Gov.
Phil Murphy
signed a series of laws this week that will end the
era of half-day kindergarten
in New Jersey for good and continue a
massive expansion of pre-K
across the state long after he leaves office.
The three bills Murphy signed into law Wednesday include a new requirement for full-day kindergarten in every school district and a
new state funding formula for preschools
.
The legislation also includes a new law that extends the maximum length of contracts for
outside providers of preschool programs
in school districts to three years.
The new rules mean every school district must establish a full-day kindergarten program by the start of the 2029-2030 school year, Murphy administration officials said.
At the same time, the state is continuing its push for school districts to offer free, full-day pre-K programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
Murphy said the number of school districts offering free, full-day pre-K has increased by 350% since 2018.
The state spends over $1 billion to pay for early childhood programs and that number will increase as more and more districts apply for grants to start their own programs, the governor said.
“With the steps we are taking today, we’re going to ensure that every parent in New Jersey will eventually be able to enroll their child in a high quality pre-K program at no additional cost,” Murphy said.
This upcoming school year alone, 20,000 more pre-K seats will open up across the state, state officials said.
“By prioritizing early learning, we’re giving working families the tools they need to thrive and unlocking the full potential of the next generation,” said state Senate Majority Leader
Teresa Ruiz
, D-Essex, who sponsored all three bills.
Only 10 of New Jersey’s nearly 600 school districts do not have free, full-day kindergarten for all students. Four of those districts — Millstone in Monmouth County, Westfield in Union County, Metuchen in Middlesex County and School District Of The Chathams in Morris County — said they are
moving forward with plans for full-day kindergarten programs
in the fall.
The other New Jersey school districts that still have half-day kindergarten include:
-
Moorestown
: The Burlington County district has a free half-day kindergarten and a paid full-day option. Areferendum planned for September
will ask voters to approve funding for construction of full-day kindergarten facilities.
-
Haddonfield
: The Camden County school district has a half-day kindergarten, but passed a resolution earlier this year to fund a full-day kindergarten program.
-
Monroe
: The Middlesex County school district offers half-day kindergarten. As of May, it was unclear if the district had any plans to expand the school day.
-
Bridgewater-Raritan Regional
: The Somerset County district offers half-day kindergarten. Full-day kindergarten is expected to start in the fall of 2026.
-
Hillsborough
: The Somerset County district offers free half-day kindergarten and a paid full-day “play” extension option. The district was seeking bids for a redistricting study, but had no timeline for full-day kindergarten last spring.
-
Cranford
: The Union County school district offers a free half-day kindergarten and a paid full-day option. The district passed two referendums with the aim of starting full-day kindergarten in fall 2026.
New Jersey has offered free, pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds since 1998 when 31 of the state’s lowest income districts, known at the time as Abbott districts, were mandated by the state Supreme Court to establish programs.
Under Murphy, the state has expanded the pre-K programs to include almost 230 school districts, state officials said.
Free pre-K is “a magnet that draws people into the state and generates jobs and economic activity,” Murphy said. “This does not come cheap, but the payoff is extraordinary.”
The state hopes to eventually provide programs for 90% of the preschool-age population, which would be about 200,000 students, according to a report by the
National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University
, an organization that partners with the state Department of Education.
The original 31 Abbott districts are required to contract with licensed private child care centers or Head Start programs that meet state standards. All other districts are required to contract with Head Start agencies, and encouraged to contract with private child care, according to the institute.
Steven Barnett, a Rutgers professor who founded the institute, said a provision in one of the bills Murphy signed allows private preschool providers to sign three-year contracts with school districts. That is a “big deal” that could bring stability to many programs, he said.
“If you’re a private provider and you don’t know from year to year whether you’re going to get money, that’s a very uncertain position,” Barnett said.
“They’ve done things in these bills beyond just the funding of more kids and more slots to make it easier for districts in this mixed delivery system to do this well,” he added.
Barnett said the state could have chosen to expand pre-K even more quickly, but that might have sacrificed the quality of the programs.
New Jersey received a nine out of 10 rating
of its preschool programs according to criteria developed by the institute. The ratings look at the level of teacher education, early learning standards, class size and teacher-to-student ratio among other things.
In addition to evaluating pre-K programs across the country, the institute helps districts craft applications to start a pre-K program.
Barnett said parents can play a key role in the process by letting their school boards and district leadership know they want and need a preschool program in the district.
“The state can’t give them money if they don’t apply,” Barnett said.
“The door is open. They just have to walk in,” he said.
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