The Wizards game : Reader says better without the Teachers

The Wizards game : Reader says better without the Teachers 

Something for your readers to discuss:

What that Laura Grasso out there in center court with the Wizards Friday night? The very one who wrote the letter saying her teachers wouldn't participate in the event because they needed to spend their time researching for the contract negotiations. I swear that was her who got picked along with some lucky kids and other parents for the half-time show. I was hoping she would have the grace to bow out since she did her best to ruin the event. And when she didn't, I was hoping they wouldn't throw the ball to her and say something like "you won't play ball with you, we won't play with you."
Just saying...
By the way, the event was better without the teachers.

So the teachers bowed out of the Wizards Game ?

So the teachers bowed out of the Wizards Game ?

It is bewildering that such offense is taken by some when contracted employees choose not to participate in an event that is not remotely connected to their contract. Ridgewood teachers have been working without a contract since the end of the last school year. They have been castigated and vilified, have had a 1.5% reduction in their salaries, have seen additional responsibilities added to their day as a result of new legislation, and increases in their property taxes among other things.

Until this decision to not participate in the Wizards game they have not reduced the extra time and attendance that they typically donate to the district and their students. The decision to opt out of the VOLUNTARY, after-hours participation in the Wizards game was not done with intended malice. It was done in an attempt to make parents aware of the contract situation with as little impact on the students as possible. Academics were in no way compromised, and teachers did not relinquish any of their respect of the HSA.

 

Ridgewood Teachers bail on charity ballgame

Ridgewood Teachers bail on charity ballgame

TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2012
BY EVONNE COUTROS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD – Teachers have chosen to sit out this month's Harlem Wizards charity basketball game at the high school as contract talks continue between the Ridgewood Education Association and the Board of Education.

Members of the REA will not take to the court on Jan. 27 for the Ridgewood All-Stars charity event against the Harlem Wizards but about two dozen parents and school administrators — including principals — will substitute at the event.

The game — with tickets at $12 each — is sponsored by the Ridgewood Federated Home and School Association, with proceeds put toward the student-safety initiative in the village, Schools Superintendent Dan Fishbein said.

http://www.northjersey.com/ridgewood/137074233_Teachers_bow_out_of_charity_ballgame.html?page=all

Readers name some really good/great Ridgewood teachers . . .

Readers name some really good/great Ridgewood teachers . . . 

Marge Waters - Somerville

Holly Khoury - Somerville

Terry Ross - Somerville

Coleen Geiniec - Somerville

Meridith McLauglin - Somerville

Samantha Stankeiweiz - Somerville

Amanda Zampolino - Somerville 

Lauren Salvani - BFMS

Jason Curcio - BFMS

Elaine Carroll - BFMS

Trella Dolgin - BFMS

Alice Ziemba - BFMS


 

Reader says worst bullies are some teachers

Reader says worst bullies are some teachers 

The worst bullies at school who get away with the most damage to innocent students are the teachers. Our school administrators and superintendent have been provided with all kinds of evidence of this, and with the same teachers over and over, year after year, and these teachers still have their jobs and access to more innocent children to take out their neurosis on.

 Its time to start DYFS files on all of them. That's the only way to stop this from happening. DYFS will gladly take info on any current complaints of abuse against school age children, emotional or physical, and so will the police.

Readers debate Teacher "Cadillac " health plans

Readers debate Teacher "Cadillac " health plans 

I am teaching for 7 years now. I make just about 60K. They are taking more and more out of my paycheck each year. The pension and benefits I was promised when I went into the profession later in life are obviously not going to come to fruition.
My husband is out of a job and I have 2 kids in college. Think I am not hurting? Think again. Shame on you.
I care more about my students education on a daily basis than many of them do, and sadly, more than many of their parents do.


Could not agree more to the comment "welcome to reality" I have worked int he private sector all of my adult life and let me tell you I have paid and paid for my health and dental insurance over the years. I own a small home in the Lawns section of Ridgewood and pay high taxes, have family also ouyt of work, must pay for child's education as well as all of my health benefits. I do not feel sorry for teachers at all - it is about time you pay your share - the rest of us do - greatly with paying your salaries. I also agree way too much importance put on the Ridgewood school system with their athletic programs. Get real - americans before it is too late!!

Gov. Christie approves measure paving way for more charter schools

Gov. Christie approves measure paving way for more charter schools

Legislation signed today by Gov. Chris Christie will allow private schools in struggling districts to become charter schools.

"Charter schools, if done correctly, can be a vital part in improving our public education system and ensuring quality education for our children," said Assemblyman Albert Coutinho (D-Essex), one of the bill’s sponsors. "By removing some of the obstacles to creating charter schools, we’ll be opening the door to a better future for many children while ensuring the proper oversight is in place for a quality education."  (Megerian, The Star-Ledger)

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/gov_christie_approves_measure.html

What’s waiting for the winners in Trenton? Education reform

What’s waiting for the winners in Trenton? Education reform

Education reform may not have come up much as an issue in individual races leading up to tomorrow's legislative election, but it has remained a big topic looming in the background for both the candidates and the special interests backing them.

For the candidates, it is arguably the biggest issue the legislature will face in the coming months. Whoever wins on Tuesday will almost immediately face a slate of education proposals on the legislature's docket, including charter school regulation, tenure reform, and school funding.

Meanwhile, a key player in the election is not on the ballot but may prove as potent as any: the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), the statewide teachers' union.  (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/1107/0204/

Cerf assembles expert team to review school funding

Cerf assembles expert team to review school funding

Gov. Chris Christie has long said he doesn’t much like how – and how much -- New Jersey funds its public schools, especially its urban districts, and more recently he has said changes would be coming with his next state budget plan in early 2012.

Not surprisingly, Democrats have cried foul, with leaders calling for the administration to show its hand. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) wrote to acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf demanding details of what changes he has in mind.

Now, some information is starting to come out.

Cerf said yesterday that he has enlisted a team of nearly a dozen academics, researchers, and others to look at the effectiveness of the current School Funding Reform Act (SFRA) formula and help him come up with changes.  (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/1027/2318/

Democrats' Fine-tuning a controversial tenure proposal – quietly

Democrats'  Fine-tuning a controversial tenure proposal – quietly

The Democrats' leading bill to change teacher tenure in New Jersey is unlikely to get another public viewing until after the election, but its chief sponsor has begun a series of private meetings to fine-tune and amend the controversial measure.

State Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) always claimed that the bill she filed this summer was just a starting point. In some of her first extensive comments on the bill since then, the Senate education committee chairman yesterday said the work to revise it has begun in meetings she started last week with stakeholders and others.

"We have given people enough time to get their hands around it and study the bill," she said in her Trenton office. "Now we're having open dialogue as to what stakeholders think works and doesn't work and how to change it."

The amendments won't necessarily be at the core of the bill, she said, which would revamp how teachers earn and retain tenure protections. In its current version, Ruiz's bill would grant tenure after a teacher completed four years with satisfactory reviews and take it away after two consecutive years of unsatisfactory grades.  (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/0919/2236/

Chris Christie meets with educators

Chris Christie meets with educators
the Staff of the Ridgewood blog

(Ridgewood- NJ ) Gov. Chris Christie will sit down with school superintendents for an education round table today, to discuss the Governor's proposed education reforms

Christie has already capped superintendents' salaries and tangled with the public teachers' union NJEA on a whole host of issues.The Governor  is looking to do away with lifetime teacher tenure and replace it with more merit pay. He is also pushing for more charter schools and more public-private partnerships in education.

Obviously the Democratic-controlled pro Union Legislature would have difficulty supporting these reforms , so the jury is out on which of these reforms they may support. Earlier this year Christie tried to reduce funding to urban schools, (Abbott Districts) but the New Jersey's Supreme Court forced the state to restore the cuts despite the lack of educational progress in those districts

.

States fail to raise bar in reading, math tests

States fail to raise bar in reading, math tests

Eight states have raised their standards for passing elementary-school math and reading tests in recent years, but these states and most others still fall below national benchmarks, according to a federal report released Wednesday.

The data help explain the disconnect between the relatively high pass rates on many state tests and the low scores on the national exams, known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

In fourth-grade reading, for example, 35 states set passing bars that are below the "basic" level on the national NAEP exam. "Basic" means students have a satisfactory understanding of material, as opposed to "proficient," which means they have a solid grasp of it. Massachusetts is the only state to set its bar at "proficient"—and that was only in fourth- and eighth-grade math.  (Banchero, The Wall Street Journal)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904006104576500053368341870.html

Grant program to encourage new methods of teacher evaluation

 Grant program to encourage new methods of teacher evaluation

The New Jersey Education Department has announced a $1.1 million grant program to encourage school districts to take part in a pilot program tying teacher evaluations to student performance. (Giordano, The Philadelphia Inquirer)

http://www.philly.com/philly/education/124334418.html

Pilot project to launch Christie’s teacher evaluation system

Pilot project to launch Christie’s teacher evaluation system

The Christie administration’s vaunted plans to remake teacher evaluation in New Jersey will start with up to nine pilot districts testing various methods next year, with a little money and lots of guidance from the state.  (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/0616/2344/

Assembly Education Committee: Wins one for the NJEA

Assembly Education Committee: Wins one for the NJEA

Assembly Education Committee approves bill requiring charter schools to win voter approval

 A bill that would require charter schools to win voter approval in their communities was voted out of the Assembly Education Committee today, after a number of charter school advocates testified that requiring a referendum could divide communities and doom some schools. (Rundquist, The Star-Ledger)

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/assembly_education_committee_r.html

 

State Senate panel’s tenure bill would add mentoring for new teach

State Senate panel’s tenure bill would add mentoring for new teachers

New teachers would need a first year of on-the-job mentoring plus three consecutive years of good evaluations to earn tenure under a new bill described Sunday by the chairwoman of the state Senate’s education committee.  (Brody, The Record)

http://www.northjersey.com/news/052211_State_senate_panels_tenure_bill_would_add_mentoring_for_new_teachers.html

Sen. Ruiz’s long study of tenure finally coming to fruition

Sen. Ruiz’s long study of tenure finally coming to fruition

State Sen. Teresa Ruiz’s first deliberations on teacher tenure started more than a year ago, even before Gov. Chris Christie made it a centerpiece of his education reform agenda. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/0519/2336/

Growing tensions over charter schools

Growing tensions over charter schools

How much should local school districts have a say about the presence of charter schools in their midst? (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/0509/2355/

District reworks grant bid after dispute with teachers’ union

District reworks grant bid after dispute with teachers’ union

The Paterson school district's bid to radically restructure Schools 4, 6 and 10 has met resistance from both the teachers union and the private firm it hired to write the grant proposal. (Cowen, The Record)

http://www.northjersey.com/news/politics/121371678_Union_criticizes_plan_to_shake_up_Paterson_schools.html

Gov. Christie's legal team tells N.J. Supreme Court to keep hands off education dollars

Gov. Christie's legal team tells N.J. Supreme Court to keep hands off education dollars

Published: Thursday, April 21, 2011, 8:30 AM Updated: Thursday, April 21, 2011, 5:31 PM
By Chris Megerian/Statehouse Bureau

TRENTON — Back off.

That was the Christie administration’s message today to the state Supreme Court as New Jersey’s legendary battle over the state’s obligations to its poorest students was renewed in nearly two hours of arguments.

With former Supreme Court Justice Peter Verniero leading the charge, the Christie administration basically told the state’s highest court it should step aside and let the other two branches of government handle school funding.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/04/gov_christies_legal_team_tells.html