Ms. Johnson certifies that her program, which serves Union City and West New York, serves 349 children, 120 of whom are from West New York. Federal Head Start funding provides $6,996 per student for six hours per day/160 days per year. In 1999- 2000 the West New York Board of Education contracted for services for 81 children not funded by federal funds, at $11,766 per pupil or $6,695 per pupil, the difference depending upon the location at which the services were provided, being either in the Head Start centers or in district-owned facilities. These contracts did not concern the federally funded children. In May 2000 the district first advised that it was discontinuing the contracts, but later, in June 2000, the District offered $4,500 per child for 30 children in a six-hour/180-day program to be held in two vacant classrooms. The amount offered was clearly insufficient, but the agency accepted the contract due to the overwhelming demand for the program. As with the other witnesses, Ms. Johnson knows of no assessments having been prepared on which to base the $4,500-per-pupil funding. No funding was provided for curriculum development, salary comparability, bilingual education or facilities.

The record also reveals that, apparently in anticipation of a statewide accord with Head Start, the Department denied district-requested funding for federally funded Head Start, as it did, for example, in its June 20, 2000, letter responding to Vineland's preschool plan. On September 22, 2000, the Commissioners of Health and Education jointly announced that the agencies had "made a commitment to Head Start directors to assist them in participating in the Abbott Early Childhood Education Program" and that an agreement had been reached allowing such participation, effective immediately. The letter announcing the agreement reports that the State would "contract with Head Start programs to fund the difference between federal Head Start funding and the average district-sponsored preschool funding," with the Head Start programs agreeing to meet DOE regulatory standards based upon the Abbott decisions. However, despite this announcement, counsel for the DOE concedes that in the end the contract negotiations were not successfully concluded.

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