Just How Bad are Hoboken’s Schools?
Categories: For Buyers, For Sellers, Neighborhoods
Hoboken Schools Have a Bad Rep
If there is any single factor that causes families to move out of Hoboken, above all it is the reputation of the Hoboken public school system. Sure, taxes are an issue but taxes are a problem across the State and most of the NorthEast. We’ve been an Abbott district for some time now, per pupil spending is well above the average for the State as are our operating expenses yet academic performance is near bottom.
| Ind. | Per Pupil | District Spending |
Rank (*) |
K-12 Average |
%± vs. Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Comparative Cost | $24,808 | 70 | $13,632 | 82.0% |
| 2 | Classroom Instruction | 13,020 | 69 | 8,035 | 62.0% |
| 6 | Support Services | 5,732 | 70 | 2,166 | 164.6% |
| 8 | Administrative Cost | 1,412 | 36 | 1,379 | 2.4% |
| 10 | Operations & Maintenance | 3,566 | 70 | 1,674 | 113.0% |
| 13 | Extracurricular Activities | 692 | 70 | 258 | 168.2% |
| 16 | Median Teacher Salary | 74,902 | 69 | 57,597 | |
| Data from NJDoE 2009 Comparative Spending Guide.[2] *Of K-12 districts with 1,801-3,500 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=70 |
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Tomorrow are Hoboken School Board Elections. Polls are open from 2:00pm to 9:00pm so there are no excuses – vote when you get home from work!
Of course, that begs the question of who should you vote for. My opinion is that the current Kids First slate had their chance and as far as I can tell, not much has changed. I will give someone else the opportunity to fix this mess so I’m voting for Real Results. As I understand it, they are the candidates chosen by the former supporters of Kids First who are also disallusioned by the lack of improvement and progress made by Kids First. If it matters to you, Mayor Zimmer is supporting Kids First. If you want to learn more about the platforms of the candidates read this or this. Now, you might be thinking “well I don’t have kids so I don’t care” or “my kids go to private school”. A huge chunk of your taxes pay for the school system and bad schools hurt property values!!! The one thing I do know for sure is that if you can’t be bothered to vote, you have no right to complain about our expensive yet failing school system!
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