Jersey Jazzman: The Most Obvious Thing In The World

Jersey Jazzman: The Most Obvious Thing In The World:

The Most Obvious Thing In The World

by Duke

Camden is the poorest city in America and probably the most violent. The child poverty rate is 57%. Median income is $21,191. The murder rate is twenty times higher than the national average.

Golly, do you think maybe this could affect student learning?

Camden’s school district was the outlier during three presentations to the state board of education last week.

Across New Jersey, high school graduation rates improved by 3 percent in a year.

But in Camden, the rate plummeted by 7 percent to 49.3, down from 56.9 percent last year. Camden now has the second lowest graduation rate in the state.

Only Trenton, at 48.44 percent, is lower.

Statewide, NJ ASK scores remained constant this year. HSPA scores continued to rise. But several of Camden’s schools continued to struggle with scores.

Overall, charter schools throughout the state outpaced traditional public schools by 30 percent in reading and 40 percent in math. And in Newark, charter schools did even