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You're right Alb, when we're ready to buy, schools will be a major factor in our decision after figuring out what we can afford. At this point even though that's a long way off for us, JC is not an option to buy.

The NCLB standards are shaky, because they depend on how students perform on a bunch of mediocre standardized tests. I think most parents would prefer to see schools resist the pressure to throw out gym, recess and classes on history, geography, handwriting, etc. in a misguided effort to raise test scores.

Another problem is that the standards might just plain be too idealistic. Maybe some subgroups of students at these schools are just plain dumb as rocks and no amount of educational excellence is going to change that.

But, at a plain old "do a I dare to send my kid there?" level, it seems as if the only elementary schools around that educated parents like are P.S. 16 (Bradford), the Learning Community charter school, maybe P.S. 27 (in the Heights), maybe P.S. 5, maybe P.S. 3 and maybe P.S. 37.

Simple way to make two grade schools better: put one of the failing schools under the supervision of a former P.S. 16 administrator, and tell that administrator to try to replicate P.S. 16 as much as possible. Put another failing school under the supervision of a former Learning Community administrator and try to replicate that school's success.

Also: make it crystal clear to the real estate folks that even the secular private schools in this area are bursting at the seams. If they don't figure out some way to create more respectable elementary school seats, that's going to contribute to the 2007-2008 real estate bust.

Better use that eminent domain and build some new ones.

so wait does that mean Eps gets a 18% raise for those that passed?

27 of 33 Jersey City schools fail to meet federal standards

Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Jersey Journal staff writer

NEWARK - Dozens of schools in Hudson County, most notably Jersey City, again failed to meet education standards in the past year, the state Department of Education reported yesterday.

Overall, 643 schools statewide, or 26.5 percent, did not meet standards in 2006, compared to 822, or 34 percent, last year, the department said. Some schools have closed or merged over the years.

In Jersey City - the state's second-largest school district - 27 out of 33 schools failed to pass muster, according to the department's preliminary results from the standardized tests administered in May, officials said.

Six schools - Schools 1, 20, 29, 31, 42 and Academy 2 - were considered "no status," meaning their students, including special-ed and students still learning English, passed the tests in sufficient numbers to make what the federal No Child Left Behind law considers "adequate yearly progress."

Students at Schools 14, 15 Middle, and 41 have failed to pass to the tests in sufficient numbers for six consecutive years, so they are being restructured along with Schools 29 and 15, two schools in the same neighborhood, school officials said.

Four of the district's six high schools - Dickinson, Snyder, Ferris and Lincoln - haven't made adequate passing grades for four consecutive years, officials said.

"We are putting together a comprehensive program, including reading and writing specialists in the high school," said Jenaro Rivas, an associate superintendent. "The subject teachers, like science and math, will be trained to incorporate reading and writing in all their teaching."

Ken Thorbourne contributed to this story.