Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) just released its new report, Newark Kids Count 2023. Over the years the non-profit has tabulated about 100 indicators over seven domains: demographics, family economic security, health, child protection, child care, education, and teens. Let’s stick to education in New Jersey’s largest school district, using data from 2021-2022.

First, a few basic facts: According to Newark Kids Count, 64 percent (40,607) of Newark public school students attend district schools and 34 percent (20,491) attend charter schools, for a total of 60,019 public school students.. Since 2017-2018, enrollment has increased 14% in the district and 19% in the  charter sector,

Special education enrollment in Newark charter schools has increased by 29% since the 2017-18 school year, while Newark Public Schools saw a small decrease of 3 percent. However, there are still more children enrolled in special education in Newark Public Schools: 6,232 in the district and 2,129 in charters. The most common classifications are Specific Learning Disability, Autism, Speech/Language Impairment, and Other Health Impairment.

In Newark district schools, 17% of students are English Language Learners. The data shows charter schools enroll a large range of ELL students, in part because in Newark charters are more popular among African-American families than Hispanic families. For instance, the ELL enrollment rate at Maria L. Varisco-Rogers Charter School, where 94% of students are Hispanic, is 20 percent but at North Star Academy, where 84 percent of students are African-American, fewer than two percent are ELL.

Within the district, 29 percent of students are chronically absent (missing at least 10 percent of school days). Charter school rates aren’t calculated in the report.

How are Newark students progressing academically? ACNJ calculates that Newark district students “consistently underperformed” on the state standardized tests, with 19% of third-graders meeting or exceeding expectations in reading, a drop from 2018-2019 of 10%. (Data collected by TapintoNewark finds that 40% of third-graders in Newark charter school met or exceeded expectations in reading.)

Here’s Mary Coogan, president of ACNJ:

“The pandemic worsened preexisting achievement gaps, with low-income communities and communities of color being the hardest hit. It disrupted learning even beyond academic gains, with far-reaching implications on the social and emotional health of students. As leaders address the well-being of children in Newark, mental health must be part of that conversation.”

Within the district, average SAT scores are 425 in math and 438 in reading. Charters vary dramatically, from Marian Thomas’s 383 in math to North Star’s 525 in math.

The other education indicator collated by ACNJ is high school graduation rate within the district, which went up 12 points since 2017-18 and is currently 85%. Yet, that’s not the best indicator, as Robert Pondiscio points out today:

The last category is the percentage of graduates enrolled in post-secondary institutions of learning. Again, this varies school to school and sector to sector. Across district schools, 46 percent of students are enrolled in some sort of college program, with much higher rates for magnet schools like Science Park (83 percent). At one Newark charter high school, Great Oaks Legacy Charter School, 61 percent are enrolled in post-secondary programs but at LEAD, which serves older students who have dropped out, much fewer continue with their education after high school.

Of course, education is just one of the social determinants of health, which is why ACNJ includes six others. Yet education looms large: “Studies have shown,” reports the National Institutes of Health, “that children who enroll in poor-quality schools with fewer health resources, more violence, and a distressed school climate are more likely to set forth on a path toward worsened physical and mental health.” Let’s celebrate Newark’s rise in family median income and high school graduation rates, as well as a decrease in unemployment and teen births. But let’s not take our eye off the what the report calls the “consistent underperformance” of students enrolled in Newark district schools.