Chris Christie is proposing that for 2016-17 that Pre-K aid be kept at exactly the same amount it was at for 2015-16, that is, $655,516,608, but this doesn't mean that every single Pre-K district is getting the same amount of aid that it got last year.
Due to increases in the number of children aged 3 or 4 in Pre-K districts, some of the aid shifts are very large.
The Gainers (all districts gaining more than $100,000):
| Proposed Pre-K Aid Increase | 2015-16 Pre-K Aid | 2016-17 Proposed Pre-K Aid | |
| HOBOKEN | $1,288,185 | $10,229,295 | $11,517,480 |
| JERSEY CITY | $923,574 | $67,499,148 | $68,422,722 |
| FRANKLIN TWP | $863,872 | $857,123 | $1,720,995 |
| TRENTON | $639,076 | $28,466,696 | $29,105,772 |
| BAYONNE | $401,513 | $2,017,358 | $2,418,871 |
| KEANSBURG | $292,744 | $2,800,160 | $3,092,904 |
| BOUND BROOK | $290,275 | $429,607 | $719,882 |
| EAST ORANGE | $266,677 | $19,183,823 | $19,450,500 |
| GLOUCESTER CITY | $249,800 | $3,397,280 | $3,647,080 |
| UPPER DEERFIELD TWP | $230,020 | $222,600 | $452,620 |
| BURLINGTON CITY | $176,316 | $2,518,800 | $2,695,116 |
| BELLMAWR BORO | $171,696 | $815,556 | $987,252 |
| UNION CITY | $145,656 | $27,492,327 | $27,637,983 |
| WOODBURY CITY | $142,103 | $743,308 | $885,411 |
| HAMILTON TWP | $141,322 | $171,074 | $312,396 |
| DEPTFORD TWP | $112,992 | $706,200 | $819,192 |
The Losers (all districts losing more than $100,000):
| Proposed 2016-17 Pre-K Decrease | 2015-16 Pre-K Aid | 2016-17 Proposed Pre-K Aid | |
| IRVINGTON | -$101,114 | $17,472,500 | $17,371,386 |
| CARTERET | -$105,130 | $735,910 | $630,780 |
| MULLICA | -$119,448 | $520,452 | $401,004 |
| SOMERVILLE | -$133,696 | $651,768 | $518,072 |
| CAMDEN CITY | -$186,900 | $29,852,930 | $29,666,030 |
| PEMBERTON | -$188,910 | $8,054,931 | $7,866,021 |
| HARRISON | -$204,828 | $5,118,675 | $4,913,847 |
| NEW BRUNSWICK | -$210,334 | $20,559,906 | $20,349,572 |
| PERTH AMBOY | -$417,420 | $20,801,430 | $20,384,010 |
| VINELAND | -$607,410 | $18,762,220 | $18,154,810 |
| LONG BRANCH CITY | -$623,672 | $10,475,144 | $9,851,472 |
| GARFIELD | -$771,180 | $8,988,195 | $8,217,015 |
| NEPTUNE TWP | -$776,408 | $6,122,168 | $5,345,760 |
| MILLVILLE | -$808,059 | $9,122,245 | $8,314,186 |
| NEWARK | -$1,090,537 | $87,794,798 | $86,704,261 |
| ELIZABETH | -$1,194,420 | $45,921,936 | $44,727,516 |
As I've said before, due to the state's refusal to update the Abbott list, New Jersey has a growing issue with the fair and rational provision of Pre-K services to needy students.
The NJ Supreme Court has forced the state to pay for "free" Pre-K for all 3s and 4s living in the Abbotts (and only the Abbotts) since the Abbott V decision of 1998.
As the Gold Coast Abbotts have gentrified, the number of children they have enrolled in "free" Pre-K has increased and the percentage of them who are actually poor has decreased. Less than half of Jersey City's Pre-K children are actually poor and only a small minority of Hoboken's are. Hoboken's Pre-K children are almost never non-Anglophones either.
SFRA was supposed to provide state-funded Pre-K to all 3s and 4s in New Jersey who live in districts where more than 40% of students are FRL-eligible and provide state-funded Pre-K to at least poor children in districts below this FRL-eligibility threshold.
SFRA, as I've said repeatedly, is hopelessly unfundable, and the Abbott/Non-Abbott inequities are starker than ever.
Means-testing for Pre-K eligibility would save New Jersey tens of millions of dollars a year. If Pre-K advocates like Steven Sweeney and Teresa Ruiz were serious about finding more money for Pre-K for poor children outside of the Abbotts then means testing in the Abbotts is necessary.
Means testing for Pre-K would turn the Pre-K programs into neglected day-care centers.
ReplyDeleteSo you realize that in most of the Abbotts there are few non-FRL eligible students. So do you consider Pre-K in districts like East Orange, Union City, Garfield, Passaic where probably less than 10% of the kids aren't FRL-eligible to be "neglected day care centers"?
ReplyDeleteAnd how does anyone justify giving "free" Pre-K to the child of a lawyer and an associate hedge fund manager in Hoboken but not the child of a cashier living in Belleville?