NJ Education Report

In this 40-second video, JerseyCAN Executive Director Paula White explains why the Murphy Administration’s Education Department is hurting kids and families by refusing to release state testing data. While individual districts have received their student assessment results, Acting Education Commissioner Angelica Allen-McMillan has declined to have a public discussion with the State Board about statewide results.

That makes New Jersey one of very few states that have refused to release statewide data on standardized testing. California was part of that select group until last month when, under pressure from journalists and education advocates, it finally went public. Some speculated that CA’s version of a Commissioner, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, was delaying the release until after his November re-election bid. When he finally did, it was in through a method that undermined coverage.

But in New Jersey chiefs of the state education agency aren’t elected, they’re appointed by the governor. So why is Allen-McMillan delaying the release of data that she’s had for months, in spite of demands from the State Board of Education that she do so?

No reason except the student results challenge the Murphy Administration’s NJEA-inspired chant that NJ schools are the best in the nation. White explains, “this is a serious problem” because “we need to have the data to know how our state has done.”

In response this month to State Board of Education President Kathy Goldenberg’s demand that Allen-McMillan stop hiding information from the public, the Commissioner promised a full discussion at the next Board meeting on December 7th. Meanwhile, listen to White’s explanation of how the DOE’s obfuscation is hurting efforts to help New Jersey students.

Note: Some New Jersey residents may recall that White was the original pick to be the DOE Deputy Commissioner but lost the slot when NJEA protested her appointment. Story here.