News in Brief

The New Jersey state school board has voted to extend its control of the Jersey City schools for at least another year, despite recent test scores that are the best since the state took control of the troubled district seven years ago.

The district's reading, writing, and math scores rose in 1995-96 on state standardized exams given in the 8th and 11th grades, as well as on the Metropolitan Achievement Test taken by 4th graders.

But passing rates remained below state standards in several key areas--a key factor in the state board's decision...