NJ Spotlight published the following article on March 5, 2014. To read the full article, click here.
NJ SCHOOLS EARN GOOD MARKS FOR COMPLIANCE WITH ANTI-BULLYING LAW
JOHN MOONEY | MARCH 5, 2014
Tucked deep within the state’s anti-bullying law is a requirement that New Jersey’s districts be graded on whether their schools are following both the letter and spirit of the legislation.
More than two years after the bill was signed, those grades – based on a scale of 0 to 75 — are starting to be released and posted for the first time on individual schools’ websites.
But it is proving to be a generous grading curve, to say the least, as it relies entirely on districts judging themselves – resulting, not surprisingly, in pretty high marks.
In the scores released by the state yesterday, two-thirds of schools gave themselves a score between 57 and 75, the highest quartile. Less than 1 percent gave themselves less than a 19, the bottom quartile.