A representative from the Trenton branch of the NAACP told the Trenton School Board last night that it must do something to improve the “abysmal” high school graduation rate. According to the Trenton Times, Board member Marcellus Smith assured the crowd that he, along with the rest of the Board and Superintendent Rodney Lofton, “intends to turn the district into a world-class school system.” Good luck with that.

The most recent DOE data shows that about half the kids drop out between 9th and 12th grade. 78% of Trenton High students fail the math HSPA and 55% fail the language arts HSPA (the state test required for high school graduation). 48.1% fail the HSPA three times and are “graduated” using the Special Review Assessment, a back-door diploma mechanism that artificially inflates N.J.’s high school graduation rate. Average SAT scores are 374 for math and 382 for verbal. Cost per pupil? $16,120.

Trenton High School is in its 6th year as a “School In Need of Improvement.” According to No Child Left Behind Sanctions, all children enrolled there should have “public school choice” for the last 4 years. Let’s see… they could go to the other public high school in Trenton, Daylight/Twilight High School where 90% of the kids fail the math HSPA and 78.7% fail the language arts HSPA. Every kid who graduates does so through the SRA; SAT scores average 351 for math and 355 for verbal.

There are some charter schools in Trenton, but none that we can find that take high school kids. Their records are spotty; then again, they spend less money per child. They all have waiting lists.

So, do we take Mr.Smith at his word and wait for Trenton Central High’s transformation? Or do we actually give the kids a chance by bringing in KIPP or Green Dot or Uncommon Schools Network, which runs Newark’s North Star Academy where 100% of kids passed the language arts HSPA and 91% the math HSPA? Or – here’s something radical – admit that the fractured nature of our public school system segregates poor kids into ghettos and offer the opportunity to aspiring Trenton students to travel to one of the 8 other public school districts in Mercer County?

How bad does it have to get for us to try something new?

Also at last night’s Trenton School Board meeting, Superintendent Rodney Lofton got a one year contract with no pay increase, putting him at $180,353 for the 2009-2010 school year. Trenton has 12,000 kids in 21 schools About 10 miles down the road Princeton Regional Schools Superintendent Judy Wilson will be paid a $220,480 salary to oversee 3400 kids in 6 schools, according to the Princeton Packet.

Yeah, it’s just money. But if our goal is to offer comparable, equitable academic opportunity to all the children in New Jersey, we’re a State in Need of Improvement.