Dumbing Down New Jersey

I would like to thank Dr. Richard Bozza for including me in the NJASA Representative Assembly on Friday, March 20, 2009. I had the opportunity to personally ask Commissioner Lucille Davy and Assemblyman Joseph Cryan questions related to Harding Township (please see my earlier posting on Regionalization/Consolidation).

I specifically cited Pennsylvania and California as failed examples of regionalization. Commissioner Davy insisted, in front of the entire assembly, that she is not using Pennsylvania and California as models for New Jersey, but rather the state of Maryland. This further reiterates my concern with the lack of thoughtful planning and consideration by the New Jersey Department of Education. Maryland, with a total enrollment of 845,700 (compared to New Jersey’s 1,393,747 enrollment) has performed lower than New Jersey on every, single standardized test that has been recorded by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP – http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/statecomp/). I encourage you to analyze the data for yourself!!! I’m not falsifying or manipulating the data in ANY regard… Simply put, Maryland has NEVER outperformed New Jersey!

Maybe the Commissioner is unaware of the statistical data! The state encourages school administrators to make data-driven decisions. I fail to see this concept applied with regards to New Jersey’s initiative to regionalize or consolidate districts. I plan to include this information and data in my follow-up letter to the Commissioner. I will certainly post her response (if granted the honor of a response).

Score Comparison Maryland/New Jersey (ALL STUDENTS)

Science
Grade 4
2005 - Maryland 149, New Jersey 154

Grade 8
2005 - Maryland 145, New Jersey 153

Mathematics
Grade 4
1992 - Maryland 217, New Jersey 227
1996 - Maryland 221, New Jersey 227
2003 - Maryland 233, New Jersey 239
2005 - Maryland 238, New Jersey 244
2007 - Maryland 240, New Jersey 249

Grade 8
1990 - Maryland 261, New Jersey 270
1992 - Maryland 265, New Jersey 272
2003 - Maryland 278, New Jersey 281
2005 - Maryland 278, New Jersey 284
2007 - Maryland 286, New Jersey 289

Reading
Grade 4
1992 - Maryland 211, New Jersey 223
1994 - Maryland 210, New Jersey 219
2003 - Maryland 219, New Jersey 225
2005 - Maryland 220, New Jersey 223
2007 - Maryland 225, New Jersey 231

Grade 8
2003 - Maryland 262, New Jersey 268
2005 - Maryland 261, New Jersey 269
2007 - Maryland 265, New Jersey 270