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Ramapo High School

12-13-12

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Power of Ten Update

In this Issue:

  1. Urgent: Kindergarten on Chopping Block
  2. Call in Radio Show Friday AM
  3. Please support the class action civil rights lawsuit

 

1) Urgent: Kindergarten may be cut; please come to RAMAPO HIGH SCHOOL TUESDAY NIGHT

The school board has proposed that they will make extensive mid-year cuts which could include cutting ALL kindergarten classes!!!

Please note they have changed the location to Ramapo HS. Please watch for the next update in case they change it again.

School Board Meeting:

Tuesday, Dec 18, 7:30 PM

Ramapo High School

400 Viola Rd, Spring Valley

We are fighting to save public education, will you join us? We will NOT BE SILENT!!!

2) Message from East Ramapo Underground Radio:

The next East Ramapo Underground Radio Show on WRCR-1300AM is tomorrow Friday, December 14th right after the 10 o’clock news.

The call in number is 845-362-0013; call in with your comments, don’t be shy!

Listen in to find out this and who the Heros & Zeros are for the Month.

We will discuss recent Newsday & Journal News articles.

The next school board meeting is Tuesday, December 18, 2012, Ramapo High School at 7:30 p.m. What cuts will the Board do?

Thanks

Antonio Luciano & Peggy Hatton

3) Please support the class action lawsuit:

In 2009, East Ramapo parents first got together to chant “Save Our Schools”. Since then, there have been hundreds of layoffs and program cuts, and multiple citations from the state for failing to educate and failing to protect the taxpayers’ investments. Today, we are fighting back with a class action civil rights lawsuit!

Advocates for Justice, a New York based, non-profit, public interest law firm, has filed this lawsuit on behalf of East Ramapo School District parents, students, and taxpayers.

Advocates for Justice is not charging us a fee for this action, but they are in need funds to continue this fight. They are asking us to contribute what we can. Monthly amounts are especially helpful (and easier on tight family budgets!)

Be part of the solution, contribute online, or mail a check to:

Advocates for Justice

225 Broadway, Suite 1902

New York, NY 10007

5-10-12

Posted on
Power of Ten Update
In this edition:
  1. Emergency Budget Meeting TODAY at Ramapo High School regarding school safety
  2. Neighbor to Neighbor program celebrates public AND private school talent!
  3. How to help with the May 15 election
  4. Message from the editor
1) Emergency Budget Meeting TODAY at Martin Luther King Center
The Concerned Citizens of East Ramapo, are having an Emergency Budget Meeting and Voter Registration at the Martin Luther King Center 110 Bethune Blvd in Spring Valley Thurs May 10th (TONIGHT!) from 6:30pm-9pm.
If you are not already aware of the cuts that face our community, we have eliminated all Elementary Level Assistant Principals, half of the HS Assistant Principals, 3 Guidance Counselors, and 11 of 12 Social Workers in our schools along with some HS ESL services for our most fragile populations. There are many other cuts of concern that pose many questions of our children’s safety and hope for a future that a quality education would otherwise provide.

 

2) Neighbor to Neighbor program event celebrates public AND private school talent!

Saturday, May 12, 7 PM, Green Meadow School, 307 Hungry Hollow Road, Chestnut Ridge, NY 10977

A celebration of our wonderful local talent, featuring performers from Green Meadow, Spring Valley High School and other East Ramapo public schools

A public-private collaboration in support of our public schools and neighbors

Find out how education in our district’s public schools is being affected by budget cuts and how Green Meadow’s Neighbor to Neighbor programs have been reaching out to public school students and their families

3) How to help with the May 15 Election
Are you doing everything you can do to help with the election? Of course you can spread the word to your contacts, neighbors, etc. What else can you do? Here are some ideas:
  1. Go to www.poweroften.us and sign up for the online phone bank. Start making calls, right from home!
  2. Get a list of voters in your area and pay them a visit. It can be a very enriching experience to have a meaningful conversation with your neighbors about the value of public education. Email Michael Miller at miller66@optonline.net to volunteer for the Get out the Vote effort.
  3. Donate to the campaign at www.ccoer.com
  4. Help on election day! Call 845 354 5809 or email at concernedcitizensofeastramapo@gmail.com for info on how to help!
4) Message from the editor
You may have heard the polarization that is occurring in East Ramapo referred to as ‘public school vs. private school’. This is not really an accurate way to describe the situation, as there are many private school parents who do care about the education that students receive in public school. The neighbor to neighbor event on Saturday promises to be one of those moments when the celebration of diversity shows us a path to a better future. I urge everyone to come out and see how beautiful our diverse community can be when the public and private school students are encouraged to work together as peers. – Steve White, editor

5-3-12

Posted on
Power of Ten Update
In this edition:
  1. Rally TODAY at Ramapo High School regarding school safety
  2. Nyack group organizes to restore education funding
  3. How to help with the May 15 election
  4. Message from the editor
1)Rally TODAY at Ramapo HS regarding school safety

The East Ramapo PTA has requested that the School Board President’s address security concerns in our public schools. The complaint is that individuals frequently walk through / trespass on school grounds during school hours, while children are at recess or in class. These individuals, when asked to leave by faculty and Administrators, do not heed the warnings and refuse to leave. To date,the School Board President has not formally responded to the PTA complaint. The Superintendent has publically stated that he has observed trespassers but has not proposed any action to resolve the problem.

The press conference and protest rally will be at Ramapo HS, on Friday, May 4th at 3:30 pm

2) Nyack group organizes to restore education funding
Restore Education Funding (REF) is a group of parents in the Nyack/Valley Cottage school district working hard to make our legislators understand the impact of their action (or inaction) on our kids.
They have organized a petition drive focused on increased education funding and decreased standardized testing. They are also working with groups throughout NYS on a boycott of the upcoming field tests

They will hold an open forum and planning meeting:
Wed., May 9th from 7:30-9:00 pm
Living Christ Church, 151 South Broadway in Nyack:
Nyack Superintendent Dr. Montesano will speak and answer questions about the scope of tests to be expected in schools throughout NYS in the 2012/2013 school year as a result of Federal and State mandates

3) How to help with the May 15 Election
Are you doing everything you can do to help with the election? Of course you can spread the word to your contacts, neighbors, etc. What else can you do? Here are some ideas:
  1. Go to www.poweroften.us and sign up for the online phone bank. Start making calls, right from home!
  2. Get a list of voters in your area and pay them a visit. It can be a very enriching experience to have a meaningful conversation with your neighbors about the value of public education. Email Michael Miller at miller66@optonline.net to volunteer for the Get out the Vote effort.
  3. Donate to the campaign at www.ccoer.com
  4. Help on election day! Call 845 354 5809 or email at concernedcitizensofeastramapo@gmail.com for info on how to help!
4) Message from the editor
I would like to take just a moment to thank all of you who read these messages and all of those who have written to me over the years. We have done so much more than just electing school board members and increasing voter turnout. We have made a large portion of our community aware of the importance of public educational institutions in our life as a community. We have created a sense of ownership. We have highlighted the common responsibility to the children. We have emphasized with bold print and headlines that our common hope for a brighter future depends on what we teach our children and HOW we teach our children. The model of “I got mine and too bad for you” has served humanity very poorly. The ability to win an election is a responsibility, not a prize. The East Ramapo School system is being run by folks who do not care about the education of the children. They do not consider the residents of East Ramapo to be one community- the result is increased segregation in housing patterns and educational institutions in our district. East Ramapo, which had once been a model of diversity, a veritable United Nations of school districts, has now become a model of segregation and polarization. For a while, they tried to pass this new arrangement off as a different kind of diversity. But as sure as the night follows the day, domination follows segregation, arrogance follows power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And so we cannot be silent. We will protest when they hire lawyers at triple the price while laying off teachers. We will protest when they close schools while enrollment grows and classes become overcrowded. We will protest each time they favor one group and snub another, because that is not what democracy is about. Please do everything you can to help the Concerned Citizens of East Ramapo win the election on May 15, but also please be aware that you are doing very much more as you work to promote the values of education, community, and diversity. We are one people, that is a truth too often denied, but it remains a truth nevertheless. – Steve White, editor

Noche Latina

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A wonderful evening was enjoyed by about 500 people at Ramapo High School on April 7th.  There was great music, comedy, folk dancing and food.  One district parent, representing the new group “Padres Unidos” (Parents United) gave a brilliant speech.  He said: “Now is the time when students, parents, teachers and administrators get together to address the problems of our school. We are no longer spectators for the education of our children. Tonight we become agents of change and participants in the education of our children.”… “All of us started with a dream, the well-being and progress of our children. But a language barrier and lack of knowledge of the social codes in US schools constrains us. But the desire to create a better future for our children has always been in us, so we left our countries to seek a better future for them.”…”The future of our district and of our own children is in our hands. The time to change the course of the education of our school has come. Students and parents are going to work together to ensure the success of our community. The time to end the silence and invisibility is now. We have a voice, we are the voice.” Video from the evening is available at www.youtube.com/polanve