In developing their plan, the Biden administration and Congress need look no further than New Jersey, where state-funded preschool has been rolling out across the Garden State for two decades. Today, the Abbott Preschool Program, serving over 50,000 3- and 4-year olds, stands as a pathbreaking model for the delivery of early education, proven effective in reducing pre-kindergarten learning gaps for children in high-poverty, racially isolated communities.
Preschool in New Jersey emerged through the Abbott v. Burke lawsuit, a challenge to inadequate funding in urban school districts, including Newark, Jersey City and Camden. After finding the state’s finance formula unconstitutional, the New Jersey Supreme Court in the 1990s pressed lawmakers to enact reforms, including funding for research-proven programs for students in high poverty communities. In 1998, the court in Abbott became the first in the nation to expand the right to education to pre-kindergarten children, convinced that
Credit: (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP)
April 28, 2021: President Joe Biden addresses a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
For all of New Jersey’s gains in building a nationally recognized preschool program over the past two decades, the reality is it is still serving only about a third of eligible children, if that.
Now President Joe Biden has expanded the possibilities, in announcing in his address to Congress this week his American Families Plan, which would invest an additional $200 billion in federal funds to bring universal preschool to every state.
Early childhood advocates in New Jersey welcomed the announcement, saying the funds and focus could make a significant difference. One recent estimate from the National Institute for Early Education Research said a truly universal program for all 3- and 4-year olds would cost an additional $1.7 billion.