HAMMONTON BLOG

Admin · Status: Offline

Gov. Corzine says school funding overhaul must happen in next two months

Date: 04:35 PM Feb 2, 2007

Finally, after 5 years of flat funding, someone in State government realizes that something has to be done and done quick. This should have a two-fold effect. It should help our schools tremendously in providing a quality education for our kids. And it should help with our property taxes.

Date: 04:43 PM Feb 2, 2007

Unfortunately, it means sales tax and income taxes have to go up. Without spending cuts, the money has to still come from the taxpayers.

Date: 04:48 PM Feb 2, 2007

Yes, but hopefully whatever they come up with spreads the burden out more fairly. Overall, as individuals we should be paying less.

Date: 05:36 PM Feb 2, 2007

How do you do that without cutting spending? Everybody can talk about formulas but the bottom line is spending needs to be cut for the overall tax bill to go down. Period.

Date: 09:59 AM Feb 3, 2007

And what would you like to see cut in order to lower spending?

Date: 10:44 AM Feb 3, 2007

If you don't want cuts, you don't get lower taxes. Nobody likes to cut spending but if you want to lower taxes it is a necessity. Unfortunately, that is just reality.

There are a lot of things that can be done to lower the cost of education. Let's face it, New Jersey spends more than any other state in the nation. The other 49 states... well okay, maybe 45 since Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana actually don't educate kids... are getting the job done.

Date: 12:40 PM Feb 3, 2007

It is important to note that study after study show that school spending levels do not coorelelate with overall results in education.

A comprehensive study ranking states based on overall academic achievement is available online at http://www.alec.org/meSWFiles/pdf/2004_Report_Card_on_Education.pdf.

The report shows that spite of being one of the highest spending states in the nation, NJ finished 21st in academic achievement.

Date: 11:32 AM Feb 4, 2007

You're right. Lets slash school spending. I can't understand why kids need textbooks and computers. Fire all the teachers and ask for volunteers to teach the kids.

Or better yet, just tell the parents to teach their own kids so I don't have to pay for it.

What kind of society actually educates their youth, anyway???

Date: 07:00 AM Feb 6, 2007

Absolutely! What are you doing quoting facts! We don't want data getting in the way! Enough with that nonsense.

Date: 07:38 AM Feb 11, 2007

Anonymous wrote:

It is important to note that study after study show that school spending levels do not coorelelate with overall results in education.

A comprehensive study ranking states based on overall academic achievement is available online at http://www.alec.org/meSWFiles/pdf/2004_Report_Card_on_Education.pdf.

The report shows that spite of being one of the highest spending states in the nation, NJ finished 21st in academic achievement.

Why would you quote facts on the blog. Make stuff up! It is more fun!

Date: 10:23 AM Feb 11, 2007

I would like to see that data.

It is also noted that student achivement is maximized when class sizes are no bigger than 15 students in each class, which would mean we would need to hire more teachers.

Date: 10:25 AM Feb 11, 2007

Anonymous wrote:

It is important to note that study after study show that school spending levels do not coorelelate with overall results in education.

A comprehensive study ranking states based on overall academic achievement is available online at http://www.alec.org/meSWFiles/pdf/2004_Report_Card_on_Education.pdf.

The report shows that spite of being one of the highest spending states in the nation, NJ finished 21st in academic achievement.

Here is the data. NJ is #1 in spending but only #21 in overall educational results.

Date: 11:30 AM Feb 11, 2007

Then explain this:
New Jersey ranks 4th in the nation for having the largest proportion of public school 4th graders scoring at the highest two levels in reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

New Jersey ranks 6th in the nation for having the largest proportion of public school 8th graders scoring at the highest two levels in reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

New Jersey 4th graders scored 9th highest in the nation in math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

New Jersey ranks 8th in the nation for having the highest proportion of public school 4th graders scoring at the highest two levels in math in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

New Jersey is one of the top 4 states in the nation in the proportion of public high schools offering Advanced Placement (AP) courses through which students can earn college credit. The vast majority (96%) of New Jersey's public schools offer these courses.

New Jersey public school students lead the nation on the Advanced Placement (AP) exam. New Jersey public school students have the single highest average Advanced Placement (AP) exam scores in the nation.

New Jersey is one of the top 4 states in the proportion of high school seniors taking the Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus exam.

New Jersey is one of the top 6 states in the nation in the proportion of students (71%) who have received a score high enough to earn college credit on an Advanced Placement (AP) Science exam.

New Jersey is one of the top 14 states in the proportion of high school graduates with scores in the top 20% nationally on either ACT or SAT college entrance examinations.

New Jersey's public high school graduation rate is the highest-1st out of 50-in the country.

New Jersey has been named as one of the five "smartest states" in the country based on the quality of its public elementary and secondary schools.

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gives New Jersey a grade of "A" for how well its schools prepare students for college, which is one of the 4 highest grades in the country.

New Jersey leads the nation in cutting edge foreign language immersion programs for elementary school students-taking advantage of the natural capacity of young children to learn languages. It is one of the top 2 states in the nation in the percentage of public primary schools offering foreign language immersion programs

Date: 03:23 PM Feb 11, 2007

Actually, the data posted shows none of your claims are accurate.

Date: 03:35 PM Feb 11, 2007

Oh no,
Look it up for yourself before you call me a liar.

NJ Dept of Ed, National Center for Education Stats, the College Board, National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

Have fun!!

Date: 05:16 PM Feb 11, 2007

Anonymous wrote:

Oh no,
Look it up for yourself before you call me a liar.

NJ Dept of Ed, National Center for Education Stats, the College Board, National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

Have fun!!

I did look it up and you are a liar. The data you claim isn't there. However, for actual real data, go to www.alec.org/meSWFiles/pdf/2004_Report_Card_on_Education.pdf

Date: 05:34 PM Feb 11, 2007

You must be looking in the wrong place.
You only see what you want to see.

Date: 11:17 PM Feb 12, 2007

MacLane, the nice thing about the Internet is that you can post links like the other guy did above. You didn't. This is another case of you trying to make stories up.

Admin · Status: Offline

My very first post on this thread was a link to the story. That openned the discussion and I have not commented on this entire thread, so I am not sure what you think I made up since I haven't said anything.

Date: 04:27 PM Feb 14, 2007

Admin wrote:

My very first post on this thread was a link to the story. That openned the discussion and I have not commented on this entire thread, so I am not sure what you think I made up since I haven't said anything.

The first post says nothing about educational performance. The guy who posted www.alec.org/meSWFiles/pdf/2004_Report_Card_on_Education.pdf which shows NJ #1 in spending and #21 in overall results is the only post that shows actual results.

Admin · Status: Offline

That's correct. That is why it is unfounded that the previous poster calls me a liar because I reported nothing and made no comments. I just posted the original story so people could discuss the issue.