Evaluating Public Schools

This section provides tools to aid in finding the best public school option for your child. Compare private and public schools, explore school zoning issues, and delve into the public school grading and ranking system. Find information on the safest schools and what they are doing right.

View the most popular articles in Evaluating Public Schools:

How Schools Recovered from Hurricane Sandy

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How Schools Recovered from Hurricane Sandy
There were many challenges facing schools in New York and New Jersey, as they struggled to get ready for students and balance the ongoing need to provide shelter to those displaced by the storm.

The hurricane that ripped through the Northeast October 22 through November 2, 2012, left a trail of destruction that impacted every aspect of the lives of the residents there, including the children. Many students and teachers were left without a school to return to since the storm-ravaged school buildings to the point where they were not considered inhabitable. In addition to the challenges of the storm clean-up, schools that were currently being used as shelters had to find a way to allow students and strangers to live together harmoniously, at least for a short period of time. How did schools recover from unprecedented Hurricane Sandy? Very slowly, in some areas.

This video describes how Storm Sandy evolved.

Challenges Schools Faced

To understand the many challenges facing schools that were in the path of Hurricane Sandy, the Wall Street Journal went inside the thought process of one of New Jersey’s superintendents. Dr. James A. Crisfield, the superintendent of Milburn Township Public Schools, explained to the publication that many factors had to be considered before children could be allowed back into schools, including:

  • Electricity - Many schools were still without power and they could not reopen until electricity was back on.
  • Gasoline – Gasoline shortages across the region made it difficult to get sufficient emergency personnel and school buses running. In addition, faculty and administration were unable to make it to school due to fuel shortages.
  • Damage
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Grading Public Schools: Accurate Assessment or Hype?

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Grading Public Schools: Accurate Assessment or Hype?
Grades are coming out for public schools across the country, and with the report cards come more questions about whether this is the best way to assess school performance.

As No Child Left Behind waivers are doled out to states nationwide, the next question becomes what will take the place of the federal mandate to assure parents schools are up to par in meeting the academic needs of students. Each state is left to its own devices in this regard, creating a sort of scorecards – or report card, if you will – to assess the performance of each individual school in a district. But while report cards may work reasonably well for individual students, grading an entire school district by a single rating system is proving much more challenging.

Conflicts within the Grading System

New grading systems within school districts offer parents a more accurate glimpse into the individual performance of schools much better than national test scores alone. In some states, these grades incorporate a number of factors, which might include standardized test scores, attendance and graduation rates, among others. Parents say the grades are important for helping them choose the best schools for their children. Schools, on the other hand, are concerned that this information may not be an accurate reflection of an individual school’s performance.

Another concern is that new grading systems had to be implemented much too quickly to provide a real snapshot into the performance of an individual school. The fast deadlines, combined with more rigorous standards, may reflect an inaccurate assessment of the number of underperforming schools in any district. Some states are also in

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Political Attire in Public School: Protected by the Constitution?

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Political Attire in Public School: Protected by the Constitution?
After a high school student is publicly humiliated for wearing a t-shirt to school supporting her favorite political candidate, the question of free speech vs. school dress code returns to the spotlight.

Presidential election season is in full swing, and the yard signs, bumper stickers, and campaign buttons prove it. Paraphernalia is one way Americans show their support for their favorite candidate, but as one high school student in Philadelphia found out, public support of a candidate doesn’t always go as planned. This student got more than she bargained for when she wore a pink Romney-Ryan t-shirt to school. She was publically humiliated and harassed for her choice – not by fellow students, but by her own teacher.

The Samantha Pawlucy Story

Samantha Pawlucy is a sophomore at Charles Carroll High School in the Philadelphia area. Pawlucy decided to wear her Romney-Ryan t-shirt to class on “dress-down” day when the shirt fit within the parameters of the school dress code. It was a daring thing to do in a community with one Republican for every six Democrats. However, Pawlucy had no idea just how traumatic the response to her attire would be.

Pawlucy’s geometry teacher, Lynette Gaymon, called attention to Pawlucy’s shirt during class. According to a report in the Examiner, Gaymon told Pawlucy to remove the shirt. When Pawlucy refused, Gaymon compared the wearing of that shirt to Gaymon coming to school sporting a Ku Klux Klan t-shirt. She explained that Charles Carroll High School was a “democratic” school, and then told Pawlucy to leave her classroom.

In this video, an attorney comes down hard on the teacher who was accused of bullying Samantha.

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Is Your Child's School a Blue Ribbon School?

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Is Your Child's School a Blue Ribbon School?
Did your child's school make the list? We cover the latest Blue Ribbon Schools awards given by Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

The U.S. Department of Education recently released it 2012 National Blue Ribbon Schools awards, which includes 219 public and 50 private schools across the country. The National Blue Ribbon Schools program has been a mainstay of the education system in the U.S. for the past three decades, providing parents, students and members of the community informed about the top-rated schools in the country. The awards are primarily intended to serve as an example and inspiration for the entire education system in the U.S.

Announcement of Awards Eagerly Anticipated

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently announced the recipients of the awards from one of the 2012 Blue Ribbon Schools, Arlington Traditional Elementary School, according to a report in the Washington Post. The program recognizes public and private schools at both the primary and secondary levels that have demonstrated outstanding student achievement or improvement over the past academic year.

“Our nation has no greater responsibility than helping all children realize their full potential,” Secretary Duncan was reported by the Examiner as stating at the award presentation. “Schools honored with the National Blue Ribbon Schools award are committed to accelerating student achievement and preparing students for success in college and careers. Their work reflects the conviction that every child has promise and that education is the surest pathway to a strong, secure future.”

In this video, Superintendent Dr. Pat Murphy talks with Principal Holly Hawthorne of Arlington Traditional School about the school's selection as a 2012

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Police Make Hundreds of Arrests at NYC Schools Last Year

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Police Make Hundreds of Arrests at NYC Schools Last Year
We examine recently released statistics that show more than 880 NYC students were arrested at public schools last year. Were minority students targeted?

A new report issued by the New York Civil Liberties Union indicates that the NYPD is making an average of around four arrests each day in New York City public schools. In addition, the police wrote around seven summons daily for students with less serious infractions. The report has been met with widespread concern, particularly in light of the fact that the large majority of students arrested were students of color. Is the NYPD exercising too much power in the public schools of the city, or are the police merely doing the job they were hired to do? The answer to that question appears to depend on who is asked.

Hundreds of Arrests on Record

The NYCLU recently released its report after conducting an analysis of police activity in the city’s public schools. The agency took advantage of a new city law to compile their report, which requires documentation and disclosure of school safety information, according to a report at SI Live. The report found that during the 2011-2012 school year, the police made a total of 882 arrests of students while the students were at school, with an additional 1,666 summonses issued.

Around 95 percent of the students arrested were black or Hispanic, despite the fact that students of color only make up around 71 percent of the total student population in the city. Of the minority students arrested, 63 percent were black students. Around 48 percent of the summonses issued were to students

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