Jersey City schools chief gives assessment 60 days into job

MARCIA V. LYLES

The Jersey City school district needs to lower its high dropout rate, increase the academic achievement of black and Latino students, and better prepare students for college, Schools Superintendent Marcia V. Lyles said last night.

Lyles made the comments during a roughly hour-long speech at last night’s Jersey City Board of Education meeting, where she presented a “60-day review” of the 29,000-student district. Lyles became the district’s new chief in September.

“There are pervasive inequities throughout the district,” she said, adding there has been “slow and steady” progress on standardized testing.

Lyles, who came to Jersey City from Delaware’s largest school district and was a longtime administration for New York City public schools, lavished praise on some of the Jersey City district’s high-profile initiatives, including the dual-language program and early-childhood education.

But even those programs have faults that need to be addressed, she said. Regarding the dual-language program, Lyles noted that it’s only implemented in select schools and the admission process is different at every school.

“These are equity issues that must be addressed,” she said.

Among the initiatives Lyles pledged to implement are a program to increase student participation in advancement-placement classes; a new evaluation system for district employees; and a plan to address the district’s aging facilities.

Lyles’ presentation will be uploaded to the district’s website at jcboe.org.

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal 
on November 21, 2012 at 1:40 PM