NEW JERSEY
Highlights of the State
* The New Jersey Supreme Court, in Abbott vs. Burke, mandated the availability of free, high quality preschool for all 3 and 4 year olds in the state's 30 poorest school districts, known as Abbott districts.
* Legislation passed to provide the next tier of school districts in poverty, known as Early Childhood Program Aid (ECPA) districts, with full day kindergarten and 1/2 day programs for 4 year olds.
* Set standards for quality in early education programs for 3 and 4 year-olds that far exceed licensing standards for child care, adopted by New Jersey Supreme Court as standard.
* About $330 million in funding for preschool programs.
Policy Issues
* Implementation has been an issue for the Abbott and ECPA programs, including adequate facilities, adequate funding, collaboration between community providers and school districts, and teacher preparation.
* Although the Abbott decision provides a spring board to universal preschool, and ultimately could redefine early care education for children ages 0-5, to date it has eclipsed services for children ages 0-3.
* Improving preschool teacher preparation by considering revisions to preschool certification and working with higher education to improve access and relevance of preschool teacher preparation
* Providing appropriate and sufficient number of preschool facilities
* Creating infrastructures for partnerships on the state and local level
Statutory Children's Cabinet
New Jersey has no statutory children's group.
New Jersey School Readiness Report
Access Building the Future; Readying Our Youngest Citizens for School Success by clicking on the following link: http://www.gettingready.org/matriarch/d.asp?PageID=303&PageName2=pdfhold&p=&PageName=NJ+FINAL+REPORT%2Epdf