those in the collaborating centers. Indeed, the Committee calculated the necessary funding per child for full-day, full-year, high-quality Abbott education at $13,000. While no contract was entered into following these negotiations, in late August an agreement was reached with the district for funding at $4,750 per child for six hours a day/180 days for the 2000-2001 school year. This would be supplemented by the $4,500 per child received from the DHS for daycare services for an additional four hours per day and an additional 65 days a year, and by an additional $600 received per child for family service workers, in accordance with a separate contract with the DHS. Although the Committee believed this amount of funding to be insufficient, it nevertheless "felt compelled to enter into this contract to avoid disruption of services to Newark's children and families."The lack of sufficient funding under the Abbott contract has greatly limited the centers' ability to provide the curriculum, staff, support, and facilities needed to provide a proper Abbott-standard program.

Ms. West, whose organization is described as the largest federally funded Head Start agency in New Jersey, serves 2582 three- and four-year-old children. She details that her program standards are below Abbott level, yet they have been unable to contract with the Newark School District. In addition, the Department of Human Services has rejected their proposed budget, offering to pay $5,050 or $5,800 per child, depending upon whether the teacher in the classroom is certified or not, for a ten- hour/245-day program. Ms. West is unaware that any assessment of educational needs or of the program itself was conducted to form the basis of these per-child funding offers. She asserts that the funding offered was based instead upon a pre-determined, per-pupil amount of either $9,250 or $10,000, again depending upon certification of the teacher. The DHS funding, although accepted for 345 children, was inadequate to permit the program to provide Abbott-compliant preschool for these children, as the requirements for class size, teacher certification and developmentally appropriate curriculum could not be met. No DOE or DHS funding has been provided to permit the organization to deal with these deficiencies. No contract is in place to allow for the provision of Abbott preschool for the remaining children in the Head Start program.

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