ECEA Testifies Before Senate Education Committee Regarding Important Child Care Bill

ECEA Board Member Amy Ragsdale testified today before the Senate Education Committee regarding S. 3910, known as the New Jersey Universal Preschool and Kindergarten Act. Amy highlighted many important components of the proposed legislation, which tightens requirements for school districts to partner with community care providers in the delivery of UPK. Amy shared ECEA's recommendations to make the proposed legislation stronger to better serve early childhood education.

Below is the transcript of her remarks on behalf of the ECEA.

ECEA Testimony – May 12, 2025

Good morning, Senate Education Committee, and thank you for hearing my testimony regarding the proposed New Jersey Universal Preschool and Kindergarten Act.

My name is Amy Ragsdale and I serve on the board of the Early Childhood Education Advocates (ECEA), a non-profit organization comprising community care providers across the state. Launched in 2019, we are funded solely by our members, who turn to us to address critical legislation that affects them and the families they serve.

I am testifying before you on an interesting day. May 12 is known across America as “A Day Without Child Care.” It is an awareness campaign in which we imagine what would happen to our world if there was no child care. This national movement highlights the critical services we provide to New Jersey families. Child care is truly the backbone of our state’s economy.

So, as we mark this day and highlight the importance of our sector, I would like to express my appreciation to Sen. Teresa Ruiz and Sen. Shirley Turner for sponsoring this important legislation, S. 3910. I also want to note the ECEA has had a consistent voice in the development of this bill, and we appreciate having the ongoing opportunity to provide input on behalf of hundreds of child care centers across the state.

This law, if adopted, would have a significant impact on early childhood education in New Jersey. It would expand access to high-quality community care providers – benefitting tens of thousands of children. 

Through a public-private partnership that this bill supports, we can work more closely with school districts and other community partners to ensure quality and accessible early childhood education across New Jersey.

As set forth in the substituted bill, school districts that receive preschool expansion grants must engage in due diligence to partner with all “ready, willing, and able” licensed child care providers and Head Start programs in the district’s immediate and neighboring communities.

However, as currently written, we believe the bill does not go far enough in building a long-term bridge between child care providers and school districts.

ECEA respectfully submits that we need to revert to the language in Senator Ruiz’s initial bill that  required districts to partner with all ready, willing and able licensed providers and Head Start programs in their communities.

If local early education providers see a pipeline of anticipated students over the course of many years, we can better invest in infrastructure and work in lockstep with the school districts, as a trusted and ongoing resource to help accommodate the children.

The proposed law also requires school districts to have a five-year plan to serve 90% of the district’s universe of three- and four-year olds. It is important to note that this important benchmark can likely never be reached without the mixed-delivery model that requires community care providers as active partners.

Transparency and information-sharing are also integral components of this proposed bill. 

The Universal Preschool Implementation Steering Committee is an important step towards refining our universal preschool system and mixed delivery partnerships in New Jersey. 

To this end, we respectfully request that members of the early childhood education committee have a voice in these critical discussions. Specifically, we would like the bill amended to include a representative from the early childhood education community. 

I know many ECEA leaders, as well as our members, who would eagerly provide input and guidance on the committee, if a seat was earmarked for our industry.

In conclusion, I would once again like to express the ECEA’s appreciation to Senators Ruiz and Turner, as well as this committee, for your dedication to growing partnerships between school districts and early education providers in our communities.

Thank you for your time, attention and commitment to mixed-delivery of pre-K education.