Teaneck's Firefighter Fiasco

Those overpaid Teaneck firemen are too much.
At last night's council meeting, moved to the library to allow more people to attend, the firemen stacked the crowd in their favor by forcing "certain" people to leave the room because there was a "fire hazard." Interesting to have seen which folks the firemen chose to force to leave. Most were very likely people who did not see things the way the firemen did.

The firemen keep harping on their proposal to change overtime to days off and "consider" forgoing raises this year.

That, of course, means Teaneck will face the same situation next year. Their plan just pushes off the problem for another year. 

Layoffs mean we don't have to deal with this again next year.

Mayor Feit is a long time volunteer on the Teaneck Ambulance Corps, a volunteer organization (where he may or may not have sexually abused a teenage volunteer).

My question remains: why do we have paid firemen at all? Seems that most other towns in our area make do with volunteers.

From an earlier post, here are some stats regarding local fire departments:
Teaneck: 98 paid firemen, 0 volunteer firemen
Bergenfield: 6 paid firemen, 72 volunteer firemen
New Milford: 0 paid firemen, 48 volunteer firemen
Bogota: 0 paid firemen, 84 volunteer firemen
WHY ARE WE PAYING FOR A FIRE DEPARTMENT? 
And I still haven't gotten over the FACT that Teaneck's "bravest" caused the death of the Seidenfeld children a few years back.
Save Teaneck lots of money, fire the firemen!

The Rising Cost of Day School Tuition

I voted in the BofE elections today. I had to wake up the poll workers, the place was so empty.

Anyways, this hit my inbox today, so I'll share it with the rest of you.

Subject: Seeking a Sustainable, Affordable Day School Model

Friends - We all know the rising cost of Day School tuition has been an issue for quite some time. And now, the current financial crisis is shining a spotlight on the topic. While many day school and community leaders across the country know this is an issue, let's use this petition to quantify and demonstrate just how big of an issue it is. Please click on the link below to sign your name and forward to your friends. http://www.petitiononline.com/alephbet/petition.html Then, let's work together to find a long-term, affordable model to provide our kids with an excellent Jewish and Secular education.

The Anti-Semites of Teaneck

Maybe I read more into it than I should, but I think I'm right on target with this one.

A member of the Teaneck orthodox community, Herb Burack,  is running for a seat on the town's Board of Education.

His kids attend(ed) yeshivot.

Therefore, he must be running to try to "screw" the public school kids. He can't possibly have their best interests in mind. He can't possibly be running because the school system as it now stands is an abhorent failure. He can't possibly be running to stem the waste of taxpayer's money.

Seems to me that the popular opinion is if you don't want to spend the exorbitant sum of $18,500 per student, you must want the schools and the students to suffer. If you don't want to pay $100,000+ for a gym teacher, then you don't have the students best interests in your heart. If you think handing out raises to teachers in the current economy is a bad idea, you must hate public school students.

This, of course, is not my opinion.

This is the drivel that's being discussed on the "Teaneck Progress" blog.

Nobody has come out and said it as bluntly as I have put it, but that's what I derive from "between the lines" of the postings I have read.

In last week's Suburbanite, there was a letter to the editor endorsing one of the other candidates. Here's what bothered me most:  "It is imperative as we continue the process of up-grading (sic) the Teaneck school system that we elect candidates that love and respect public education and will fight for the quality academic programs, athletic avenues, and social activities that our children so richly deserve."

Let me ask: Why do our children "richly deserve" athletic avenues and social activities? This is a school district, not a summer camp. If parents think their kids "richly deserve" these non-academic pursuits, let them arrange for these things at non-school hours and at their own expense, perhaps as a reward for getting good grades in school.

Well, enough is enough. 

Burack is the bitter Herb our school system needs.