An Assembly Resolution urging the federal government to provide increased funding for preschool, full-day kindergarten, and community college programs.

Whereas, Numerous studies have documented the long-term benefits bestowed upon children who attend high quality preschool programs, including a decreased chance of being classified as requiring special education services, greater employment opportunities and increased earnings, and a decreased probability of involvement with the criminal justice system; and

Whereas, As a result, the long-term economic impacts of preschool programs far exceed the costs, by reducing public expenditures on special education costs, criminal justice, and public welfare; and

Whereas, A full-day kindergarten program provides children with additional learning time, relative to a half-day program, which will be essential as states implement the more demanding common core state standards; and

Whereas, Students in Montgomery County, Maryland, Philadelphia, and Albuquerque demonstrate that full-day kindergarten programs assist children who have started school below grade level make greater academic progress during the school year than their peers who were enrolled in a half-day program; and

Whereas, According to data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate among individuals with an associate's degree is nearly 28% less than the rate among those who have a high school diploma, and the weekly earnings of people who have obtained an associate's degree are 20% greater than their counterparts who possess a high school diploma; and

Whereas, Community colleges provide students with the opportunity to later transfer to a four-year institution of higher education, thereby creating a more cost-effective pathway to a bachelor's degree at a time when tuition and fees at four-year institutions are increasing at rates much greater than inflation; and

Whereas, Increasing students' access to community colleges has the potential to engender competition between these colleges and four-year institutions of higher education for the same potential students, forcing the four-year institutions to find ways to make attending these colleges more affordable; and

Whereas, While the benefits of investing in preschool, full-day kindergarten, and community colleges are clear and well documented by research, states vary considerably in their fiscal capacity to support such investments; and

Whereas, While all levels of government search for the best manner in which to invest public dollars to provide an exceptional educational system, the federal Department of Education, with an annual budget that currently exceeds $65 billion, should consider investments that maximize educational opportunity, offer the best return on investment specific to student preparation and achievement, and place downward pressure on the cost of higher education; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. The President and the Congress of the United States are respectfully urged to enact legislation providing funding for preschool programs targeting specific populations of students who are at-risk of beginning school below grade level, and providing funding to communities that elect to initiate full-day kindergarten programs. The President and Congress are further urged to enact legislation to provide federal funding that, when combined with state and local funding, will allow individuals to attend a community college tuition-free.

2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to the President of the United States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and each member of Congress elected from this State.

STATEMENT

This resolution urges the federal government to enact legislation that would provide funding for preschool programs targeted to children who are at-risk of beginning school below grade level and behind their peers, full-day kindergarten in communities that elect to implement such programs, and funding that, when combined with state and local resources, will allow individuals to attend community college tuition-free. While the economic benefits of these programs are well-documented, states vary in their ability to fund such initiatives. This resolution urges the enactment of legislation by the federal government that would make these opportunities available to any individual, irrespective of where the person lives.