New Jersey dropped to 5th place in the national KIDS COUNT Data Book released today, from 4th last year, but New Jersey’s children still fare better than most of their young peers across the country.

New Jersey remained 2nd in the nation for its students’ high performance on academic measures, surpassing national averages for more children attending preschool, more 4th and 8th grade students passing reading and math tests and more high school students graduating on time. The state, however, lost ground in certain measures of child health, dropping from 13th place this year, compared to 5th last year.

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