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The state Department of Education yesterday released its annual New Jersey School Report Card, which details 35 fields of information for each public school in the state — including 38 in the Jersey City district — in the following categories: school environment, students, student performance indicators, staff, and district finances.

As the Journal noted in a story this morning, while statewide spending per pupil increased by about 8 percent from ’07/08 to ’08/’09, in Jersey City, the amount actually decreased from $18,545 to $17,094. The state education commissioner told the paper that the decrease here is likely due to a change in the formula that dictates school funding.

We thought we’d share a few other interesting data points in the report cards, which you can browse for yourself here.

Graduation Rates

Jersey City continues to lag the state numbers by more than 10 percent, but the district’s numbers are rising. In the most recent graduating class, 79.1 percent of students in Jersey City graduated, while the number statewide was 93.3 percent. But that Jersey City figure is up from 74 percent for the class of 2008, and 78.1 percent for the class of 2007.

Dropout Rates

Jersey City’s dropout rate (6.2 percent) is higher than the state’s (1.7 percent), and both numbers held steady from ’07/’08 to ’08/’09.

Teacher and Administrator Pay

Median salaries for Jersey City faculty were lower ($55,923) than the statewide average ($59,545), while the median salaries for Jersey City administrators ($125,368) were higher than the New Jersey average ($114,950). Accordingly, the percentage of district budget that went to teach salary and benefits (53 percent) is slightly lower than the statewide number (55 percent), and the percentage devoted to administration in Jersey City (9 percent) is higher than the New Jersey figure (8 percent).

That portion of budget devoted to teacher salary and benefits in Jersey City is also growing at a slower rate than the statewide average, increasing by 12 percent over the past three years, while the statewide number has increased by 18 percent over the same time period.

Lastly, Jersey City has a higher proportion of administrators to students than the rest of the state, with 148.8 students for each administrator (statewide, there are 159.2 students for each administrator).

Average SAT Scores

Average SAT scores in Jersey City are a few hundred points below the statewide averages, and the average score in Jersey City actually decreased slightly over two years. It’s worth noting that many education experts believe SAT scores are more directly linked to socioeconomic status and household income than actual school performance. (For a little more on that, check out the Record‘s piece on the report cards.) But here are the numbers:

Jersey City’s average SAT score in ’08/’09 was 1,331, while the statewide average was 1,503 (A perfect SAT score would be 2400). In ’06/’07, Jersey City’s average score was 1,342 and the state’s was 1,489, while last year Jersey City’s was 1,328 and the state’s was 1,500.