Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

9-8-17 Education in the News

NJ Spotlight--Interactive Map: How Cuts to Federal Funds Will Hurt NJ's School Districts

A reduction in federal funds would be felt by all districts; some would bear up, but others would be devastated

Federal dollars fund less than 3 percent of the average New Jersey public school budget, but large cuts to federal education aid would still hurt districts, devastating some.

Last May, the administration of President Donald Trump proposed a 14 percent cut in education funding, which would give more than $9 billion less to schools on all levels. One major reduction would halve the federal work-study program that helps college students pay their tuition bills. Most of the rest of the cuts would impact K-12 public schools: Medicaid, teacher training and class-size reduction, after-school services, literacy, and career and technical education.

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/17/09/07/interactive-map-which-school-districts-would-be-hurt-most-by-cuts-in-federal-funding/

Colleen O'Dea | September 8, 2017

 

NY Times—Education by the Numbers

Statistics show just how profound the inequalities in America’s education system have become.

There are as many American public school educations as there are students. One shared factor that affects a vast number of them, however, is race. Its impact drives the four narrative features in this week’s Education Issue. But numbers can tell their own stories too. The statistics here suggest how much has changed — and not changed — in the more than 60 years since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education was supposed to make education equally accessible to all Americans.

The racial makeup of the U.S. school system is shifting. Public schools are seeing surges in the enrollment of students of color; Latinos are leading the increases, while the numbers of white students are shrinking. White families in cities like Washington are flocking to private schools, where fewer black students are in attendance.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/magazine/education-by-the-numbers.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Feducation&action=click&contentCollection=education®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

Alice Yin| Sept. 8, 2017

 

Education Week--Students' Scores Inch Up on ACT Exam

Students performed slightly better on the ACT this year than they did last year, and Hispanic students notched a special victory: Their level of college-readiness rose even as more of them took the exam.

The average composite ACT score for the graduating class of 2017 was 21.0, up from 20.8 in the class of 2016, but the same as the classes of 2014 and 2015. Each of the four sections of the ACT—English, reading, math, and science—is scored on a 0-36 scale.

Fewer students took the ACT this year: 2.03 million, or 60 percent of the 2017 graduating class, sat for the test. Last year, about 60,000 more students—64 percent of the 2016 graduating class—took the exam. The numbers mark the first decline in 13 years and the biggest drop in ACT test-taking since 1990.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/09/07/us-students-scores-inch-up-on-latest.html

Catherine Gewertz | September 7, 2017