Benjamin Franklin said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Clearly, Americans believe that, and that’s the reason we devote so much of our lives to it. There is a group of Cape May County citizens, called Cape Issues, who gather monthly to focus on topics to advance the quality of life here in our county. At this month’s meeting, we focused almost entirely on matters relating to the education of our youth.
While education has been a focus of our group for much of the 10 years of our existence, it has taken a top priority since New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney has determined to consolidate New Jersey schools at the county level. We are looking into how that can be done to maximum advantage to Cape May County’s students and taxpayers.
As we go through this ground-up rethink, we must ask ourselves, how are the best-performing schools achieving their stellar results, and which of their methods should we employ here. Well then, which are the stellar schools, and how do our results compare to theirs.
I drew a sampling from Niche.com’s top 10 public high schools in New Jersey and pulled their data regarding Cape May County’s public high schools. Niche ranks nearly 100,000 schools and districts based on statistics and millions of opinions from students and parents.
Top-ranked public high schools overall in New Jersey
Top-ranked in New Jersey: Bergen County Academies in Hackensack. According to state test scores, 96 percent of students are at least proficient in math and 88 percent in reading.
Fifth-ranked: Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School in Jersey City. According to state test scores, 91 percent of students are at least proficient in math and 99 percent in reading.
Tenth-ranked: Biotechnology High School in Freehold. According to state test scores, 92 percent of students are at least proficient in math and 95 percent in reading.
Ranking in Cape May County
Top-ranked: Ocean City High School. According to state test scores, 24 percent of students are at least proficient in math and 36 percent in reading.
Second-ranked: Middle Township High School. According to state test scores, 10 percent of students are at least proficient in math and 29 percent in reading.
Third-ranked: Lower Cape May Regional High School. According to state test scores, 26 percent of students are at least proficient in math and 31 percent in reading.
Fourth-ranked: Cape May County Technical High School. According to state test scores, 17 percent of students are at least proficient in math and 46 percent in reading.
Fifth-ranked: Wildwood High School. According to state test scores, 17 percent of students are at least proficient in math and 32 percent in reading.
The comparative information above makes it clear that there is considerable room for improvement to reach the top. Is it possible for us to achieve similar results to the state’s best-ranked schools? There may be reasons why it is not, but our going-in position should be that we can match or exceed their results, as we, along with the rest of the state undergo a restructuring.
Please pass on any thoughts and suggestions to CapeIssues@CMCHerald.com
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
