|
Rigorous studies of the comprehensive
costs of a quality public education can play
an important role in advising policymakers involved
in reforming a state’s system of education
finance. In December 2007, Education Law Center
released The
Cost of High-Quality Preschool in New Jersey,
by Dr. Clive Belfield and Heather Schwartz. This
study documents the cost of delivering preschool
under the rigorous quality standards already
in place for children in New Jersey’s urban
districts in the nationally acclaimed Abbott
preschool program.
The authors examined actual
Abbott preschool budgets and classroom quality
to calculate the cost of high-quality preschool,
and concluded that $12,276 per-pupil is needed
to do so in New Jersey.
ELC requested the study in anticipation
of Governor Corzine’s school funding
proposal late
last year. The Governor said his proposal would
maintain and expand preschool under the Abbott
quality standards, a plan that would require
accurate cost determinations. Using the study’s
per-pupil cost, ELC estimates the costs of expanding
preschool at:
- $95 million to move from
75 to 90% enrollment in the Abbott districts – the
enrollment benchmark set by the NJ Department
of Education
- $224 million to serve 90%
of eligible three- and four-year-olds in the
other low-income districts, to be phased in
over the next six years under the new law,
but not yet funded.
Despite the known costs, the
new state funding formula falls far short and
would fail to provide the funds necessary for
quality programming.
Preschool advocates also released Strengthening
and Expanding High-Quality Preschool in
New Jersey, calling on legislators
to strengthen the preschool program in
urban districts; to expand the program
to other poor districts; and, over time,
to ensure access to all youngsters in the
Garden State.
In 1998, the New Jersey Supreme
Court directed the State to provide high quality
preschool programs in the poorest urban districts.
All three- and four-year olds in these districts
are eligible to enroll, and about 40,000 are
currently being served. Consistently rated one
of the top preschool programs in the country,
the Abbott program is yielding positive results:
a recent
study shows these children experience significant,
positive gains in literacy and early math skills.
Prepared: February 1, 2008
|
