“In our education system they are the invisible population,” says Robert Clark, Executive Director of the Newark Opportunity Youth Network, referring to the more than ..read more

According to the latest rankings by U.S. News & World Report, some of the best public schools in New Jersey are charter schools. This was ..read more

New Jerseyans  have different ways of scoring how their local school districts function but our Department of Education has just one. You may have caught wind of it if you happened upon a panicked school board member muttering, “we’re being QSAC’d!”  What does this mean? Your elected official is referring to a state statute called N.J.A.C. 6A:30, subtitled “Evaluation of the Performance of School Districts,” which determines whether your school district is “high-performing” according to a complicated rubric called the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum (QSAC).  ..read more

After two years of extensive research, The Center for Learner Equity (CLE) has published the Charter School Equity, Growth, Quality, and Sustainability Study, a first-of-its-kind report  that examines the learning experiences of students with disabilities in charter schools and documents  policies and practices that foster access and success.  The research, commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, consisted of an extensive review of  education policy literature, a quantitative growth analysis, a media scan, legislative analyses, and more  than 15 ..read more

Andrew Mulvihill was Vice President of the New Jersey State Board of Education and served from 2011-2024. Did you know thirteen unelected members of the New Jersey State Board of Education (Board) have as much or more power over your child’s education than your local school board, superintendent, legislators, or even the Governor? The State Board of Education consists of 13 members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate.  The term for members is six years, but they can serve more or less depending on whether new members are nominated.  Members must be from different ..read more

Two bills, S2644 and S2647, have passed both houses of the New Jersey State Legislature and will likely be signed by Gov. Phil Murphy. The new soon-to-be-laws are aimed at the literacy crisis that started before Covid-19 school closures and have worsened to the point where six out of ten NJ public schoolchildren are not reading at grade-level. S2644 establishes the Office of Learning and Academic Recovery within the NJ Department of Education, with the purpose of promoting literacy and “learning equity through academic recovery practices.” S2547 establishes “a working group on student litera ..read more

Ed. Note: This is an update to NJ Ed Report’s 2021 Explainer, “How Are Schools Funded in New Jersey, and Why Are My Property Taxes So High?” Why do we need an update? If you’ve kept up with local media you know many New Jersey school districts are facing cuts in state aid; for instance, Toms River Superintendent Mike Citta just called the $137 million decrease in state aid for 2024-25 “nothing short of legislative child abuse and neglect,” one, he says, that has caused the lay-offs of 368 staff members. Why is this happening? What has changed in the way NJ districts and the state divvy up sc ..read more

She’s always felt grounded by nature.  At the YMCA Camp Mason, LEAD Charter School Class of 2024 graduate Atiya Johnson was immersed in the wooded enclave an hour away from her alma mater for her senior trip alongside 20 of her peers. Out there, in a terrain quite different from the concrete streets in Newark, Atiya reflected on how her life has transformed over the last few years – a transformation paralleled by the nature that surrounded her. Atiya always enjoyed being among the elements, even when she briefly lived in Florida. The torrential weather and heat were too much to bear for ..read more

Ed. Note: This is a media release from the Black Lives Matter-New Jersey chapters in Elizabeth and Paterson, as well as the statewide BLM organization. It is entitled, “Full Solidarity With Black Special Needs Teen Student Assaulted By Columbia High School Principal, Frank Sanchez.” The release refers to an agenda item at tonight’s South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education meeting where the board will vote to appoint former Columbia High School principal Frank Sanchez as “Principal on Special Assignment” until June 30th. (Full agenda here.) In March Sanchez was put on administrative leave th ..read more

Amanda Krause DiScala, Ed.D., Early Childhood Education is the Director of Early Childhood Education and Child Care Initiatives, United Way of Northern New Jersey. We’ve all heard someone say – isn’t child care essentially babysitting, what’s all the fuss? Cherry Galarza, a Warren County mother of two young boys can tell you the difference between the two. Her family recently faced an impossible situation – their child care provider was forced to shut down her home-based business for a week due to illness. Cherry had just started a new insurance job and couldn’t risk taking off. Her husband ..read more