tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9025948832913694345.post2183215677492726857..comments2024-03-22T02:15:56.280-07:00Comments on Jersey Jazzman: Can We Please Get the Facts Right About Newark's Schools?Dukehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16535645107179796099noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9025948832913694345.post-6373706732184842562016-01-11T08:40:35.902-08:002016-01-11T08:40:35.902-08:00I was thinking the same exact thing as I read this...I was thinking the same exact thing as I read this! Kirp assumes that strategies that work for ELLs of Cuban and Latin American descent in Union City (Bilingual Education and native language instruction) will work for African American students in Newark (the only groups of students served in charters and the racial group discussed in The Prize). This is just an inaccurate column that makes false equivalencies and uses inaccurate data.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14592350119719894453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9025948832913694345.post-22297299106978395812016-01-11T04:23:32.838-08:002016-01-11T04:23:32.838-08:00"But if we're going to have a productive ..."But if we're going to have a productive conversation about school "reform," we've got to get the facts right."<br /><br />Agreed, but we also need to get the context right too.<br /><br />Union City's schools do better than you would expect given their demographics, but Union City's schools aren't the highest performing relative to demographics in New Jersey either and as an Abbott district Union City is comparatively well-resourced, spending $17,400 per pupil for 2015, getting universal Pre-K, and having a splendid, brand-new high school.<br /><br />Union City's scchools are at the 25th-29th percentiles statewide, or the 65th percentile compared to demographic peers. That's good, but it's much less impressive than Dover which are almost as demographically poor but much lower resource and is actually significantly above the state averages.<br /><br />Union City's scores are actually equal to many high-FRL/low-resource non-Abbotts such as Guttenberg, Manchester Regional, and Prospect Park. <br /><br />The point of praising Union City in Improbable Scholars and Kirp's essay is to make an argument "charters aren't necessary (or even harmful)," but praising Dover would be an argument "big money isn't necessary" and that's not something Kirp wants to do.StateAidGuyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00346914457455404884noreply@blogger.com