How much are taxpayers billed per student now?

No mystery here. My daughter essentially refused to show up for classes at Ferris, due to the gladiatorial conduct there.

She got her G.E.D. months later, with no problem.

Bad, bad, BAD supervision and methods.

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
on December 10, 2012 at 3:56 PM Print

This is why JC will always attract childless people for the long haul.

Dickinson High School in Jersey City, where the graduation rate was 69 percent in 2011-12.
Jersey Journal file photo
Jersey City?s high-school graduate rate was 67 percent for the 2011-12 school year, a rate more than two points lower than it was the previous year.

State education officials last week released results from various statewide student exams, including the High School Proficiency Assessment. Statewide, the graduation rate increased to 86 percent, up three points from the previous year.

Jersey City schools chief Marcia V. Lyles said in a statement that the 29,000-student district is ?concerned,? but mindful that graduation rates ?are not a result of a one-year event or effort.?

"We are continuing to examine and implement practices and programs that we believe will improve our students' outcomes in the future,? Lyles said.

Last month, Lyles gave a presentation to the school board regarding the district?s academic progress, and she cited the 67 percent graduation rate. Of the students who don?t graduate, 13 percent drop out entirely, while the others transfer out or graduate later than they should, according to Lyles.

?That 13 percent is the number we must address,? she said then.

The district has six high schools. The graduation rate at McNair Academic High School was the highest, at 99 percent. Liberty High School came in at 81 percent, Ferris High School at 73 percent and Dickinson High School at 69 percent.

The lowest graduation rates in the district were recorded at Snyder High School (51 percent) and Lincoln High School (50 percent).

State officials calculate the graduation rates using a new, federally mandated methodology that the state says is ?more thorough? and provides a ?more accurate? accounting of the number of students who graduate from high school.

?The results for schools undergoing intensive turnarounds this year are particularly very encouraging, showing that while our achievement gaps across the state are persistent and unacceptably high, we can close them with dedicated support and interventions,? state Education Commissioner Chris Cerf said in a statement.

In other urban districts, Camden?s graduation rate slid seven points to 49 percent, Newark?s rose the same amount to 69 percent and Paterson?s rose two points to 66 percent.