I was prompted by this tweet by Alpha Sigma Nu to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Jan 21, 2019). When I saw the tweet, the first thought that popped into my head was “better understand and share about school diversity.” There is a dataset I’ve been dabbling with for quite some time now; it’s the annual enrollment statistics published by the NJ Department of Education. This dataset shows a limited view of diversity within our schools, specifically enrollment broken out by: Race (with limited categories of Asian/Black/Hispanic/Hawaiian & Pacific Islander/Native American/White) Language (a limited, binary view relating to English proficiency) ...
This is a quick initial post to point taxpayers to an excellent resource for rich, official public data about our public schools here in NJ. The NJ Department of Education (NJ DOE) has, for at least the past 10 years, published a host of different datasets on its “DOE Data & Reports” page. The data stretches as far back as 1997 and is generally available in flat file / spreadsheet format. While clunky to work with from an end-user perspective, the data is rich and detailed. It includes voluminous state-mandated datasets, some that go down to a per-school level. NJ ...
This started out as a Facebook post on my CivicParent Facebook page. I’ve turned it into a quick post, for posterity & to help explain some of the financial mechanics of Jersey City’s under-funding crisis. “Jersey City’s public schools under-funding is a structural problem” – what does this mean, exactly? Here’s one way to look at it: If Jersey City were a house, then NJ state education aid is like a central support beam in the middle of the house. A huge portion of that support beam is called “Adjustment Aid” which currently amounts to over $150 million….and ALL $150 million ...
The NJ Department of Education publishes annual data relating to certain “student groups”, per school. The table below focuses on three groups that, per state funding law, are entitled to more funding based on the level of need. These groups are: At-risk students, defined as lower income students who qualify for free or reduced lunch English language learners Special education students, also called “students with disabilities” in the state data reports. The state assumes that students who fall into one or more of these groupings require more funding. And this makes sense. Take a special education student…like a child with ...
The charts below show enrollment data for Jersey City Public Schools. The Jersey City Public Schools system is the 39-school district under the purview of the Jersey City Board of Education (BOE) and is funded through taxpayer dollars. Public charter schools also receive taxpayer dollars, but they are operated and overseen independently of the JC BOE. I will be publishing separate data on the charter schools in the near future. A note: Renaissance Instititue, is a program worth mentioning that is listed as a “school” on the JC BOE website, but is technically a program. Renaissance Institute helps students who ...
Jersey City Public Schools is the city’s largest public good, funded through a combination of state, local, and to a lesser degree, federal tax dollars. In 2018/19 the public schools budget was over $600 million; this is larger than the city’s entire budget. The schools are a public good because they educate the vast majority of our city’s children, who number more than 10% of our city’s population. Consider: Jersey City Public Schools educate 30,119 students according to the 2018/19 budget. Jersey City’s population per 2017 US Census estimates is 270,753. Additionally, there are at least 10 local charter schools ...
Jersey City Public Schools: CivicParent Funding FAQs I have been trying to understand how Jersey City Public Schools are funded and am sharing questions I’ve endeavored to answer. As I learn, I’m sharing with the community in the hopes others will also learn and advocate. Where applicable I’ve provided citations and resources so that anyone reading this can research further. Q: How is Jersey City “under-funded”? Per the NJ’s education funding formula, we should have $624 million in our budget to provide a “thorough and efficient” education. But, per the Education Law Center, the JC BOE 2017/18 schools budget had only ...
I detailed in my last post how the JCPS budget is funded by a mix of state, local, and federal tax dollars. But how is that money then spent? That is the main focus of this post. Governor Christie approved a budget this week that included $8.5 million in state aid cuts to Jersey City Public Schools for the coming 2017/18 school year. If you’re a Jersey City taxpayer, there are two ways to view this aid cut: $8.5 million is 1.2% of the $682 million JCPS budget for 2017/18 (the JCPS budget includes charter school funding). $8.5 million is 7.2% of ...
I will be writing about this issue as it unfolds, it’s a big topic that taxpayers should understand. This is a quick primer on why the Sweeney-Prieto proposal to cut $8.5 million in state aid from Jersey City Public Schools would, to use Superintendent Dr. Lyles term, cause a “major hardship” for the district. The proposed cuts are for state’s coming fiscal year (July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018). The Jersey City Public Schools budget is north of $650 million…it’s a huge nut of cash that is paid for by a combination of state, local, and federal funding ...
A strong public school system is essential bedrock to a healthy community. Yet in Jersey City, our bedrock is threatened by a fiscal policy that is over-reliant on PILOTs. Here’s the crux of the problem: PILOTs help grow the city, which in turn increases demand for public schools. But PILOTed residents don’t pay school tax, leaving taxpayers to bear the burden of increased school cost. Two factors compound this problem: (1) the city is now dependent on PILOTs to fund itself, so there is economic and political pressure to maintain the current course instead of fixing this structural problem before it grows even worse and (2) state education aid ...
