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Press of Atlantic City: "Funding changes may leave suburban New Jersey families on their own" Assembly Republican News….Assemblyman David W. Wolfe (R) expressed dismay at a report in The Press of Atlantic City that said preschools in certain suburban districts don't have room for children from middle class families....The story noted a recent study that found high-quality preschool helps all children, but is too expensive for middle-income families..."
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Preschool moving out of reach for New Jersey's middle class
Funding changes may leave suburban New Jersey families on their own
Funding changes may leave suburban New Jersey families on their own
(Published: Monday, December 22, 2008)
Kristin Aiken's daughter enjoys her half-day in Hamilton Township's preschool program, and Aiken anticipated enrolling her son when he turns 4.
The state's new expanded preschool program will fund full-day preschool only for low-income children in the district, but there is no room to offer it to every child. Now Aiken, who cannot afford a private preschool, is worried her son will enter kindergarten behind the other children.
"I don't want him to be at a disadvantage," she said.
Expanding preschool has been a cornerstone of New Jersey's new school funding formula. A staple in urban districts for a decade, Gov. Jon S. Corzine promised to make preschool available to poor children no matter where they live.
But in some suburban districts, the full-day expansion that now includes 3-year-olds is squeezing out the children of middle-class families who used to be included in half-day programs.
"I just don't think it's fair," said Honey Burkey, another parent. "The other children are going to get two years of full-day preschool for free. Is my child now going to fall behind the low-income kids? They expect so much more in kindergarten today. All of the children need preschool to be ready."
An education not all can afford
A recent study by Pre-K Now state policy analyst Albert Wat found that high-quality preschool helps all children, but many middle-income children do not get it because of the cost. The study notes that middle-income children face many of the same challenges as low-income children, including higher dropout rates, and a need for remedial education and special education services.
Wat said Pre-K Now did the report because public preschool has been largely targeted to low-income children. But private preschool is too expensive for many middle-income families, defined as families of four making between $51,500 and $103,000, or about 40 percent of all families in the nation.
"We know preschool for all children is not going to happen quickly," he said. "New Jersey is on the right track by prioritizing the neediest children. But there are wrinkles that complicate the picture."
In New Jersey that wrinkle is determining how to fairly implement preschool in about 600 diverse school districts. The new program will fund preschool for every 3- and 4-year-old in the state's poorest districts, ranked as A and B, plus more suburban CD districts with at least 40 percent of children enrolled in the federal free and reduced meal program. All other districts will get state funding for only low-income children.
But the data that go to determine the ranking include several socioeconomic factors, and are determined only every 10 years after the U.S. Census. So Hamilton Township, a CD district with 36 percent of children in the meal program in 2007-08, will get preschool funding only for low-income children, while Hammonton, a B district with 33 percent of children in the meal program, will get funding for every child.
Targeted funding,
tough decisions
Ellen Wolock, Director of Preschool Education for the state Department of Education, said the old Early Childhood Program Aid allowed districts to open preschool to all children, with emphasis on including low-income children. The new funding is more targeted, but districts can still include all children.
"They can extend preschool to all children, but they have to open it to low-income children first," she said.
But the state will not fund the extra children, and districts have to make some tough decisions.
Somers Point, another CD district, will continue to include all children because classroom space is available to house them. Superintendent Gerald Toscano said the district already has reached the 40 percent threshold this year, and he did not want to start cutting off parents who had planned to enroll their children. The district has used other funding to subsidize the cost.
Galloway Township never offered its preschool program to every child, so it is not getting the same level of parental complaints as Hamilton.
"But I have gotten calls from parents asking, 'What about us?'" Superintendent Douglas Groff said. The district has space to handle all of the projected low-income children and could open it to others if all do not enroll, probably using a lottery system.
With recent casino layoffs, Galloway has had an increase in children in the subsidized meal program and could hit 40 percent in the next couple of years.
Superintendents
remain cautious
But Groff and other superintendents also worry about whether the struggling state will have the funds to begin the new program at all next fall, so they do not want to promise parents something they may not be able to deliver. The also do not want to see other aid cut back to fund preschool.
"I don't want to upset parents until we know what we're doing," Folsom Superintendent Jean Rishel said. The district began full-day preschool this year for every child using ECPA state aid. But it may only have funding and space for low-income children next year if they expand to 3-year-olds as required by the new funding law.
Wolock said the state is still reviewing the five-year preschool expansion plans, but most districts will get more money under the new program than they would under ECPA.
But it is how that money can be used that is making the process difficult.
Hamilton Township school Superintendent Michelle Cappelluti sympathizes with the excluded parents. She started the district's preschool program and would love to expand to full-day for every child. But she does not yet have the room or the funding.
"I feel really badly," she said. "Parents come to the meetings with tears in their eyes. It is a great program. But we can't do things we're not getting funding for."
E-mail Diane D'Amico: DDamico@pressofac.com
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Assembly Republican News
WOLFE: CORZINE'S SCHOOL FUNDING FORMULA PUTS MIDDLE CLASS AT DISADVANTAGE
Schools required to provide pre-school for poor children are running out of room for pupils from middle class families….Assemblyman David W. Wolfe expressed dismay at a report in The Press of Atlantic City that said preschools in certain suburban districts don't have room for children from middle class families because of Gov. Jon S. Corzine's school funding requirement that all poor children be provided preschool.
"A year ago, the governor hailed his funding formula as one that would benefit all children, but bringing the preschool requirement from Abbott to all districts is now hurting one class of students to benefit another," said Wolfe, R-Ocean, a member of the Assembly Education Committee. "All children should have the same access to education. It's not fair that one child will have priority status over another in the same district just because of his parents' income."
The story noted a recent study that found high-quality preschool helps all children, but is too expensive for middle-income families.
"The trend of squeezing the middle class out of New Jersey is unfortunately on display in the classrooms where toddlers begin their education," Wolfe said.
