A Series of Laws Strengthens New Jersey’s Early Education System

As New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy wraps up his second term in office this year, a good case can be made that the expansion of early childhood education throughout the state will be a key part of his legacy. Since taking office in 2018, the number of school districts offering free, full-day pre-K has expanded by 350 percent and funding for public pre-K has increased by almost $600 million. As of the 2024-2025 school year, about 77,000 New Jersey children were enrolled in state-funded pre-K through a mixed delivery system of school districts and private providers. In July, Governor Murphy signed a series of bills designed to help further strengthen the state’s early education system by moving closer to both universal pre-K and universal full-day kindergarten.

The first bill codifies the state’s pre-K funding formula into statute rather than depending on the annual appropriations process for funding. “Previously, it was something that was handled through annual appropriations. And we saw some hesitancy among school districts and child care providers to join the state preschool program because they felt like they had no guarantee from one year to the next that the program was going to continue,” says Karin Garver, early childhood education policy specialist at the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). This change should help reduce that hesitancy by ensuring that robust funding for pre-K will continue year after year.

The bill also requires the state Department of Education to provide annual pre-K expansion grants while setting the state on course to provide free, full-day kindergarten for all families. Specifically, each school district will be required to establish a full-day kindergarten program by the start of the 2029-2030 school year. This change could potentially boost student achievement and save parents thousands of dollars annually in child care expenses. Currently, 10 of the state’s almost 600 districts lack free, full-day kindergarten for all students. Districts not providing full-day kindergarten by the 2029-2030 school year will have the option of satisfying the requirement by entering into a send-receive relationship with an adjacent district. “This bill is the culmination of the Murphy administration’s legacy for universal preschool. And they understand that it doesn’t make sense to push for universal preschool until we have universal full-day kindergarten,” says Garver.

The second bill signed by Governor Murphy is an important one for strengthening the mixed delivery system in which pre-K is delivered throughout the state. It allows private pre-K providers, including Head Start programs, to sign three-year contracts with school districts rather than the current contract length of one year. “If the goal is universal access, we can’t get there without mixed delivery. You can’t get there without both the capacity and expertise that our child care and Head Start providers bring to the table,” says Garver. The legislative change should provide much-needed stability for community providers while reducing red tape and streamlining the contracting process.

While these bills mark a major step forward for New Jersey’s early education system, advocates know that more work remains to be done. For example, a recent report found that nearly 10,000 eligible pre-K students missed out on the chance to participate in the state’s Abbott Preschool program. Additionally, some advocates would like to see legislation that goes a step further and mandates a mixed delivery model to combat declining participation from private child care providers. Some would also like to see enhanced support for early educators to help them meet certification requirements. “Generally the type of support you're talking about is financial support, helping educators get through school and working with teaching assistants so they can become teachers,” says Winifred Smith-Jenkins, director of early childhood policy and advocacy at Advocates for Children of New Jersey.

While these laws might be among the last early education-related bills signed by Governor Murphy before his second term ends, advocates are looking at the upcoming gubernatorial election in November as a chance to emphasize the importance of focusing on the care and education of young children. “It will be really interesting to see if we can get them to prioritize child care. That is our goal,” says Smith-Jenkins. In what polls show could be a tight race, that contest pits Democrat Mikie Sherrill, currently a member of Congress, against Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker. Sherrill has called for the expansion of universal pre-K and more on-the-job training for early educators. For his part, Ciattarelli has vowed to establish child care tax credits to lessen costs for parents, but has called for caution when it comes to continuing the expansion of pre-K in school districts throughout the state.