NJ Education Report

Sunday’s Leftovers (see below) referred to an imbroglio in Jersey City: “In a surprise move,” reports the Jersey Journal, “a split Jersey City Board of Education last night failed to approve a nearly four-year contract that would have made Marcia V. Lyles the [Jersey City] school district’s new superintendent.” After the 4-4 vote, “the crowd of about two dozen erupted into cheers when the voting was completed, with one woman screaming, ‘Thank you, Jesus!’”

Now there’s a petition up at change.org pleading with the Jersey City Board of Ed to ratify Superintendent Lyles’ contract because she’s “a proven performer, independent of the Jersey City political/bureaucratic machine” and “FAR better than the status quo.” The petition then describes the status quo in Jersey City district schools:

_We spend $1,477 per pupil on administrative salaries but only $80 per pupil on extracurricular activities,
_29 of 38 schools failed federal education benchmarks in 2011.
_Snyder High School graduates only 52% of students who enter as freshman; at Lincoln High, only 55% graduate.