I'm busy at work today overseeing the elves as they put the finishing touches on the toys for all the good little boys and girls and will probably not have time to post a reasoned argument why or why not Teaneck got shafted. Here's a place to discuss the increase in State aid or in Teaneck's case the lack thereof.Here are three reference articles:
Increases in Education Aid Range From 2 to 20 Percent Under Corzine Plan (NY Times)
New Jersey School Districts Compared (Interactive Map from NY Times)
School Aid Stands to Rise by 10% (But Not for Teaneck) (Record)
Update: I had some time to look at the data and I've concluded that Teaneck got shafted big time. Here are the stats for some local districts on a per pupil basis (Click to enlarge the chart):
The winner here is Bogota, both in terms of gross aid per pupil and increase per pupil. Other towns that faired well on a per pupil basis were Hackensack and Dumont. It would be very interesting to hear from someone who knows the system who could explain why Teaneck students are not getting the same level of State assistance as surrounding towns.
71 comments:
I thought our Senator had influence with Corzine! So why have we been shafted with the minimum state increase? I voted for Loretta last time around, disregarding my wife's view that she is so busy with her personal issues to look out for us. I guess my wife was right.
Perhaps it's because we spend more per student than almost EVERY township in the State!
Avg per pupil:
Teaneck: $15,181 2% increase
Paramus: $12,906 3% increase
Fair Lawn: $13,304 10% increase
Piscataway $11,434 AFTER a 20% increase
South River $8,541 AFTER a 20% increase
Kearny $11,028 AFTER a 20% increase
The list goes on and on....why is our price per pupil so damn high?
This may be beside the point, but I'd like to say that I was apprehensive about my daughter entering middle school this year. I didn't know what to expect with so many people always badmouthing the public schools.
And you know what? My experience (and hers) has been absolutely terrific. Her teacher is young, enthusiastic and dedicated and the advanced academic programs are challenging and the arts programs are top notch. As a user of the system, I really feel that I am getting my money's worth out of the public schools. We really have a great school system that offers alot to the people of Teaneck who choose to participate in it.
Yes. But why is the expenditure side so out of line with other communities?
Oh well, I guess we can all expect another nice increase in our property taxes (rolling eyes)
Just think how much the taxes would be if EVERY CHILD in Teaneck attended the public schools.
Wonder if it would offset the amounts that are lost by the Religious Institutions not paying taxes?
Just think how much the taxes would be if EVERY CHILD in Teaneck attended the public schools.
EEK!
Which religious institutions / not for profits are you referring to?
Hope you are including Holy Name & FDU which pay no taxes.
Glad you went back to check how bad it was. Bogota, led by a bigoted reactionary mayor, did so very much better than we did. Shame on Loretta!
She ought to come on here and explain to us why her quixotic pursuits are more important than looking out for her hometown's interests.
I think per-pupil expenditures are a particularly misleading way to account for Teaneck Schools spending, if that spending includes the cost busing my kids to parochial schools.
Busing may cost Teaneck less than educating my children, but it shouldn't be attributed on a per capita basis to the kids the system actually educates.
Reb Yudel, the spending per student total does not include things like busing, the Charter School or special education. It strives to get close to an apples-to-apple basis. On that basis, Teaneck has ranked in the top 2-3% for at least the last decade.
As to the quality of the district, Esther nice to hear that your daughter is having a good experience. I am sure that in a 4000+ student district there are many success stories. However, when you look at the district as a whole, it is a tale of 2 cities. The top 25% scores at a pretty high level, the balance is at best very average. That is why Time or Newsweek recently had Teaneck High on its list of top 1300 High Schools - using a system that heavily weighted Advanced Placement courses - the top 25% drove the score.
The district has taken steps to close this
"performance gap." Some encouraging results, but it will take 2-3 years before you can say that lasting change has taken place.
Too bad Teaneck's school kids can't be like those in Lake Woebegone. Where everyone is above average.
Esther: The school aid FORMULA is just that.....a formula. It is based on a complex set of figures which include enrollment increases (or decreases), numbers of students participating in the school breakfast and lunch programs; an "adequacy formula" based on what the state deems a particular district should be spending to provide an "adequate education" including the numbers of special ed students; the number of non-english speaking students; the wealth of the district including property values and incomes, We have been in touch with the Pres. of the School Board and the School Supt. as well as with the Commissioner of Education. We are also awaiting a further breakdown of these complex figures and will supply them to your readers as soon as we get them over the next several days. Just a note to the first Anonymous on your blog. Our "personal issues" are fighting for our kids education and health care; fighting for ethics in our government and along with Assemblywoman Huttle and Assemblyman Johnson we will also fight for Teaneck's interest. Though these statewide figures came right out of the computer. we will make sure that Teaneck's numbers were analyzed correctly and appropriately, and will keep your readers informed.
an "adequacy formula" based on what the state deems a particular district should be spending to provide an "adequate education"
So as others have asked...
why is our price per pupil so damn high?
why does Teaneck,
spend more per student than almost EVERY township in the State!??
I would really like answers to these questions!
Karin-
You are far from alone on that particular question.
Could someone compare administrative costs between Teaneck and other districts?
can we get someone from the BOE to comment on this?
I would think they would be the best ones to explain stuff or answer questions!
Senator Weinberg said...
Esther: The school aid FORMULA is just that.....a formula.
It's not like it affects anything in real life....
It is based on a complex set of figures....
Don't worry your sheep like little heads about it....just keep voting for me in record numbers and pretend like I care.
We are also awaiting a further breakdown of these complex figures and will supply them to your readers as soon as we get them over the next several days...
Because, as it turns out, they are the REAL decision makers!
We are also awaiting a further breakdown of these complex figures and will supply them to your readers as soon as we get them over the next several days.
It might turn out that the 2% was only a typo??
Just a note to the first Anonymous on your blog. Our "personal issues" are fighting for our kids education.
Just not necessarily yours....
Oh, Senator....with friends like you, who needs an opposition party?
We have been in touch with the Pres. of the School Board and the School Supt. as well as with the Commissioner of Education.
Because, as it turns out, they are the REAL decision makers!
-----------------------------------
and only because this is for education funding...it's kids' education Senator, not kids.
For those interested, go to the following chart in the Record and you can see how much Teaneck spends vs. what the State believes is adequate spending.
http://northjersey.com/static/
graphics/pupilcosts_102006.html
Karin - want to know why the costs are so high - start with teachers' salaries and benefits, which are about 60% of the budget. Our cost of instruction per student (which really comes down to salaries since our class size is pretty average) and teachers' salaries are also always in the top 2-3%.
What about administrative costs per pupil?
So Teaneck actually spent $62,847,869
The state says $53,437,818 would of been adequate.
So Teaneck spent an extra $9,410,051 that the state said they really didnt need to.
WOW! Is this considered a waste of the taxpayers money?
So do we have to many admins., over qualified teachers or a mix of the two?
what is the BOE "really" doing to save us money??
The Teaneck Public Schools budgeted spending of $15,183 per student for the 2006-07 school year on a Comparative Cost per Pupil basis (a measure that excludes out-of-district tuition payments, transportation costs and judgments against the school district), 98th highest of the 103 K-12 school districts in the state with more than 3,500 students; this is up more than $2,000 (more than 15%) since the 2004-05 school year actual results. Of the 2006-07 per-pupil allocation, $8,774 goes to classroom instruction (98th highest in its grouping), $2,200 to Support Services (77th), $1,517 to Administrative Costs (96th) and $2,299 to Operations and Maintenance (101st). The district's Median Teacher Salary of $69,742 ranked 98th in its group.[41]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaneck,_New_Jersey
If you ask the Board supporters they will tell you that Teaneck is blessed with many veteran teachers who have acquired advanced degrees (which increases salaries significantly). Since these policies are applied pretty much across the Board, at last look we are also blessed with at least 6 phys ed teachers earning about $100K.
Of course, this begs the following questions:
(1) Have these very qualified teachers really delivered results; and
(2) Is there any connection between experience (after several years of teaching) and advanced degrees and student achievement.
6 phys ed teachers earning about $100K.
Six of them earning $100k? WOW!
Of course, this begs the following questions:
(1) Have these very qualified teachers really delivered results; and
(2) Is there any connection between experience (after several years of teaching) and advanced degrees and student achievement.
Love to hear the answers to those. F
$1,517 to Administrative Costs (96th) and $2,299 to Operations and Maintenance (101st).
----------------------------------
It seems to me that these are the areas to attack. Unlike those of the teachers, these jobs are presumably non-unionized. We don't need to lead the state in operations and maintenance and practically lead in administrative costs. This is almost $4,000 per student being expended OUTSIDE the classroom. This is an area where tax-paying public school parents can easily join hands with non-public school taxpayers in chanting, "Hell no!"
I think anon #1 has an excellent point. High administrative and operating and maintenance costs is an area where we can all come together.
someone asked: "Have these qualified teacher delivered results?"
The best people to ask would be parents who have children in the public schools.
Karin's figures confused me, since the numbers are ranked from low to high -- that is, being ranked as having the 103rd least expensive district would be ranking as the most expensive district. I'm reversing the figures, and it's clear that Teaneck ranks quite high in every category:
The Teaneck Public Schools budgeted spending of $15,183 per student for the 2006-07 school year on a Comparative Cost per Pupil basis (a measure that excludes out-of-district tuition payments, transportation costs and judgments against the school district), 5th highest of the 103 K-12 school districts in the state with more than 3,500 students; this is up more than $2,000 (more than 15%) since the 2004-05 school year actual results. Of the 2006-07 per-pupil allocation, $8,774 goes to classroom instruction (5th highest in its grouping), $2,200 to Support Services (26th), $1,517 to Administrative Costs (7th) and $2,299 to Operations and Maintenance (3rd). The district's Median Teacher Salary of $69,742 ranked 5th in its group. (The original pdf is here).
In sum: Teaneck has the 3rd highest per-capita operations cost, 5th highest per-capita teachers salaries, and 7th highest administrative costs.
I wonder: Are we also the 5h wealthiest district?
I wonder: Are we also the 5h wealthiest district?
LOL!
Please Board of Education members--
Explain the high non-classroom expenses to us.
Wasn't the BOE promising cuts in the budget that just got passed?
What exactly was cut?
Karin said...
Wasn't the BOE promising cuts in the budget that just got passed?
No.
Answer to Anonymous #1 re: administrative and Operations & Maintenance personnel. You are misinformed, these positions are all unionized. Operations & Maintenance are part of the Teamsters union, and all but about 9-10 administrative positions are part of TAAS (Teaneck Association of Administrators and Supervisors) whose contracts are negotiated every three years, just like the teachers (TTEA) and Teamsters.
anon#1 said...
Please Board of Education members--
Explain the high non-classroom expenses to us.
To get answers from members of the board try contacting them directly. Contact info is available on the Teaneck Public Schools website.
Tom,
They didn't promise cuts? What did they promise to hire more over-qualified PE teachers?
As and FYI, if your are not a parent of a public school child the BOE members dont reply to emails or phone calls.
Again this is a FORMULA based purely on the numbers generated by the computer for Teaneck (and every other community in New Jersey) after the figures were put in for the areas outlined in my prior comment (community property and income wealth; enrollment growth or decline; the " education adequacy" figures; other languages spoken;special needs students, numbers who participate in breakfast and lunch programs etc.) This FORMULA (I apologize to those who don't like the word) is the NEW EDUCATION FORMULA presented to the Legislature this past week by the Governor's office and the Commissioner of Education which resulted in the state aid figures everyone is now commenting upon. It is now up to the legislature to develop a bill encompassing the FORMULA as presented, or to change it. We do not adopt nor change figures on a community by community basis in this legislation, so "influence" doesn't count. We have to do an education "formula" for the entire state. Either way we must do it in time for the April school budget elections. Again, we are checking to make sure that the figures entered for Teaneck were done accurately and appropriately by the State. This FORMULA has been in the works for two years and it is the administration's attempt to have state money follow children rather than school districts. Any better or lesser ideas will always be welcome by me. My office email is Senweinberg@njleg.org And again you will get further information as soon as the questions we raised are answered by the state departments we contacted. Just a post script: Teaneck received a very large increase in state education aid this current fiscal year. We will continue to advocate for our residents.
Again this is a FORMULA based purely on the numbers generated by the computer for Teaneck (and every other community in New Jersey) after the figures were put in for the areas outlined in my prior comment (community property and income wealth; enrollment growth or decline; the " education adequacy" figures; other languages spoken;special needs students, numbers who participate in breakfast and lunch programs etc.) This FORMULA (I apologize to those who don't like the word) is the NEW EDUCATION FORMULA presented to the Legislature this past week by the Governor's office and the Commissioner of Education which resulted in the state aid figures everyone is now commenting upon. It is now up to the legislature to develop a bill encompassing the FORMULA as presented, or to change it. We do not adopt nor change figures on a community by community basis in this legislation, so "influence" doesn't count. We have to do an education "formula" for the entire state. Either way we must do it in time for the April school budget elections. Again, we are checking to make sure that the figures entered for Teaneck were done accurately and appropriately by the State. This FORMULA has been in the works for two years and it is the administration's attempt to have state money follow children rather than school districts. Any better or lesser ideas will always be welcome by me. My office email is Senweinberg@njleg.org And again you will get further information as soon as the questions we raised are answered by the state departments we contacted. Just a post script: Teaneck received one of the largest increases in Bergen County in state education aid this current fiscal year just as a result of adding a few of these new standards. We will continue to advocate for our residents.
So senator what you are saying is if Teaneck had more "poor" people, immigrants etc. we would of gotten more money?
Can we see the formula and then decide whether or not we agree the factors driving the results?
New School Funding Formula information can be found here,
http://www.state.nj.us/education/sff/
I was reading Karin's post with the numbers and I thought that the wording sounded rather familiar, until I saw the source, a section of a Wikipedia article that I wrote. For more from Wikipedia, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaneck_Public_Schools Which has a grid on spending statistics from the latest Comparative Spending Guide.
I agree that the inverted rankings (1=lowest, 103=highest) can be confusing, but that's the way that the New Jersey Department of Education publishes the numbers. As correctly pointed out earlier, the Comparative Cost per Pupil excludes special ed, transportation, legal fess and other costs not directly related to education, with the goal of coming up with an apples-to-apples comparison.
In virtually every category, the Teaneck Public Schools is at the top of all K-12 districts statewide (with more than 3,500 students) as well as among all K-12 districts in Bergen County. While there are differences across the board, the spending of $2,299 per pupil on Operations and Maintenance -- the costs of heating, lighting, cleaning and repairing the school buildings -- is more than 50% above the average of all K-12 districts statewide. As I've pointed out at November's Board of Education Public Meeting and at other times over the years, we're spending 50% more than the Englewood Public schools, which has a remarkably similar portfolio of school buildings, including an old, drafty high school and several 50s-era elementary and middle schools. Cresskill, one of the best in the state, spends only $964 per pupil on O&M.
If we could figure out how to manage to provide electricity and heat, mop the floors and throw out the trash, merely as efficiently as Englewood does, thus getting back to the statewide mean, we'd save about $800 per pupil, or over $3 million total savings just on this one category, without touching any in-classroom services.
While our municipal budget has room for improvement, our township spending per capita is in line with our neighboring communities. By far, the biggest spending discrepancies coming out of our pockets are in our school budget.
It's about time that we did the due diligence to drive to some of our neighboring school districts, figure out what they're doing right, and applied these best practices to the Teaneck Public Schools.
Now that it's clear that the manna is not going to come from heaven (or Trenton) to solve all of our problems, it's time that next year's school budget be analyzed with in much finer detail than has been done in the past. Article VIII, Section IV of the New Jersey State Constitution guarantees a "thorough and efficient system of free public schools". We have a system that may be thorough, but is anything but efficient.
Alan Sohn
Alan sohn for board of ed!!!!!
Karin said...
They didn't promise cuts? What did they promise to hire more over-qualified PE teachers?
As and FYI, if your are not a parent of a public school child the BOE members dont reply to emails or phone calls.
Declaring that the Board of Ed will not respond to the parent of a public school child is an outright lie. It makes me think I was wrong to think your question about the board promising cuts was from ignorance.
If your communication to the board was in the tone of your first paragraph you should not expect an answer. Nor should you expect an answer if you don't identify yourself.
Perhaps you can give the specifics of the emails you sent including date, text and recipients.
Tom said:
Declaring that the Board of Ed will not respond to the parent of a public school child is an outright lie. It makes me think I was wrong to think your question about the board promising cuts was from ignorance.
Tom it is not a lie. I have sent emails repeatedly asking basic questions and never have had them replied to. That tells me that they do not want to hear from parents that do not use the school system!
If your communication to the board was in the tone of your first paragraph you should not expect an answer. Nor should you expect an answer if you don't identify yourself.
What first paragraph Tom? I have always been polite in my communications with the BOE and have always given my full name, address, and phone number in my communication.
Alan,
Do you know what Englewood is doing differently to cut costs? Or Cresskill?
Alan,
What is the BOE response when you mention this?
As I've pointed out at November's Board of Education Public Meeting and at other times over the years, we're spending 50% more than the Englewood Public schools, which has a remarkably similar portfolio of school buildings, including an old, drafty high school and several 50s-era elementary and middle schools. Cresskill, one of the best in the state, spends only $964 per pupil on O&M.
Why do people rob banks, because that's where the money is.
While admin costs and maintenance are important, you can't solve a budgetary problem while ignoring the single largest cost item. This is the final year of the teachers' contract and the question is what will the BoE do to contain the increase in this category (much less talk about cuts).
the non-teacher costs equal 1/4 of each child's educational cost. Stop picking on teachers. all you get from that is hostility from parents satisfied with the teachers' work. let's roll up our sleeves and go after the non-teaching costs. then we can unite as a community of taxpayers.
From the diaoque above, I now understand why Teaneck got less money than other surrounding communities. If you want State assistance, you have to underfund your schools, as Bogota does. Since Teaneck overfunds it's schools the State sees no reason to spend scarce resources on Teaneck.
As a person who has a vested interest in retaining the high caliber of teachers that we currently have, I agree with those who argue that we should look for ways to economize on operations, maintenance and administration.
How about Esther and Alan on a ticket for school board?
Esther:
Other than your child's personal experience, what basis do you have for the assertion that Teaneck has a "high caliber" of teacher?
As for "stop picking on the teachers," thanks to an incredibly strong union, it has been a long time since anyone picked on the teachers. How's about stop picking on the taxpayers?
Esther, alan & karin for school board!!!!
Picking on teachers may give you some kind of satisfaction. But it clearly will not fly as a practical route to cutting the school budget. We need to get together in this town to help the taxpayers and the only route to massing a unified taxpayer attack on our school expenditures is to target the 1/4 of expenses that does not have a constituency.
We need to get together in this town to help the taxpayers and the only route to massing a unified taxpayer attack on our school expenditures is to target the 1/4 of expenses that does not have a constituency
BRAVO!
So when are we going to hear from the Board of Ed on this? Do we need to meet and create an organization dedicated to getting the Board to weigh in on our concern? Should we seriously put together a slate of candidates dedicated to getting the non-classroom expenditure down?
To get answers from members of the board try contacting them directly. Contact info is available on the Teaneck Public Schools website.
Tom-
Don't make excuses for them.
The Board has cut back on administrators tremendously over the last 10-12 years. Also, I would not want to compare the cleanliness and upkeep of our buildings (which this town invested much money in during the 90's in two bond issues to upgrade and modernize) with the dilapidated condition of some of our neighboring districts. When our students and teachers visit these districts for high school sports games and club competitions, they are always struck by how dirty some of them are compared to THS. Our buildings and grounds are used by the community as well as the school system 6-7 days a week, including nights, for community ed, rec sports practices and programs (including Sprots & Arts, Camp K, afterschool enrichment classes, working parents programs, etc.), community volleyball leagues, meetings, concerts and other programs. This takes upkeep.
Our buildings and grounds are used by the community as well as the school system 6-7 days a week, including nights, for community ed, rec sports practices and programs (including Sprots & Arts, Camp K, afterschool enrichment classes, working parents programs, etc.), community volleyball leagues, meetings, concerts and other programs. This takes upkeep.
Then maybe part of the answer is that the REC DEPT. needs to start charging more for their services and not giving them away!
Our buildings and grounds are used by the community as well as the school system 6-7 days a week, including nights, for community ed, rec sports practices and programs (including Sprots & Arts, Camp K, afterschool enrichment classes, working parents programs, etc.), community volleyball leagues, meetings, concerts and other programs. This takes upkeep.
Then maybe part of the answer is that the REC DEPT. needs to start charging more for their services and not giving them away!
Does anybody have a link to the school budget?
Tried do a search for it (school budget) at the Teaneck public school website but it found no record of it.
Is it not available? Or is it hiding?
mskj: Are our schools the 5th cleanest schools in NJ? Are our schools the fifth best in NJ?
Saying that "some" schools are filthy doesn't rebut the claim that we aren't getting our money's worth from the school's operations budget.
So our neighbors are filthy? Their ballfields are inferior?
Well, in addition to being insulting to our neighbors, this observation ignores the fact that, unlike towns where Little League shares school fields, our kids (and I have a guy who plays on travel teams in the summer and fall) consistently play Little League on the worst fields in the county. The very nice school fields are not available (even in summer).
Teaneck runs clean schools; everybody else is dirty? Surely, you jest.
Said Anon#1 "Picking on teachers may give you some kind of satisfaction."
No, "picking on teachers" gives me no "satisfaction" because I don't think highlighting the largest BoE budget item constitutes "picking."
However, like everything, there is a market for teachers that set rates for their services. We are paying significantly above that. When gym teachers make 100K for 9 months work, get pensions and $5 co-pays, there is something wrong with the system.
Yes, by all means tackle maintenance. However, reaching Englewood levels requires a 1/3 cut in the budget to save $800. Does anyone really see a 1/3 decrease coming any time soon. No, making a meaningful dent here requires an across the board effort. All because they have a constituency and a powerful union does not mean that they are untouchable.
Also, at some point their presumed constituency (parents) will realize that the current teachers' contract hurts rather than helps the quality of education. How:
(1) A tenure system that kicks in after 3 years (way too early to judge teaching talent effectively) and effectively gives lifetime employment (Bergen Record or the Ledger did a study and found that teachers are almost never fired).
(2) The system rewards advanced degrees significantly more than years teaching - despite the fact that recent studies have shown there is little correlation between advanced degrees and the academic achievements of their students.
(3) Way above market salaries combined with tenure make it unlikely that average teachers will ever leave. Outstanding teachers presumably can earn higher salaries at private institutions. However, teachers consistently fight the notion of merit pay which could be used to retain star teachers.
(4) Higher salaries limit the number of teachers the district can hire, thereby preventing smaller class size (which many studies show to be a significant factor in student achievement).
The list goes on and on.
If you want some enlightening reading, read the teachers' contract in its entirety. It pretty much assures that teachers cannot be picked on. It would be nice if next time there was someone at the table making sure that student interests and taxpayer interests were not being picked on.
Finally, Esther, I will ask again, what is the basis for your assertion that we have a "high caliber" of teacher. If there were any objective basis for that statement, it would make it easier to accept the level of salaries.
Anon@4:29
To answer the question posed by anon4:29 as to the basis for my assertion that we have a "high caliber" of teacher in Teaneck.
Based on my experience involving 10primary teachers, and many other specialty teachers in art, music, chorus, junior great books and advanced math, I would say that the caliber of the teachers in Teaneck is very high - meaning the teachers that I've come to know are intelligent, engaged people who are genuinely committed to providing an excellent education for an economically, ethnically and racially diverse student population.
If you've had experiences with the teachers in Teaneck that is different than mine, we'd all love to hear about it.
Esther:
I am glad your child likes her teachers and I hope that she continues to have the same experience.
I do not have students in the public schools and as a result, cannot comment on individual teachers. However, just like teachers evaluate students on test performance, teachers must be evaluated on student performance. So while your child may be getting a great education (as it seems like many in the top quartile do), district wide test scores make it pretty clear that most students are not getting the same quality of education.
I guess we part company over the definition of "high caliber." To me "intelligent, engaged people who are genuinely committed to providing an excellent education for an economically, ethnically and racially diverse student population" should be the entry test to becoming a teacher. If you are not intelligent and do not share this genuine commitment, find another profession. Do you genuinely believe that most teachers' in other districts do not meet these criteria as well?
To label Teaneck's teachers high caliber rather than average, I believe they have to exceed this standard. Show me how they take the "economically, ethnically and racially diverse student population" and help them achieve excellence rather than proficiency (and in many cases not even that) - then you have a high caliber teacher. Commitment to these goals is not enough. Until excellence is achieved among all segments of Teaneck's diverse student body, I want to understand what justifies paying Teaneck teachers significantly more than their peers in neighboring districts.
Anon@4:29
Anon @4:29-
You said you do not have children in the schools, and so cannot comment on the caliber of the teachers. I would suggest you do as I did, and go visit some classrooms before you decide the quality level of Teaneck's schools.
I was educated in a wealthy public school district in another NJ county, and quite frankly expected to find mediocre teachers and substandard conditions here in Teaneck schools, which everyone seems to bash consistently. What I found, instead, were generally very good teachers doing an exceedingly difficult job. I found friendly, cheerful classrooms, and teachers who were interested in their students and doing some great work. Let me repeat, my standards are probably well above average, and I was impressed with what I observed in Teaneck.
Do I like it that my taxes are this high? No. Do I think that there is room for belt-tightening? Yup. Should we pay much closer attention to the next contract negotiations? Absolutely. But in the end, it costs a lot of money to educate a broad spectrum of abilities and backgrounds, and Teaneck is really doing a pretty good job.
I have never understood the "just visit the school" school of thought. Let's say I go into a school visit 20, 30, 40 classrooms, all filled with happy, well behaved students and bright, energetic teachers. What does that mean? What makes me qualified to judge whether that translates into effective education or not.
At the end of the day, none of these first person accounts answers the question - are they doing a good job of educating. That is where tests and test scores come in. Based on those scores, for a long time, Teaneck was not cutting it for a large segment of its population (despite top pay and claims of top teachers) - a reality that the BoE only recently acknowledged and started to act upon.
Anon@4:29
So numbers alone tell you if it's a good education? What about the special needs population? Does that same logic apply?
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