Preschool Program Gets a Boost

Preschools to get $77 million more in state funds

By MICHAEL SYMONS
Gannett State Bureau
Noticeable among the reams of spending cuts being unveiled in Gov. Jon Corzine's new state budget is a $77 million jump in spending on preschool programs.

Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said $52 million will expand existing programs for 3- and 4-year-olds in the so-called Abbott districts. Another $25 million will be dangled as an incentive to other districts to improve or introduce pre-K.

The state's school funding formula adopted last year requires pre-K programs to be phased in over a six-year period, for all students more than 100 districts and for any students eligible for free- or reduced-price lunches in all districts by 2013.

Districts that commit to using some of the extra federal Title I aid being awarded through the recently enacted federal stimulus bill for preschool can also receive a portion of that $25 million, Davy said.

"If they're willing to use some of their new money from the feds, then we're willing to provide them with additional money to help them begin that expansion," Davy said. "This definitely allows for the beginning of the phase-in, which is how this was contemplated when the governor talked about this last year."

In all, 310 New Jersey school districts are projected to be sharing less than $183 million in stimulus-related Title 1 grants. Another 265 are receiving nothing from that aid category.

The state share will probably exceed the federal contribution, Davy said. No local money would be needed in 2009-10, she said.

"It is going to be funded without local resources," Davy said. "We're not asking the local community to commit any money locally to these programs. They are going to be state-funded in this case and federally funded with some of these new dollars that are flowing in directly to the school districts."

Davy said incentive funds can help districts expand preschool programs to full-day, hire certified teachers or adopt a research-based curriculum. Such programs would not be mandatory for children to attend.

Davy said she and other state education chiefs met Tuesday in Washington and that most of the talk was about surviving budget cuts, not expanding programs.

"I actually didn't hear any of my colleagues yesterday talking about expanded early childhood right now," Davy said. "Most people are trying to hold down what they have in place. We are very, very fortunate. That's not to say that no one else is going to expand pre-K next year. But I'm telling you that most of the conversation that I heard was, 'How will we maintain what we have right now?' "

Reach Michael Symons at msymons@gannett.com