A Remarkable Transformation: Union City Public Schools
The teachers and community and a large dose of technology come together to save this New Jersey school district.
In 1989, leaders of Union City Public Schools in New Jersey had a choice. They could continue the same unsuccessful programs that had led to the threat of a state takeover for failing forty-four of fifty-two indicators of educational competence. Or, they could retain local control by demonstrating academic progress.
Unlike school districts in nearby Paterson, Jersey City, and Newark, which were taken over by the state and have yet to return to local control, Union City improved, and in fact flourished. Fourteen years after that very real takeover threat, schools in Union City are models for reform, and visitors from Chicago to Argentina are replicating its practices.
Union City School District
Union City School District |
---|
Anthony N. Dragona Justin Mercado |
13,768 |
Faculty |
Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers’ Guide to Education Spending.*Of K-12 districts with more than 3,500 students. Lowest spending=1 Highest=103 |
Union City School District is a comprehensive community publicschool district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in Union City, New Jersey, United States. The district is one of 31 former Abbott districts statewide that were established pursuant to the decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Abbott v. Burke which are now referred to as “SDA Districts” based on the requirement for the state to cover all costs for school building and renovation projects in these districts under the supervision of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.As of the 201819 school year, the district, comprised of 14 schools, had an enrollment of 13,768 students and 837.2 classroom teachers , for a studentteacher ratio of 16.4:1.
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group “A”, the lowest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.
About Union City Board Of Education
Union City Board Of Education is a local education agency located inUnion City, NJ.
Our Facilities
Union City Board Of Education has been registered with the National Provider Identifier databasesince February 20, 2013and its NPI number is1538409081.
Book an Appointment
To schedule an appointment, please call 348-5677.
You May Like: Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union
Union City 21st Cclc Program
Project Director: Edernis Bermudez-Garcia
Servicing School District: Union City
21st CCLC Sites:
Partners: City of Union City
Serving Grade Levels: 4-8
No. of Students to be served: 300
No. of Adults to be served: 250
Times of Service: After-School: 3PM-6PM, Monday – Friday, 28 weeksSummer: 8AM – Noon Monday – Friday 4 weeks
Abstract: The Union City 21st CCLC Student Opportunities Afterschool Results will directly address the academic and developmental needs of students in grades 4 through 8 in Colin Powell School, George Washington School, Emerson Middle School and Union Hill Middle School, and provide opportunities for parental involvement and education. The District chose these four schools since they are most in need of additional remediation to meet State objectives in Language Arts and Math.
It is anticipated that the program will serve 300 students defined as those in attendance for 30 days, 250 students in the summer program and 250 parents. The District can confidently commit to those levels since the average daily attendance for the current 5-year grant is 582 students per day with 1,751 enrolled this year.
The Power Of Technology

“The Internet just broke down the walls of my classroom,” says twenty-seven-year teaching veteran Marjorie Zaccagna, who was born and raised in Union City. “We could look up anything. There was no longer, ‘That’s a good question. I’ll come back with the answer tomorrow.’ Well, why tomorrow? We’ll get the answer right now.” With technology, which Zaccagna describes as “a shot in the arm” to her teaching career, she has “so many different ways now of getting without having to stand up there and lecture at them.”
Senior Andrea Tapia says she has benefited immensely from technology. “At other school districts, they’re blind to technology — just basic environments where you go into the classroom, you learn off the blackboard, you go home, you do your homework in your textbook, and you come back to class and you present it, which is boring. And that’s why students lose interest in wanting to learn.”
The district made the decision in 1992 to put a couple of computers in every classroom at about the same time that Bell Atlantic decided, in a program called Project Explore, to wire and donate computers to all the teachers and students at Union City’s Christopher Columbus Middle School. The results were so positive that district officials decided to use much of the new money coming to the district on computers, connections, and software. Union City now has one computer for every three students and all of its classrooms wired for the Internet.
You May Like: Members Advantage Credit Union Online Banking
Union City Public Schools New Jersey
Union City Public Schools is a school district in New Jersey.
Ballotpedia covers public school districts in the 100 largest cities in America by population, as well as the 200 largest public school districts by student enrollment. This school district is outside of that coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates. If you would like to help our coverage scope grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.
The People United Will Never Be Defeated
As the UCEA Executive Officers our goal is to educate all members about professional rights and to provide reassureance that we will always be here to support you. Each officer will work hard to be resilient, determined and to take action with fortitude for all members. We hope we instill the utmost confidence in our members and we look forward to continuing to advocate for you. We are here for the people and it is an honor & privilege to serve you.
Respectfully,
Don’t Miss: Used Auto Loan Rates Credit Union
Nj Election 202: Election Results For House County And Local Races School Boards
Shel Mukherjee, left, and his wife Meghann Butler memorialize his first time voting in an American election after casting his ballot at the Morristown Municipal Building on Nov. 8, 2022.Amanda Brown| For NJ Advance Med
Voters from around the state cast their ballots Tuesday in the general election for the 12 U.S. House seats representing New Jersey, as well as county, local and board of education seats up for election in 2022.
For the second year in a row, voters had three ways to vote either in person during early voting which began on Oct. 29 and concluded Nov. 6, by sending in a mail-in ballot or putting it in a dropbox, or by stepping into a voting booth on Tuesday.
At the top of the ticket,Democrats and Republicans are seeking election to 12 Congressional seats at President Joe Bidens midterm.
More than 1.4 million residents moved to new Congressional districts and are seeing new candidates to choose from due to new lines drawn by New Jerseys independent redistricting commission to reflect population shifts under the 2020 census.
And across the state, hundreds of candidates are running for county offices, mayors and elected positions on the municipal level, and for seats on local school boards.
NJ Advance Media is compiling results from local and county races around the state.
Congressional results
Union City Bd Of Edsalaries
Highest salary at Union City Bd Of Ed in year 2018 was $224,042.Number of employees at Union City Bd Of Ed in year 2018was 1,769. Average annual salarywas $64,359 and median salarywas $59,700. Union City Bd Of Ed average salaryis 37percent higher than USA average and mediansalary is 37percent higher than USA median.
GovSalaries is not affiliated with any government entity. We cannot makeanyguarantee that information on this website 100% accurate or complete. GovSalaries is not aconsumerreporting agency as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 USC § 1681 et seq, . We strictlyprohibit the use of this website or the information it contains to make any determinations concerningemployment, consumer credit, insurance, tenant screening, or any other purpose that would require FCRAcompliance.
You May Like: Us Alliance Federal Credit Union
What It Took
A combination of focused leadership, a comprehensive, research-based overhaul of the system, technology, teacher and community input, site-based decision-making, and more money explain the turnaround.
“We really began with trying to determine a philosophy of education for the school system,” says Fred Carrigg, executive director for academic programs for the district, and, along with Superintendent Tom Highton, the force for pushing for profound, teacher-sanctioned changes. “When we looked at what existed, it essentially was four or five sentences that were nothing more than platitudes … but it had no meat or direction to it.”
The district gave Carrigg and a group of teachers and administrators a summer to do research — “to find out what the trends were in American education, what people were saying, and to establish a philosophy of education.”
Fred Carrigg, executive director for academic programs, checks out computer presentations by students.