New Jersey

We left NJ in 1990, probably before the Abbott II ruling.

The problem I see with Abbott districts is that they still concentrate the poorest kids in small areas. That's why they aren't doing well. You can throw all kinds of money at these districts, but the socioeconomic realities facing these kids generally keep them from matching the test scores of the suburban districts. It perpetuates educational segregation. The families of poor kids often lack the resources to provide children with the "extras" that middle class families can afford, like trips to museums, travel, tutoring, afterschool activities and more. Many poorer families have one or more adults working multiple jobs just to pay the rent and put food on the table, leaving no time or energy for a parent to sit down and read a story with their children.

When we moved to Maryland, my kids attended Montgomery County public schools, which in 1990 were considered among the finest in the nation. The school system has struggled a bit in recent years because much funding has been needed to bring tens of thousands of non-English-speaking kids up to speed through ESOL classes. But it is still a very good school system.

Certainly we have areas of the county where families are more affluent or less affluent, and there are schools where most of the kids come from poor or non-English-speaking families, But one good thing is that we have many magnet school programs for elementary, middle and high school students. For example, a high school in a poorer area might feature an International Baccalaureate program or an accelerated computer science curriculum or an environmental studies emphasis that attracts higher-achieving students. This helps bring about a better mix of income levels among students' families.

For example the city of Rockville, if it were located in New Jersey under the old home rule system, would likely be an enclave of poverty. But bringing the International Baccalaureate program to Richard Montgomery High School, one of several high schools that serves Rockville students, has made Rockville a very attractive place for families of all income levels and likely benefited students of different income levels.

I can't say this system is perfect, or that there aren't struggling poor kids in our schools. But I think it provides better integration and doesn't create what amount to educational ghettos.