By John Mooney for NJ Spotlight

Stalled for five years, New Jersey’s pledge to expand access to public preschool for low-income students statewide got a boost from the federal government yesterday, with the announcement of $17 million in additional funds for next year and more than $66 million over four years.

The federal money will be steered to 19 districts that would have received additional state funding under a 2008 law seeking to expand the Abbott v. Burke equity mandates for preschool beyond the 31 districts directly covered under those rulings.

While not facing needs as severe as the so-called Abbott school districts, these communities nonetheless have large concentrations of low- and moderate-income residents. The law identified more than 90 districts that would qualify.

But with a potential price tag of as much as $330 million, those promises of expanded preschool programs were quickly broken — just four more communities were added before the expansion stopped altogether in 2010.

The federal grant revives that expansion, at least to a degree, and is one of the largest bestowed by President Obama’s administration yesterday as part of a quarter-billion-dollar federal investment in preschool. Eighteen states overall received grants, which will range from $2 million to $24 million in the first year.

Read the rest of the article here.