New Jersey has a good education system ranking in the top five states in the nation. Currently ranked third in the U.S., they have low dropout rates and low student-teacher ratios. Today we're going to take a look at the largest school districts in New Jersey and how they rank. Unfortunately, it looks like the larger districts in this state struggle to reach success academically. Let's dive deeper and find out why.
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Newark Public School District
The Newark Public School District is the largest district in the state with 40,876 students. Their student-teacher ratio is 20:1 and their overall grade for performance is a C. They received a C- in academics with math proficiency at 9% and reading proficiency at 26%. They received B's and C's in the teachers, clubs, facilities, college preparation, and administration categories. The only A they received was in sports.
Elizabeth Public Schools
The Elizabeth Public Schools District has 28,019 students with a student-teacher ratio of 14:1. They received an overall grade of B-. Their academics received a C+ with 33% reading proficiency and 9% math proficiency. They also received C's and B's in all the categories that were assessed except for sports which received an A.
Jersey City School District
The Jersey City School District has 27,134 students with a student-teacher ratio of 17:1. Their overall grade is a B-. Their academics received a C+ with 38% reading proficiency and 16% math proficiency. They received B's and C's in almost every graded category but received a D+ for resources and facilities.
Paterson Public School District
The Paterson Public School District has 24,841 students with a student-teacher ratio of 17:1. They received an overall grade of C-. Their academics received a C- with 26% reading proficiency and 6% math proficiency. They scored C's in almost every graded category except for resources and facilities which received a D+.
Edison Township School District
Of the largest school districts, this is the first district to receive an overall grade of A+. Edison Township has 16,268 students and a student-teacher ratio of 15:1. They were ranked second in best school districts in their county and 14th for best places to teach in New Jersey. Their average teacher salary is $84,238. Edison Township received an A+ in academics with 64% reading proficiency and 44% math proficiency. They also received A's in the teachers, administration, and college preparatory categories.
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Trenton Public School District
The Trenton Public School District has 15,017 students and a student-teacher ratio of 17:1. They seem to struggle in many areas and receive an overall grade of D-. Their academics receive a D- with 16% reading proficiency and 2% math proficiency. They received C's and D's in the teachers, clubs, facilities, college preparation, and administration categories.
Toms River Regional School District
The Toms River Regional School District has 14,651 students and a student-teacher ratio of 15:1. They are ranked the fifth best school district in their county. Toms River received an overall grade of B doing significantly better than the previous district scoring A's and B's in the following categories; academics, teachers, clubs, sports, college preparation, and administration. They received a B in academics with 44% reading proficiency and 18% math proficiency.
Woodbridge Township School District
The Woodbridge Township School District has 13,773 students with a student-teacher ratio of 15:1. They are ranked the 10th best school district in their county. They receive an overall grade of B+. With their reading proficiency at 46% and math proficiency at 28%, they received a B in academics. They also score B's in the teachers, clubs, sports, and administration categories but score an A in college preparation.
Passaic City School District
The Passaic City School District has 13,041 students and a 15:1 student-teacher ratio. Their overall grade is a D+ due to low grades in the academics, teachers, facilities, college preparation, and administration categories. They received a C- in academics with 26% reading proficiency and 7% math proficiency. They did receive B's in the clubs and sports categories.
Union City School District
The Union City School District has 12,771 students and a student-teacher ratio of 17:1. They received an overall grade of B-. With their reading proficiency at 36% and math proficiency at 15%, their academics received a B-. They also received B's in the teachers, facilities, college preparation, and administration categories. They received A's in the clubs and sports categories.
Conclusion
With so many of these districts performing poorly, how is New Jersey in the top five states for education? Well, the top 100 school districts in the state all received A's. Here are the top five districts in New Jersey.
- Millburn Township School District
- Northern Valley Regional High School District
- Princeton Public Schools
- West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District
- Ridgewood Public School District
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