It's great to be #1

"New Jersey takes the top spot in the newly released 'Quality Counts 2019,' the 23rd annual report card of state education systems issued by the Education Week Research Center." Through my work with educational leaders in the state, this comes as no surprise. For the most part, I know that they, and our teachers, come to work each morning with an intense focus on improving student outcomes, and with the growth mindset that "we can be better still."

I am also a school board member, and (humble?) parent of three success stories of NJ public schools - recently-minted medical professionals. I can take pride in my having made a New Jersey education available to my children, and for the small role I've played as a board member and public schools advocate.

"The report . . . synthesizes 39 indicators that capture a range of school finance, academic achievement, and socioeconomic factors that affect the quality of state school systems." The article also shares most improved, and largest declines in scores by state year over year. What also stands out is that New Jersey and Massachusetts are the perennial top performers by the metrics of this report card - either one NOT landing in the top spot would be bigger news.

So, you ask, how does it feel to be #1 (assuming I may speak for an entire state!)? Oh, fantastic. Reminds me of the time I was on the championship youth football team. We ran away with the title that year - we felt it was ours from the beginning. I was fortunate just to be on the team; my dad had felt that I wasn't quite ready for varsity, so had the coaches keep me in junior varsity. This ensured I was a starter, and I have to say I was dominating. Of course, it was a collective, team effort - it was the overall team that was great. And I, in all honesty, shouldn't have been on the team - I was definitely bigger than the other kids.

Maybe it wasn't such a great experience, after all. My spot could have been filled by a talented, deserving younger kid. Age and ability considerations were not accounted for, let alone enforced when teams were made. Did it make that much difference? I don't know. I do remember that we ran the same offensive play - on my side of the line - over and over, all night in the championship game.

I won't dwell on that any more. What about New Jersey education, eh? We know that there is a correlation between median household income and education results: New Jersey has the second-highest median income in the country - 13.0% of New Jersey households earn $200,000 or more, and nearly 40% of New Jersey adults hold at least a bachelor’s degree (Massachusetts is #4, and 43.4% of adults in the state have at least a bachelor’s degree) (America’s Richest and Poorest States, Wall Street 24/7, Oct. 4, 2018). We spend $16,543 per pupil on education, compared to the national average of $12,756, adjusted for regional cost differences (Education Week, January 3, 2019).

Clearly, New Jersey comes to the game with some advantages before the opening kick. It's great to be dominant in the league, but even better when you're the underdog, surprising fans when the team comes from nowhere with so-so talent and a lack of superstars. Maybe we should challenge ourselves, aspire to more than beating Massachusetts. Play varsity ball.

Because there are still a lot of New Jersey kids not in the game. According to the Nation's Report Card for 2017, NAEP scores for Grade 8 show significant gaps between subgroups:

Mathematics gap in proficiency, 500-point scale:

• 34 points between white/black (4-point improvement since 1990)
• 30 points between white/Hispanic (7-point improvement since 1990)

Reading gap in proficiency, 500-point scale

• 28 points between black/white (no significant change from 2003)
• 26 points between white/Hispanic (no significant change from 2003)

Here are some other facts about New Jersey education, where 53% of students are non-white according to ProPublica: white students are 2.5 times more likely to be enrolled in an AP course than black students (2.3 times more likely than Hispanic students); black students are 5.4 times more likely to be suspended compared to white students (2.4 times more likely, for Hispanic students).

How about this, New Jersey: let's aspire to being #1 in closing the achievement gap - a challenge truly worthy of our talent and "better angels." I am confident that we have the leadership to get this done. And if you are a school board member, please see that the board is talking about these gaps in your district - enough crowing about how many of our kids are getting into Ivy League schools.

If I could go back, I think I would have tried harder to move up to the youth varsity team that year. They weren't champions, but they were worthy contenders. And if I could have elevated my game, and proven myself against competitors my own size, I would have a much better reason to hold my head high.

I dedicate this article to whomever saw fit to remove a similar sentiment from the NJSBA Facebook page.