Available to All, a non-profit that advocates for “basic fairness and openness” when students seek admission to traditional, charter, and magnet public schools, has a lot to say about the last category. In “The Broken Promise of Brown v. Board of Ed,” analysts argue that magnets grant preference to privileged families and sabotage educational equity. While its new report covers the whole country, analysts could have used Newark, New Jersey’s largest school district, as a microcosm for the nation. According to new ratings, the highest-ranked public schools in Newark are two district magn ..read more

The New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association (NJPCSA) celebrates April’s School Library Month and the tremendous contribution school libraries make towards fostering literacy and creating a lifetime love of learning. With the observation of School Library month, NJPCSA calls on Governor Murphy and the Legislature to provide public charter schools with crucial school facilities funding so that every public school can provide their students with a dedicated library.  In Governor Murphy’s FY2025 proposed budget, emergent projects and capital maintenance aid for public charter schools ..read more

Two Asbury Park school board members, Barbara Lesinski and Jesse Ricks, have publicly asked for aid from Senator Vin Gopal and Assemblywomen Margie Donlon and Luanne Peterpaul “to step outside the shroud of politics and think about our children.” According to the Asbury Coaster (no link available), the two members say they have been “blacklisted” by the seven other board members who are determined to get rid of Superintendent Rashawn Adams, who is currently on administrative leave. He has been replaced, at least temporarily, by Acting Superintendent Mark Gerbino, with whom Adams had a long-r ..read more

Two sets of New Jersey school ratings are out and, to no one’s surprise, the top schools on the lists from U.S. News and World Report and our own Department of Education are selective magnet schools that only admit students who meet rigorous admissions requirements. For U.S. News, the top ten are all county magnets. Number One is High Technology High School in Monmouth where 300 students, all Asian and white and only two percent eligible for free/reduced lunch, compete annually for 75 slots. According to the DOE, the top 23 schools are all magnets; the highest-rated one is Woodbridge Academy ..read more

Shawn and Tracey Jeffas are owners of SpeedPro Westwood. As parents of a child with special needs who is on the disability spectrum, our journey has been one of both challenges and triumphs. Every day brings new opportunities to advocate for our daughter and ensure she has experiences that help her grow. But amidst the hurdles, there are many moments of joy and support that remind us why we are so proud to be part of such a caring and determined community.   Recently, we had the privilege of being part of an extraordinary event that not only touched our hearts but also exemplified ..read more

The ACLU of New Jersey and Garden State Equality sent letters to 16 school districts across the state urging them to readopt state Policy 5756 to safeguard the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ youth and to meet their responsibilities to transgender students under federal and state law. By revoking this important policy, school districts, leave administrators without clear guidance of the law, open their districts to legal liability, and, most alarmingly, signal to LGBTQ+ students and families that their schools may not be a safe and welcoming environment. “School administrators must do everythi ..read more

A new report from Newark Opportunity Network, “A Portrait of Newark,” looks at how Newark young people, ages 16-24, are faring. They conclude that the Newark youth “have the lowest level of well-being among the 170 neighborhoods that make up the New York Metropolitan area,” with 18.4% of teens and young adults neither in school nor working, double the national average and higher than pre-pandemic levels. These “disconnected” youth, the report says, “often struggle to see a way forward.” Does Newark’s public education system, a major determinant of well-being, help at-risk young people close ..read more

School districts throughout America are confronting the “fiscal cliff” they’ll face next year after the federal Covid emergency funds expire. In New Jersey we have an extra cliff to fall over: According to Gov. Phil Murphy’s 2024-25 state budget, for the first time ever our school funding formula will be fully-funded, with districts getting enough to top off what the State Department of Education calculates as “adequate.” The catch is the increase in extra funds is coming from a line item called “Adjustment Aid,” which is now fully phased out.  This means that long-overfunded districts ..read more

Newark Opportunity Youth Network, in partnership with Measure of America, a project of the Social Science Research Council, today released A Portrait of Newark. The report is an extensive study of the well-being of the Newark community across race, ward, and gender and shines a light on Newark’s young people aged 16 to 24 who are neither working nor in school. The report findings are based on the American Human Development Index (HDI), derived from the United Nations Human Development Index, and measures three fundamental capabilities: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge ..read more

Earlier this month the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) unveiled its annual School Performance Reports, showcasing assessment, student growth, and accountability data for all public school districts statewide. Notably, in mathematics, five of the top ten highest performing districts are public charter schools, despite serving less than 5% of New Jersey’s public school population. Similarly, in English language arts (ELA), two of the top ten highest performing districts are public charters. College Achieve Paterson Charter School (CAPS Paterson), where 93% of students hail from econ ..read more