A Quick Dive into the Latest High School Rankings

Sep 8, 20233 Comments

Governor Livingston High School Falls First in Dollars Spent, Last in Rankings

-Written by an Educator in the Community

Earlier this week, U.S. News and World Reports released their “Best New Jersey High School rankings” for 2023. The ranking methodology includes college readiness (30%), state assessment proficiency (20%), state assessment performance (20%), underserved student performance (10%), college curriculum breadth (10%), and graduation rate (10%).

Here are the rankings for New Jersey only (not nationally) from seven nearby districts including Governor Livingston High School (GLHS) which covers Berkeley Heights and Mountainside students:

#19: Millburn High School ($18,336 per pupil)

#21: Chatham High School ($17,248 per pupil)

#23: Summit High School ($17,925 per pupil)

#40: Madison High School ($17,567 per pupil)

#49: Westfield High School ($16,226 per pupil)

#51: New Providence High School ($17,054 per pupil)

#80: Governor Livingston High School ($19,925 per pupil)

Most money spent per student (per pupil) according to data from 2022 from highest (bad) to lowest (good) from the perspective of a taxpayer:

#1: Berkeley Heights Public Schools (7th out of 7 high school ranking)

#2: Millburn Public Schools (1st out of 7 high school ranking)

#3: Summit Public Schools (3rd out of 7 high school ranking)

#4: Madison Public Schools (4th out of 7 high school ranking)

#5: The School District of the Chatham (2nd out of 7 high school ranking)

#6: New Providence School District (6th out of 7 high school ranking)

#7: Westfield Public Schools (5th out of 7 high school rankings)

See graphic

In other words, it makes sense that New Providence School District ranks sixth place of seven districts mentioned for high school rankings and sixth place out of seven districts for per pupil cost. It makes sense that Millburn, Summit, and Madison round out the top four for both high school rankings and cost per pupil. What does not make sense is that GLHS ranks highest per pupil cost (your tax dollars) but lowest rankings in the BHCW district dashboard.

Please remember that these high school rankings fall after a drop in Berkeley Heights Public Schools rankings behind nearly all other neighboring districts in the seven-district dashboard for K-12 as a whole through Patch.com rankings released in April 2023.

Between poor district-wide ratings released in the spring and GLHS falling behind neighboring districts currently according to this latest U.S. News and World Report source, this is further evidence that Berkeley Heights needs to re-evaluate the direction that the district is going in.

Questions for Superintendent Melissa Varley and all eight Board of Education members:

Of the seven districts in bold, how does GLHS have the highest cost per pupil spend of the seven districts but the lowest rank?

What can be done to put more money back into classrooms and less onto central office administration, the business office, and lawyers for the Superintendent?

What can be done not only from a high school standpoint but also the middle school to improve GLHS rankings?

While maybe GLHS may not rise be a Top 20 high school, what can be done to rank GLHS near comparable New Providence and Madison and above high schools that GLHS should rank higher than including Somerset Hills (#65), Bridgewater-Raritan (#76), and Scotch Plains-Fanwood (#78)?

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