New Jersey’s Schools Rise to 37th In The Nation
PHILADELPHIA – May 23, 2016 (AP) New Jersey’s schools have been ranked 37th in the nation according to the National Association of School Evaluators. This is a significant improvement over the state’s ranking of 49th at the end of the Christie administration in 2014. Back then, New Jersey exceeded only California, where Proposition 13 had continued its calamitous impact on school financing.
Governor Cory Booker commented that “We are happy to see our schools rebound from the devastation imposed during the previous administration. It will take several more years to undo the ravages that resulted and the impact it had on our children.” Booker has made public education the lynchpin of his re-election campaign against three-term Republican congressman Jon Runyan. The former Newark mayor attributes the improvement in quality education to the vastly improved working relationship between the state and the unions, as well as support from the state’s businesses which have been unable to hire qualified personnel, especially workers with science and math backgrounds. Mike Polderth, head of the New Jersey Association of Small Businesses commented that “due to the lack of qualified graduates of New Jersey schools, we have had to hire people from out-of-state, and the relocation expenses are killing us. For the sake of New Jersey’s businesses, I hope we can find well-educated candidates from within the state very soon.”
Booker and Polderth were in Philadelphia to attend the NCAA Lacrosse Championship game, where Rutgers outlasted perennial champion Syracuse by 15-14 to win the tournament. Fred Sachster, Director of Communications at Rutgers, commented that Governor Booker’s support of academics as well as athletics has been very helpful as evidenced by the recent Nobel Prizes awarded to several Rutgers faculty members and graduate students.
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