New Jersey

Overview

During the 2021-2022 school year, New Jersey preschool programs enrolled 53,293 children, an increase of 6,398 from the prior year, as preschool in the state began to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. State funding totaled $891,476,664, down $55,369,735 (6%), adjusted for inflation since last year. State spending per child equaled $16,728 in 2021-2022, down $3,463 from 2020-2021, adjusted for inflation. New Jersey met 8 of 10 quality standards benchmarks.

What's New

For the 2022-2023 school year, Governor Murphy and the legislature approved a $40 million increase (in nominal dollars) to expand preschool, marking the sixth year in a row of increased funding for state preschool. Most of the increased funding went to support new seats for preschoolers, but some was also earmarked to provide a cost of living increase for all other existing preschool seats. In an effort to expand the program to new areas of the state, school district eligibility levels were reduced from 20% of children eligible for FRPL to 10% of children. 

The Governor also announced forthcoming plans to reach universal preschool and in October 2022 released the New Jersey Strategic Plan for Preschool Expansion Phase I: The Foundation. A companion implementation plan is currently being drafted and is anticipated for release in the fall of 2023. 

In January 2023, New Jersey was awarded a federal Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B–5) renewal grant for $2.3 million. The NJ Department of Labor is the lead on this grant and funds will primarily be used to increase the capacity of the workforce.

Background

New Jersey funds three preschool programs. The largest and most intensive of the programs, formerly known as the Abbott Preschool Program, was originally established under a 1998 New Jersey Supreme Court mandate to serve all 3- and 4-year-olds in 31 of the state’s lowest income school districts. Since 2018, the state has expanded the program to serve 51,310 children in 180 districts during the 2021-2022 school year. Now referred to as the state’s Preschool Expansion Program, the program includes the original 31 Abbott districts as well as districts more recently approved to expand their preschool programs to meet Abbott standards. The NJ Department of Education funds eligible districts to provide a full-day program to all 3- and 4-year-olds who live in those districts and choose to enroll. The original 31 Abbott districts are required to contract with licensed private child care centers or Head Start programs that meet state standards. All other districts are encouraged, but not required, to contract with private child care or Head Start. 

The non-Abbott Early Childhood Program Aid (ECPA) program operates in districts where 20% to 40% of children met the criteria for FRPL when the program was established in the late 1990’s. New Jersey’s third program, formerly known as the Early Launch to Learning Initiative (ELLI), was established in 2004 as part of an effort to expand access to high-quality pre-K education to all 4-year-olds in low-income households across the state. There is some overlap between districts in the ECPA and ELLI programs, and some of these districts have recently elected to expand their programs in line with the former Abbott program.