare Ridgewood to California when we can compare it to 5 years ago? Is the budget increase merely sustaining performance levels or are we seeing a difference. I would rather pay more to see a significant difference if it could be justified as opposed to merely the status quo of raising taxes. Why do Ridgewood residents pay Ridgewood taxes and still send their kids to private schools?
Honestly the biggest change in RPS education that I have noticed is a lack of interest of parents to hold their kids accountable. I am not saying that you are one of them, but kids these days are spoiled rotten and parents blame the schools before disciplining their kids. When was the last time you heard of parents checking their kids homework, or their class notes, etc. Maybe you are a good parent, but I grew up with kids in this town that were not as motivated as I was because their parents were always on vacation.
MAYBE WE SHOULD BE HOLDING THE PARENTS MORE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF OUR SCHOOLS AND NOT JUST THROW MONEY AT THE PROBLEM.
>Let’s not confuse the issues. Parenting skills may be a problem, but the discussion here is on the school budget. Here’s what’s worrying me. In his book, “The World is Flat,” Tom Friedman makes the argument that the US is woefully behind in training the next generation of science and technology experts, inventors and scientists. That means everything from doctors, engineers, astronauts, mathemeticians, comptuer scientists, accountants, etc. Who IS training for these positions? Pretty much every country that can, but especially, China, Korea and India.
So what does Ridgewood propose to help turn this trend around? Believe it or not “a rich, humanities-based education.” Is this the right way to go?
Did anybody on the BoE ask this question? No. The televised budget discussion was a touchy-feely session where all in attendance looked relieved that they couldn’t come up with a penetrating important question–or, didn’t have to answer one.
Who is going to inherit the high-tech legacies and companies built by Jobs, Wozniak, Watson and Grove? Apparently, not us Ridgewoodians.
We’re digging our own graves. One budget cycle at a time.
>100 laptops
for science labs ($141,247) so about $1412 a piece ..yikes ! do they must also do your home work for you ….
>First of all, a substantial part of the budget (and especially the 2nd question) is for technology. So it’s not all humanities. Second, the debate about humanities vs. science/tech is as old as the hills. At the K-12 level, I am a firm believer in teaching how to THINK and to appreciate mankind’s place in the universe, America’s place in the world and each citizen’s place in their community. That’s one of the main benefits of the humanities. I’m sure we do need more (or maybe just better?) engineers, mathematicians, computer scientists….(not sure we need more astronauts or accountants!). But those are things someone who knows how to exercise and use their brain can learn. If we don’t have a foundation for the big picture then we’ve taken away the “human” and we’re creating machines. That’s what a basis in the humanities does — keeps us human. And anyway, Steve Jobs dropped out of college (and besides he’s a marketing genius and those don’t come out of the science/tech world) and I think even Wozniak went back to college at some point for a “real” education. K-12 education is not job training. It’s not vocational tech school. It’s not a means to a particular paycheck. I say it again, it’s learning how to learn and how to think. I think it is completely appropriate for our K-12 system to provide a rich, humanities based edducation.
With that said, HOWEVER, I don’t think it has to be either/or and I don’t like it when people try to force it into a black-and-white choice. Sure, let’s look at how well we are teaching science/tech. But not as an alternative to humanities.
And finally, I think the process we have for developing our schools’ budget lacks a connection to the wishes of the community. I wish these kinds of “conversations” could happen within the process, not out on a blog two weeks before the vote.
>Anonymous 1:36, many of your questions and points are valid and deserve discussion. For example, I am sure that parents should be held more accountable. But my point is that any changes and solutions need to be discussed and crafted BEFORE the budget comes to the public for vote. That’s why I made the comment about getting involved in the BOE — either as a member or at the very least giving input to them before the budget is finalized. You can make a bigger impact by coming up with solutions, rather than simply voting the budget down and making a “statement.” We don’t need statements, and a budget failure puts the power into the Village Council’s hands (a truly scary thought!) Let’s start working on solutions in advance of NEXT year’s budget and future budgets. Because simply voting down this year’s budget doesn’t solve any of the issues that either of us raises.
To specifically answer some of your budget points — the budget does include textbooks and capital improvements…so not sure what you are complaining about. And the IT upgrades are so substantial, I think it does make sense to put them as a 2nd question.
And to Anonymous 2:46, yes laptops are certainly expensive, aren’t they? I just bought one for my collee-bound child and spent $1500+. Those prices are not out of line for good quality, up to date machines.
>As much as I’d love to attend classes with BBWool and his kids at Shangri-la High, I need to raise mine in the real world. The evolution into a thinking creature is a noble cause to advocate, but the stakes are different now. We and they need to think AND do, which is possible. How will the USA prosper–or keep pace–in the flat world if we continue to deny the fact that the educational system needs to change drastically, and fast. I don’t think many people in RW–certainly not on the feel-good BoE– are quite aware of how dire this situation has become.
>Has anyone noticed the mention at the combined Village Council/BOE meeting (in March) about a new phone system? Hasn’t anyone wondered how much this new phone system costs? The new phone system could have and should have been offered as a second question, which could force full disclosure of how much this system costs. Could the monies set aside for the new phone system pay for the second question items? If so, then my vote would be for an upgraded Spanish lab rather than for a new phone system.
>bbwool,
actually, there WAS a stockpile of cash not long ago, and the BOE did go on a spending spree. when the BOE was forced by state law to reduce its reserve fund, it could have returned the surplus to the taxpayers. instead, it spent every penny AND raised the budget, anyway.
the technology budget has ballooned over the past few years…for those of you complaining how hard it is to find out where the money is being spent, why not take a look at the recent technology plan, or the one before that?
the second question includes only SOME of the additional monies being requested for technology. for the upcoming school year, the BOE seeks to INCREASE the tech budget by more than $1 million, and this is already included in the new budget.
>just to clarify…the $1 million + tech spending increase MINUS the second question $$ is already included in the new budget.