08/18/2025
Yes, it is a Big Deal that Metuchen is poised to begin publicly financed all-day kindergarten this fall, and my hat’s off to the enlightened Board of Education members who made it happen.
It wasn’t an easy battle.
I can remember a time not so long ago when a new school board member named Glassberg was stared down, voted down and treated like a pariah when he dared to suggest during a tense 2018 board meeting that a committee be named to study the issue.
Glassberg’s proposal and another motion to table it both failed on identical 4-4 votes, a rare public display of dissension for the board.
Times – and the school board – have changed. Glassberg and the local group called Full Day Kindergarten in Metuchen didn’t give up, and in time three of the opposition votes on the board opted against seeking reelection. Glassberg in time was elected board president and things moved forward. Metuchen taxpayers even passed a referendum to expand Moss School to handle the influx of 5-year-olds.
As pleased as we can be that all-day kindergarten, and its proven positive impact on children’s learning, are becoming a reality, it’s not something we can brag too much about. According to The Star-Ledger, Metuchen was one of only 10 school districts among the state’s almost 600 that didn’t offer this educational amenity.
Perhaps adding to Metuchen’s movement on the issue was talk of the state imposing a mandate on all districts to offer full-day kindergarten. In time it did, and by 2029 all districts must fall into line.
The issue isn’t just an educational one. Metuchen families serious about their children’s education have paid thousands of dollars per year in private school tuition to provide their children the same advantages that students in 550+ other districts have been receiving for free. The issue goes directly to the core of our borough’s attractiveness as a place to live and raise a family, not to mention that it says much about our community’s commitment to inclusiveness and equity. Sadly, the children of parents who couldn't afford private kindergartens simply went without.
We shouldn’t rest on our laurels. The state is pumping an additional $1.3 billion into preschool education this fiscal year in an attempt to provide high quality all-day preschool for the almost 50 percent of New Jersey 3- and 4-year-olds who currently lack it.
And yes, that includes Metuchen’s kids.
