Pre-K Our Way is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization focusing on raising the priority of pre-k expansion in NJ – and securing significant state-funding for pre-k expansion. Governor Murphy and legislative leadership view pre-k expansion as a statewide priority. As a result, there are now more than 140 communities with state-funded, full-day pre-k. However, hundreds of communities – and tens of thousands of 3- and 4-year-olds are still waiting.
Download the resources below to learn why preschool matters, learn more about the effort and who is involved, and scroll down to see archived info and representative press coverage for 2019 and previous years.
For press inquiries, please use the contact information included below.
Pre-K Our Way (www.prekourway.org) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization started in early 2015 to provide a strategic effort to have pre-k expansion as a NJ priority. The organization is a statewide advocacy effort led by former governors Kean and Florio and funded by almost 10 different philanthropic organizations. From inception, Pre-K Our Way has had a single focus: expansion of New Jersey’s existing high-quality, state-funded, full-day pre-k program to hundreds more communities – and to the tens of thousands of 3- and 4-year-olds waiting each year for access to New Jersey’s pre-k. Despite a law passed in 2008, the first funding in nearly a decade occurred in June 2017 and funding continued in the 2018 and 2019 budgets signed by the Murphy Administration. However, there are hundreds of communities – and tens of thousands of 3- and 4-year-olds – still waiting for NJ’s state-funded,
full-day pre-k.
Learn more about what Pre-K Our Way is, who is involved and how you can join the effort.
In 2008, NJ law provided pre-k to 35 school districts but promised to expand pre-k to more communities. The first funding for that promise occurred nearly a decade later – in mid-2017 for the 2017-2018 school year. Additional funding was included in both budgets of the Murphy Administration. Although 140+ communities now have NJ’s pre-k, there are tens of thousands of 3- and 4-year-olds across hundreds of communities still waiting for access to NJ’s pre-k.
New Jersey has one of the best, most successful and high-quality public preschool programs in the country. It’s successful because the communities that have it are allowed to adapt the program to their individual local community needs by incorporating both public and private providers.
Catch up on Pre-K Our Way’s activities, news and outreach with our monthly newsletters.