Did you seriously just compare this to "Bernie Madoff"??? BAHAHAHAHAHAH you Sir are hysterical... LOL!!!!!!!!

Wow, I have to say what Ritaco did was criminal and he will go to jail for it and he should for sure as he is a felon. But, are the folks in Toms River that far removed from the real world? Madoff ran off with I think 50 BILLION dollars. In comparison like a grain of sand to the Ocean maybe?

You weren't calling him a low life when he was keeping your taxes low, our school district well funded, your kids educated with state of the art facilities, new materials, etc etc etc... just sayin!

Ah i guess bring in new jobs, making the district profit from investments, bringing in revenue to Toms River in general classifies him as a low life? Give me a damn break people. Seriously.

Justin...you live in a place called fantasy land. State of the art facilities!? How about leaking roofs with garbage cans in every hallway collecting water...out of date computers taking 5-10 minutes to load up...classrooms not having LCD projectors and teachers using 30 year old overhead projectors...Science books that are 15 years out of date...yeah..state of the art my rear!

Justin, stop insulting us by defending ANYTHING this guy did. He was supposed to be leading by example. These are only the things that he got CAUGHT doing. I am so sick of the "Ritacco fan club" trying to defend him in any way.

yes we have justin i would say that i know he has been a sneak since 1983

and the jobs he brought in were to people who did him favors their kids and so on come on justin you have no clue! wonder if a tally was taken of how many teachers were hired without teaching certificates just how many it would be please all who you knew back then

Justin, your post is testimony to the education you received .

Justin, Can only be a BOE member from the Rat-TACO era or one of his family members. He is a low life scum of the earth criminal, period. If you have not noticed he is going to jail. why don't you join him if you think he is a good guy?

We had lots of tax relief? Way more then any other town that's for sure. Look i'm not saying that what he did was right in taking bribes. But you people really don't have a CLUE as to how much good he did. Not one bit. That's clearly obvious. I have a family member working in the district as a plane old teacher. I also have many friends working in the district. They are all deeply saddened that he did this, because now, and only NOW, the district is going to go to hell in a hand basket. "just sayin"

How much do you want to bet he gets a slap on the wrist. "just sayin'"

Justin - For all the "good" Ritacco did for the district, the results have not quite panned out. Of 322 high schools in NJ, Toms River East ranked 239, Toms River North ranked 222 and Toms River South ranked 269. Being at the bottom third when it comes to performance isn't a t-shirt I'd be printing up any time soon. BTW...the rankings were reported in NJ Monthly Magazine and compiled from Dept. of Education statistics.

AMEN vrdl!!!

@Justin -- you just exposed the reason why you are so pro-Ritacco: you have a family member working for the district. Well, pal, Ritacco's gone, so you don't have to march lock-step to the party line anymore. Your family member's job is safe.

By the way -- my school taxes have NEVER gone down in the 20+ years I've lived in this town, nor were they ever that "low", as you said. It was all district propaganda aimed at stupid taxpayers who were blinded by all the bling brought in by Mike under the guise of being "for the kids". Yeah right -- it was all for Mike. The kids had nothing to do with it.

I, too, praised all the "outside the box" things Ritacco did to raise revenue while keeping taxes down. Obviously there was much nepotism going on. I still think the BOE members that were his rubber stamp for decades should be probed. How could they let Federal Hill just renew year after year without looking for a comparable company? Maybe they were getting a taste of the treats? hmmmm

Justin must be a relative. The schools would have had more money for education had this fool not been at the helm and stealing. I am still waiting for his good friend Christie to comment on this, but I guess that will never happen.

You must be a republican. I have no government job, I grew up in Toms River and went to school in the district and I know the type of education i got, thanks to all Ritacco and his employees did for us students. Again, I do not agree with what he did at all. And i agree, he should be punished. I'm simply arguing the fact that you people are all so ruthless and clueless how much this will not hurt the district. I get it, we could have had more money for schooling, but NOW its going to be much much less then it was when he was taking bribes!

I agree, and I would have bet the bank Justin was related to someone who works in the TR schools. And he just confirmed it. Not all who work for the schools, defend him, but I know a lot that do. That sickens me. They are willing to look the other way, because he did so much. Please, I am so sick of hearing that. Justin, you go break the law like he did, and see if anyone defends you. They will lock you up and throw away the key, and that's what he deserves. He was living like a king, and parents were having to spend hundreds of dollars for supplies for their kids to go back to school. I don't have ANY sympathy for him. He knew he was breaking the law and he is so arrogant, he didn't care!

people love to see great people fail the facts are we were better off with him he could have done things diffrent but if you look around at the schools in 2 short years grounds are a disaster already and the sports fields just a hudge mess

Are you for real? what does being a democrat or republican have to do with this? You can defend him all you want. I went to school in Toms River too. My education was thanks to the great teachers I had, He has nothing to do with the education kids are getting, he was too busy stealing and trying to get his name on anything he could. Stop insulting teachers now too!

patg: You may be right that people love to see great people fail, usually because they are jealous of them, but are you seriously comparing ritacco to a great person? Give me a break.

Jill - To put all the blame on the school district, superintendent and BOE for the nepotism in hiring practices is still leaving out one more culprit. If such is the case in public education, I thought your union was conceived for the primary purpose of instituting fair hiring practices? Seems like you may want to seek a refund of your dues. So long as public education remains a monopoly, there will be many hands in the cookie jar. Bring on vouchers, charter schools and parental involvement on selecting the appropriate school for their children. A little competition for limited education dollars may be the shot in the arm that this bloated, unaccountable system requires.

dave and jill those statements are so true...ive been saying that for years...its unbelievable what went on...now those hirees will be principals etc laughable what the empire he created will become...omg okay you date my friends daughter u get a job and so on and so on...and like i asked before how many were hired without certificates? or how about your husband works out at the gym with my wife...ok you get a job..no certificate no problem

Please, let it be Christie....

another joke cafe 1144...give mistress job...ritacco river fest you dont work it hmmm will you get a job for any friends if you dont? i think a book and movie are next...marshall and ritacco upstanding t r citizens

They all turned their heads, and he will take down anyone who speaks out against him. It's business as usual, only difference is, his little "side" businesses are done. I think that we should have insisted on cleaning house.

He took bribes from the insurance companies. Tell me how that is stealing from the tax payers? Because he rewarded contracts to those companies giving him bribes even if they were higher then other companies who perhaps underbid? Really explain it to me how those bribes - paid for by companies NOT taxpayers - is stealing from the tax payers?!

Justin just in case you havent figured it out the scheme works thru the rates the rates are paid by the school district which is funded by tax payers...He does business with the company gets paid back some of the money for doing business with them...thats how the bribe works ..The guy doesnt dig in his pocket take his own money to pay the one get bribed.......

You are absolutely correct, Delay is victory!

Remember the Full Day Kindergarten scandal? Remember Former Mayor Strada drove to the US Attorneys office to present evidence and ask for an investigation? Remember The US Attorney for NJ turned down the request to investigate?
The US Attorney for NJ was Chris Christie!!!
Who had a fundraiser at his home for Christie when he ran for governor? Mike did in SSP!
Who was on Christie's transition and education team?? Mike
YOU BET Mike's praying to outlast the Obama administration!

Great point, PS The judge was a Clinton appointee!

Justice delayed is justice denied.

great points system and yes i remember the mayor doing that...he also had the chief of police in his pocket too....remember the suicide of his mistresses son...no publicity nothing ...chief covered up plenty...was it about cash from ritacco center? and talk about cash all cash from ritacco center who handled all that? o boy it just gets better and better

I would hazard to guess that the 2.5 million was factored into the district's premium payments. I doubt highly that Gartland went into his own personal stash of cash to grease Ritacco's palms. Let's face it...the taxpayer was absolutely impacted in this little scheme.

Speak for yourself George M. Lobman. I do not have within in me the greed that admittedly Michael Ritacco and yourself have soiling your souls.

Proud, To at least have thoughts of it is human nature. If you deny that you are lying to yourself.

Well said George. I understand "proud" says that they do not have the greed within him, but I wonder if he was ever presented with the types of situations Mr. Ritacco was. I too believe that he did so much good and finally "ate the poisonous apple". Just think, if Adam and Eve never gave in to temptation.....we wouldn't be here. He gave in to temptation. He's going to pay for it. Stop trashing him and don't make his children and grandchildren pay for it. Yes he was wrong. Yes he is human.....move on.....

But his girlfriend was living with all the best. While teachers struggled and the kids suffered. I hope they clean out under EVERY rock. I hope all his "favorites" go down with him. For years I had family knock us for having any opinion about him, if it wasn't praising him, they told us we were wrong. They don't even talk to us now because we dared to have an opinion other than theirs. Karma, it's a wonderful thing.

YEP no one knows what really was going on..It all looked good on the outside until you start looking on the inside

Nice,..the criminal justice system is broke , you should have sold him some insurance lol

Mr ? - I think you missed my point. There is no "quality" in our public education. When nearly 80% of NJ community college Freshmen require remedial coursework, can we agree that grade and high schools are not doing their jobs? Whether budgets are managed on the "backs of teachers" or on the backs of the taxpayers unless we understand that we are not getting a return on our investment, we will continue to have our children's futures circle the drain. We must make education a priority. Dumbing down an entire generation with "feel good" programs at the expense of the basic tools children need to succeed in life is unconscionable. Paying teachers more, hiring one more administrator or constructing one more ball field will not improve math and reading skills. A national commitment to learning does not exist. We're more concerned with hurting a child's feelings than preparing them for the real world as adults. This holds true for their parents as well. We must change our culture and implement the notion of consequences. Help those students with learning difficulties, but do not do it at the expense of those students capable of high achievement. We insist upon equal opportunity. However, that does not translate into equal outcomes.

Kind of interesting that a number of the inside people close to the attorneys for the Toms River school system are under federal investigation, or have already plead guilty to federal offenses, Santoro, Van Pelt, Stites, Grasso, Orlovsky, Ritacco, Inteso, and so on...makes you wonder about Gilmore & Monahan.

You are correct. The fact of the matter is that while school superintendents and coordinators continue to give themselves big salary increments the districts scrimp on the salaries of teachers refusing to hire any above entry level. This cheats experienced teaching candidates from equal job opportunity and more importantly cheats students from the expertise of seasoned professionals. I would say it takes a decade to learn how to teach and while entry level people deserve a chance so do people with experience coming from other school districts. I drafted a detailed letter about unfair hiring practices to Governor Christie but he has not answered it. Can you imagine just ignoring a two page letter(?) These School boards think they are the king of the hill. Apparently our governor is too busy to draft an answer to an email letter. I will try again if he still doesn't answer I am going to the APP to see if they will publish the letter. It just basically lets him know the state is rampant with unfair hiring practices thanks to the likes of cronies like Ritacco, but not limited to him.

KC - I agree that the best candidates are not getting hired for a whole host of reasons. I, however, have to say that the teachers' union does its members no favor in protecting bad (and in some cases, horrific) teachers from being appropriately fired. The "good" teachers will always be pulled down by their incompetent colleagues and I think it's time for those qualified educators to step up to the plate and DEMAND from their union that the bad apples go. I think that would do a world of good in bringing back confidence to the taxpayer who continues to fund what we can all agree is a broken system. Ritacco is simply part of the issue. The problems are significantly deeper than one greedy and corrupt administrator.

And then the cow jumped over the moon …

ITS HARD TOO.. He is a larger than life thief . was entrusted with the public trust & funds ..It was not like He passes wind at the diner , oops & than moves on..Thats not what happened here ,,He needs to pay back the money ,go to jail, than we move on....

Sorry Suzanne, Ritacco is not gone. He continues on through incumbent BOE members ...the Ritacco six as they are called... and through HIS past administration and professionals still in place. So many of his constituents remain. The patronage, the nepotism, the conflicts still exist...business almost as usual

Agreed Suzanne. Hardly a larger then life criminal. People are just so over the top with their comments its unbelievable.

I see someone is a ritacco supporter

Is there really much difference between a pimp and a prostitute?

I been saying the same,, since after he was principle at walnut street school ( and I or any of my family does not work for toms river schools)ASk the employees when he did his summer carnivals he was not a nice guy . He would get pay backs if you didnt see or do it his way..

Apparently JOHNNY didn't read or understand what A Citizen was trying to say at all. Take the blinders off man!

Justin you must have read thru my comment I was adding I did not disagree

and why couldnt someone from a different district be the new super? all who worked with him served him and knew what was happening...it was like he had this hold on people , then their family got jobs ...and so on and so on

Mr. ? - I absolutely agree that Ritacco needs to be significantly punished, but I almost get the sense from some of the posts that he did "good" things for our schools with little concept of what those "good" things are. My concern is that there are a lot of parents who feel that a new sports field constitutes quality education. Folks who think that TR schools are the cream of the crop when it comes to academics are fooling themselves and worse still, their children. I have lived in this town for 30 years. I have raised my children here. TR offers a lovely quality of life. Our schools, however, need improvement. For all the administrators and taxpayer $ poured into this system, we should expect incredible outcomes, high graduation rates and college readiness for graduating seniors. We "ain't" getting it.

And...he said: I never heard of Mike ????? Didn't know him @ ALL !!!! Move on ???

he will be going to sunny north carolina or somewhere like that...probably even have a golf course