Special Report
States

New Jersey Ranks First on Quality Counts Annual Report Card

September 03, 2019 1 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Enrollment: 1.36 million

K-12 Budget: $8.5 billion

New Jersey unseated perennial standout Massachusetts this year as the top-ranked state in Quality Counts, in part because of a strong performance on financial indicators.

The Garden State also ranked second on the Chance for Success Index, with a B-plus and a score of 89.1. It ranked second in high school graduation rates and fifth in postsecondary participation, adult educational attainment, and annual income.

Advocates for poor students in the state cite a variety of policies for promoting equity, including a funding formula that targets resources to districts with high concentrations of students from low-income families.

After years of tight state budgets, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, recently signed a bill that increases state aid to districts by $191 million, helping more high-poverty school systems reach adequacy under the state’s formula.

The state also has a designated fund for school capital projects and made a decade-long commitment to prekindergarten access, advocates note.

New Jersey ranked third in preschool enrollment, topped by Connecticut and the District of Columbia.

For more about New Jersey’s Quality Counts score, click here.

Related Tags:

Note: Enrollment is for the 2018-19 school year, and budget figure is for the 2019 fiscal year.

Research assistance from intern Héctor Alejandro Arzate.

In March 2024, Education Week announced the end of the Quality Counts report after 25 years of serving as a comprehensive K-12 education scorecard. In response to new challenges and a shifting landscape, we are refocusing our efforts on research and analysis to better serve the K-12 community. For more information, please go here for the full context or learn more about the EdWeek Research Center.

Events

Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
End Student Boredom: K-12 Publisher's Guide to 70% Engagement Boost
Calling all K-12 Publishers! Student engagement flatlining? Learn how to boost it by up to 70%.
Content provided by KITABOO

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

States Oklahoma Will Cut Funding to Districts That Don't Sign Trump's Anti-DEI Pledge
The state says it will withhold federal funds from districts that don't sign a Trump administration DEI pledge.
8 min read
Ryan Walters, Republican state superintendent candidate, speaks, June 28, 2022, in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters is pictured on June 28, 2022, in Oklahoma City when he was a candidate for the position he now holds. Walters this week told districts he would halt federal funding beginning Friday, April 25, if they don't certify they're not using diversity, equity, and inclusion programming in schools.
Sue Ogrocki/AP
States Tracker 'Illegal' DEI: See Which States Are Telling Trump Their Schools Don't Use It
The Education Department wants states and schools to sign a certification saying they don't use DEI. Here's how they're responding so far.
6 min read
DEI Removal 042025 506859558 1481700088
Collage by Gina Tomko/Education Week and Getty
States Opinion How One State Improved Its NAEP Scores
Louisiana's state schools chief discusses the importance of reading and math instruction and "letting teachers teach."
6 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
States Lawmakers Want to Fix Student Absenteeism With Ice Cream Parties, Data, and More
State lawmakers have introduced dozens of bills aiming to make school attendance a priority.
3 min read
New canvas school bags hanging on the backs of empty classroom student chairs in a large modern classroom
iStock/Getty Images