Bill Text: NJ A4526 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires school districts classified as child care deserts to provide preschool education vouchers for certain students.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-06 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A4526 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A4526-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman AURA K. DUNN
District 25 (Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires school districts classified as child care deserts to provide preschool education vouchers for certain students.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning preschool education and supplementing P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-43 et al.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this act:
"Child care desert" means a school district that has at least 30 resident three- and four-year old children and in which the number of available preschool seats is less than one-third the amount of preschool seats needed for the population.
"Eligible preschool student" means a student who is eligible to enroll in a free preschool program through the resident school district pursuant to section 12 of P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-54), and who resides in a school district that is classified as a child care desert.
b. A school district that is classified as a child care desert shall provide to the parent or guardian of an eligible preschool student, upon request, a preschool education voucher to support the preschool education of the student if the student is not able to enroll in a free preschool program through the school district. The voucher shall equal, as applicable: the per pupil State preschool education aid amount for an in-district preschool program; the per pupil State preschool education aid amount for a preschool program operated by a licensed child care provider; or the per pupil State preschool education aid amount for a Head Start program.
c. A preschool education voucher provided pursuant to this act may be:
(1) used to pay for the cost of tuition and fees at a private preschool or licensed child care center;
(2) used to pay for the cost of materials used to homeschool the student; or
(3) deposited in a New Jersey Better Educational Savings Trust account.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the first full school year following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires public school districts that are classified as child care deserts to provide preschool education vouchers to the parents or guardians of eligible preschool students who are not able to enroll in a free preschool program through the resident school district.
The bill defines an eligible preschool student as a student who is eligible to enroll in a free preschool program through the resident school district pursuant to the "School Funding Reform Act of 2008," and who resides in a school district that is classified as a child care desert. The preschool education voucher would be in an amount equal to the applicable per pupil State preschool education aid amount. The voucher may be used to pay for the cost of tuition and fees at a private preschool or licensed child care center, or the cost of materials used to homeschool the student. The voucher may also be deposited in a New Jersey Better Educational Savings Trust account.
