Increasing the dialogue among stakeholders in New Jersey’s special education system

Snapshot: The Status of Children in New Jersey

Jun 25, 2013 | Snapshot

  1. In 2011, nearly 16,000 New Jersey children were enrolled in Head Start Programs, up 7% since 2007.
  2. Of the 91,832 New Jersey children enrolled in kindergarten, 74% attend full day programs.
  3. The number of children enrolled in full day kindergarten (67,627) rose by 9% since 2007.
  4. The number of preschoolers aged 3-5 in special education (16,925) fell by 8% since 2007.
  5. The number of children in New Jersey living 50% below the poverty level (141,000) increased 28% since 2007.
  6. The number of children receiving food stamps in New Jersey (395,999) increased 80% since 2008.
  7. The number of children receiving free breakfast in New Jersey (134,022) increased 28% since 2007–2008.
  8. In 2011, 14.5% of New Jersey school children were enrolled in special education.
  9. Classification rates in New Jersey vary widely. Cape May County has the highest rate of classification (18.8%), while Union county has the lowest rate (12.2%).

Source: Kids Count data (2013) provided by Advocates for Children of New Jersey. All data are for 2011, unless otherwise indicated.