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Hispanic Directors Association Releases Report Critical of New Jersey Department of Education – Cites Flaws in Abbott Preschool Programs

(PRWEB) June 25, 2005

The Hispanic Directors Association today released an eight-page report critical of the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) and its handling of the mandatory preschool program in the state’s poorest districts.

“Dubious Commitment: Preschool Education in New Jersey and the Failure of State Government” was given out at the La Casa de Don Pedro Early Childhood Center in Newark.

“We are issuing this report at this time because we are aware of the changing of the guard at the education department with the departures of Commissioner William Librera and Early Childhood Specialist Ellen Frede,” said Daniel Santo Pietro, executive director of HDANJ. “Their policies have failed the preschool children in the state and we can only hope that those who follow them will take a different path. This report is also aimed at the present and future governor, because as of January there will be a new administration in Trenton.”

HDANJ is the umbrella organization for 33 Latino community-based non profit organizations across New Jersey. Eleven HDANJ agencies, including La Casa de Don Pedro, provide preschool education for some 1,500 children in ten of the state’s Abbott Districts.

The Report found the following deficiencies in the State Preschool Program:

There is still a significant segment of eligible preschool children who are not enrolled because of the failure of state government to commit itself to a systematic, ongoing and thorough information campaign geared at the parents of preschool children.

There are serious issues related to the absence of adequate facilities to absorb all preschool children.

The state government has failed to collaborate earnestly and understand the nature of the private and community preschool educators that are in fact providing the lion share of preschool education.

The NJDOE has failed to disseminate accurate and up-to-date analytical reports on preschool enrollment

The Schools Construction Corporation (SCC) has failed to allow community preschool educators to obtain funding, while at the same time squandering millions in state funds.

NJDOE does not provide fair and adequate funding for community preschool educators.

NJDOE has failed to address the certification of bilingual preschool teachers.

The Report made the following recommendations:

1 – There can be no retreat from the Abbott decisions and the state’s preschool initiatives.

2 – The state must devise a comprehensive strategy to communicate to every parent of three and four year olds the availability and benefits of receiving a preschool education and make enrollment easy.

3 – The NJDOE must develop a more cooperative relationship with community preschool educators.

4 – The NJDOE must eliminate its inequitable funding formula, removing the discriminatory and unfair elements that hurt community preschool educators and keep them from meeting the Abbott educational mandate.

5 – The teacher certification process must be streamlined to ensure that qualified teachers and in particular the bilingual candidates are given every opportunity to succeed.

6 – Community preschool educators must be embraced in the local school district’s long-term facility plans.

Copies of the report in English and Spanish are available upon request and will be posted on the HDANJ website: http://www.hdanj.org.

Contacts:

Daniel Santo Pietro, Hispanic Directors Association, (732) 828-7606

Ray Ocasio, La Casa de Don Pedro, (973) 482-8312

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