2.The Legislature finds and declares that: a. Research is clear that high-quality preschool can change the educational trajectories of young children, particularly economically disadvantaged children and multilingual learners. Improvements in literacy, numeracy, social-emotional and self-regulatory development, and lifetime earnings have been demonstrated among individuals who attend high-quality preschool compared to their peers.
b.New Jersey leads the nation in expanding access to high-quality preschool opportunities. The State has achieved a unique and world-class combination of significant financial investment and rigorous quality standards. New Jersey State-funded preschools are required to serve three- and four-year olds in full-day programs featuring small class sizes led by quali
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2. The Legislature finds and declares that: a. Research is clear that high-quality preschool can change the educational trajectories of young children, particularly economically disadvantaged children and multilingual learners. Improvements in literacy, numeracy, social-emotional and self-regulatory development, and lifetime earnings have been demonstrated among individuals who attend high-quality preschool compared to their peers. b. New Jersey leads the nation in expanding access to high-quality preschool opportunities. The State has achieved a unique and world-class combination of significant financial investment and rigorous quality standards. New Jersey State-funded preschools are required to serve three- and four-year olds in full-day programs featuring small class sizes led by quality instructors with ample curriculum support, professional development, and accommodations for students with special needs. New Jersey's State spending on preschool is among the highest in the country, with clear, significant impacts on our public school system: tens of thousands of three- and four-year olds in hundreds of communities around the State attend transformative high-quality early education programs. c. District-operated preschool programs, licensed childcare centers, and Head Start programs form an interrelated and interdependent early childhood ecosystem. Each component is made stronger by the other, and the system is greater and more impactful than the sum of its parts. No component can reach its full potential without the facilities, staff, resources, and expertise of the others. Together, the system represents a continuum of education and care services from birth through age five necessary not only for children to realize their full life potential, but for families to participate fully in economic and civic society. To lift up this system is a moral and economic imperative. d. To build on the State's preschool expansion progress to date and to realize the full benefits of high-quality preschool, it is fitting and proper for the State to enshrine certain policies and values in State law, including: (1) providing sustainable, annual financial support for expanding access to high-quality preschool; (2) codifying preschool education aid provisions previously implemented through language in various annual appropriations acts and harmonizing New Jersey law accordingly; (3) prioritizing expansion for economically disadvantaged families and communities; (4) requiring State-funded preschool programs to make every effort to partner with local ready, willing, and able licensed childcare providers and Head Start programs; and (5) conducting ongoing evaluations of the State's approach to early childhood and preschool education to ensure that policy continues to reflect stakeholder expertise and evolving research. e. In addition to high-quality preschool education, full-day kindergarten is necessary not only to unlock a child's full learning potential, but to facilitate a smooth transition from high-quality preschool into elementary programs. L.2025, c.100, s.2.