Friday, October 21, 2011

Another attack on public schools

Teaneck High SchoolImage via Wikipedia
State and local tax dollars -- a total of $15.4 million -- would help pay for a proposed online charter school for 1,000 based in Teaneck. Above, Teaneck High School.


The Record has blamed the generous salaries of police officers and public school teachers for budget woes and high property taxes in many North Jersey towns.


So, it's not surprising Editor Francis Scandale thinks every charter school proposal deserves Page 1 play -- as in today's report about an online school that expects to have a $4.7 million surplus after its first year.


That's after the school grabs $15.4 million in state and local funding -- some of which would come out of the public-school budget in Teaneck. Let's hope state officials put the kabosh on this ridiculous plan. 


Beating a dead horse


Of course, Scandale pushed the charter-school story to the bottom of the front page to give as much space as he could to the stale news of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's death.


Today, as in the past, Scandale grasps desperately at an international story that has been repeated endlessly on TV, because he doesn't have any North Jersey or New Jersey news to fill Page 1. 


There are other, potential A-1 stories in the paper, if the assignment desk under Editor Deirdre Sykes only developed them.


For example, readers learn on A-3 today that a new executive director of the Port Authority will be paid an obscene $300,000 a year -- this after the bi-state agency raised Hudson River tolls and fares, but made no promises about improving mass transit.


Greece seems to be self-destructing (A-6), but I have yet to see any reaction stories from the many wealthy Greeks who live in North Jersey.


Local news drought


In Local, four-plus pages of higher education news mean there is no  municipal news from Hackensack, Englewood, Teaneck and other towns.


Road Warrior John Cichowski again strays from his mission to report on commuting problems by reprising a fatal accident involving a teenage driver "last August" in far-off Atlantic County (L-1).


Cichowski blesses his few remaining readers with one of the most awkward phrases in today's paper: "nanny-state social engineering" -- hyphenated, no less. What could he possibly mean?


Stuffed blouse


Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung tells readers in just her second paragraph the best-selling item at Park West Tavern is a grass-fed beef hamburger ($14), but then completely loses her train of thought and fails to say whether bacon, veal, steak and other items she sampled also were naturally raised (Better Living centerfold).


After describing a noisy family tavern with high prices, Ung says it wouldn't be appropriate for anyone "expecting fine dining." Thanks for stating the obvious.


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4 comments:

  1. Yes another trainwreck of a review from Elisa Dung. Dung has been on an endless pursuit of overpriced restaurants in higher end towns like Ridgewood, Edgewater and Montclair for weeks now even though many people in this area are in pursuit of more reasonably priced restaurants. Do not forget to take note that Dung referenced there was a "young adults" menu with sliced hanger steak and butternut squash. I am no too sure this is a family restaurant as Dung describes; I do not know too many children under 10 that are interested in this type of cuisine. Not to mention that a family of 3 who orders an appetizer and soft drinks would run a tab close to $100 with tax and tip. Dung doesn't seem to realize that not everyone eats on The Record's dime as she does.

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  2. Yes. This "family" tavern sounds pretty awful, as hard as she tries to be upbeat, and some of the entree prices are through the roof.

    Even if I was eating meat, a hamburger with french fries isn't my idea of dinner.

    I love how restaurant reviewers swallow the "concept" of a new restaurant without questioning just how ridiculous the execution is.

    And she is always dropping the word "quality," but rarely backs it up.

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  3. Your kid eats fries with like every meal Victor. Go through your blog and count how many times he orders fries while you eat your grass-fed tilapia.

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  4. Guess that would have to be underwater grass.

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