I used to work for the company that just lost the contract, and I have a friend who still works for them - well at least she did until she showed up for work in September and was told to go home. The special services provided by my old company are nurses, English as a Second Language, Special Education classes for qualifying students, remedial speech services, and basic skills math and reading for underachieving students. The Board of Ed of JC should be ashamed of themselves on this one. From what I know, Jerry McCann wants to have a more open bidding process for the contract, which sounds fair. However, they decided this too late for the present school year. They did not award the old company, Sylvan Learning, the contract as expected. Now needy kids are going without service for a year. i have no problem with an open bidding process, but why the sudden rush? Is it to save money in the current school year? Is this their way around the state laws which require the boards to provide special services? As in the case of most things JC, I smell a rat.

4. The notion that public charter schools contribute the ridiculously bloated burueacracy in the JC district is ludicrous. The district could learn a few things from the lean and mean operations of charter schools.

1. The parents of those private school kids are also paying taxes.

2. Charter schools are public schools -- as the poster well knows. (LCCS teachers are also unionized.)

3. Public charter schools get between $8-9,000 per child, whereas public district schools get over $17,000 per child. In fact, the district captures a portion of the state money intended for the students that attend public charter schools, while charters have to pay for their own buildings.

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Have to disagree with you on that point with young children. They inherently want to learn. Ever spend time around a three or four year old? They ask question after question and have a natural curiosity and insight into the world that?s amazing. It?s the parents that do the most damage to children when they are at their most sensitive time to learn - tuning out the questions, sticking them in front of a television, or giving them a video game to occupy their time. Children have a critical window in their young lives when they are ready and willing to learn ? if parents don?t encourage that fully, then children will naturally not pick up the discipline necessary to become active learners.

Yes, I agree that Jersey City schools are a complete mess (compare what we spend per child vs. a town like Tenafly ? then compare the aptitude scores). But parents play a role in this mess as well ? and more should be discussed about this topic rather than lay the entire blame on our public school systems.

Trambone, the piddly amount going to private/private schools is nothing compared to the gross amount going to Private Charter schools we are supporting. You are paying for 2 sets of moronic bureaucracy, facilities, crossing guards, buses.. etc. You have to murder someone on video to get fired.
Vote Corzine and you'll pay twice as much.

Well the biggest problem I see with the American public school system is the school boards. They are basically local tribal councils run by people who have no idea on how to educate or have any experience in the field. I love hearing from parents on how teachers aren't doing it well enough. Educators should be on boards of ed, not parents and local politicians trying to climb up the ladder.

That and our test scores stink because the kids stink. they don't want to learn.

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This is the least of our worries. We should be concerned why our taxes, which are higher than most of the rest of the country, funding nearly 20 times the number of public school districts as other states, lead to some of the worst results in terms of test scores, etc. In fact, I trust the market way more than I trust the government on this one. I'd argue the exact opposite, phase out traditional public schools and let the market take care of schooling, just have it funded by public dollars with a level of oversight.

"disadvantaged and failing private school students" - oxymoron?

wait so my tax dollars are supposed to help kids in private schools?

By Melissa Hayes/The Jersey Journal
October 25, 2009, 2:06PM

Several weeks into the new school year, and hundreds of students in Jersey City's private schools are still waiting for the special education services the local public school district is supposed to provide.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act mandates that local public school districts provide supplemental education to disadvantaged and failing private school students, either by assigning public school teachers to provide the service or contracting with a third-party provider.

Besides special ed services, the local school district is also required to provide nursing services, tutoring, and English as a second language instruction.

The Jersey City Board of Education awarded several contracts late this year, leaving at this point, 650 special education students at 20 private schools without the services they are entitled to.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... y_board_of_ed_gets_d.html

This is the result of the corrupt Dr. Epps appointing incompetents to the positions of Business Administrator and Chief of Special Education at the Board of Education. It also shows that the new Chair of the Special Education Committee, Pat Sebron, is asleep at the switch.