NJ school increasingly offer public preschool
Posted Thursday, July 09, 2009 from The Star-Ledger
N.J. schools increasingly offer public preschool
by Jeanette Rundquist/The Star-LedgerThursday July 09, 2009, 9:14 PM
GiovanniLibonati, left, watches as Julie Bowen puts together an ABC trainpuzzle on the floor of her preschool class at the Lillian Drive School.There is no state funding to expand public preschools, but somedistricts, like Hazlet, are doing it anyway. It is an idea that the state already supports -- some $596 millionin state aid will go to preschool this year -- and that Gov. JonCorzine had hoped to invest in further this fall. The governor proposedspending another $25 million to expand preschool for low-incomechildren as the first step in a wider expansion. That money waseliminated when the financial crisis hit this spring.
But some districts are going ahead and expandingpreschool anyway. Linden will add six preschool classrooms and servealmost 100 more children this fall, increasing its program from 249kids in half-day preschool, to 170 in full-day preschool and another170 in half-day.
Hazlet's Lillian Drive School is at the forefront of this growing trend in New Jersey.
In a classroom, eight preschoolers sat in a circle on a round, redcarpet, listening as teacher Jennifer Coleman read aloud about "Shamuthe whale" and other sea creatures.
Dressed in t-shirts, shorts and sneakers, the small group hung onColeman's words, raising hands to ask questions -- "Can seals jump?" --and piping up with approval.
"Ooohhh," said Joseph Schmidt, a blond 3-year-old in a Spidermanshirt, peering over his teacher's shoulder at a photo of a baby seal.
Hazlet is doubling its preschool program from 30 to 66 students inSeptember and opening a new 'early childhood learning center' to holdfull-day preschool and kindergarten classes.
The Association for Children of New Jersey, a child advocacy group,surveyed districts and found at least 14 plan on some preschoolexpansion this year.
"The key is literacy," said Hazlet School Superintendent WilliamGeorge, visiting the Lillian Drive preschool one morning in late June.The children also sang songs about animals, assembled an alphabet trainpuzzle and enjoyed a morning snack.
"For children to learn, the first step is literacy. The preschoolprogram is about preparing kids to be readers as early as possible inthe education process," he said. "We believe the research supports thathigh-quality preschool programs result in higher graduation rates,lower special education placements. The premise is pay me now or pay melater."
New Jersey began requiring full-day preschool for students in theso-called Abbott Districts, the state's poorest, as the result of a1998 Supreme Court ruling. Around the same time, the state also beganfunding half-day preschool in other districts with many low-incomechildren. About 49,000 children now attend full- or half-day preschoolin about 149 districts, according to the Department of Education.
Supporters say quality preschool prepares children for learningsooner and helps narrow the achievement gap between socioeconomicallydisadvantaged kids and their more well-off classmates. Preschool canalso save districts money later by reducing expensive special educationplacements, proponents say.
The state Board of Education recently adopted new, tougher highschool requirements, and many educators say starting young plants seedsfor success there, too.
TeacherJennifer Coleman reads a book to her preschool class at the LillianDrive School in Hazlet. The school district believes that preschoolhelps students in school and helps districts save money by avoidingspecial education costs later.In Red Bank, a district that started preschool five years ago,officials said they are pleased with the first- and second-gradeperformance of their former preschoolers and are "looking forward to"results of standardized tests taken by the first group to reach thirdgrade.
Preschoolers there write simple sentences, practice reading to eachother, and learn to work collaboratively at the block center anddramatic play center.
"You really see growth over time," said Red Bank Superintendent Laura Morana. "Kids are learning through play."
The state this fall had hoped to begin a five-year, roughly $255million, expansion of "high-quality" preschool for low-income children,phasing it in for all 3- and 4-year-olds in 86 so-called "universal"districts, the next-poorest after the Abbotts.
In 366 other districts, "targeted" low-income children would alsoget free preschool. By the end of the expansion, about 25,000 morechildren would be in preschool, and another 8,000 would be brought upto full-day, high-quality programs.
High-quality programs have certified teachers, full 6-hour days and maximum class size of 15.
Districts had to submit five-year plans to the Department ofEducation, detailing how they would serve the required students. But inMay, the funding disappeared.
In Linden, School Superintendent Rocco Tomazic said teachers hadalready been hired, parents were excited, and planning was under waywhen the district learned it would not get the roughly $800,000expected. The district consolidated classes elsewhere to provideteachers, moved four fifth-grade classes to a middle school building tofree up classrooms, and is considering seeking more federal stimulusaid, he said.
Full-time slots are already full, with a waiting list, and half-day slots are going fast.
"We see enough value that we're trying to go forward with what weset up," Tomazic said. "But clearly if there's no more money coming,we're not going to continue the expansion."
Linden mom Donna Hernandez, whose daughter Deanna, 5, graduated fromthe free half-day preschool and will start kindergarten in September,said she is hoping to get younger daughter Erica, 3, into the full-dayprogram next year. Hernandez said she would save on day care, while herdaughter would benefit educationally.
"I think it's great that they prepare them," she said.
Middle-income district Hazlet didn't expect much state aid forexpansion, but officials there believed in preschool. They reconfiguredelementary schools to create an "early childhood learning center" that,starting in September, will house full-day preschool for up to 66 3-and 4-year-olds, plus full-day kindergarten.
About a third of families will pay tuition of $250 per month,because their income is not low enough for free preschool. The districtwill receive a state grant of about $390,000 for needed renovations.
Other districts shelved growth plans, however, at least for thisyear. Piscataway had hoped to expand its preschool, offered now to amix of low-income and tuition-paying children, but instead willmaintain what it has. "We have difficulty funding the K-12 system so Ican understand the predicament the state was in," said Piscatawayspokeswoman Teresa Rafferty.
Some educators say they've heard critics question whether public funds should go for preschool.
State Education Commissioner Lucille E. Davy said the state shoulddo so "for the same reason we're asked to pay for some kids' lunch orsome kids' medical care.
"There are families in the state who cannot afford to provide anypreschool experience. We're not offering it to people who make $125,000a year," she said. "This is a small investment to have a child whocomes out and is ...more likely to be a successful continuing member ofsociety."
Ellen Frede, co-director of the National Institute for EarlyEducation Research at Rutgers University, said research showssubstantial gains in language, literacy and math as a result of theAbbott district preschools.
She said 38 states have some amount of publicly funded preschool.
"The research is pretty solid that all children benefit frompreschool," she said. "I think people are beginning to be bettereducated about this."
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