2002 Event Schedule
The Abbott Pre-School Outreach Initiative:


By Angela Connor-Morris, Program Director, Service and Outreach

The Camden Campaign for Children's Literacy is pleased to announce The Abbott Pre-School Outreach Initiative. The Abbott Pre-School Outreach Initiative has three primary goals: 1) to work with key agencies in Camden to get the word out to families regarding the benefit of the Abbott pre-school decision; 2) to assist key agencies with the registration process; and 3) to assist childcare staff with training and certification in order to meet Abbott standards.

The Abbott Mandate is a Supreme Court decision that ordered that education funding in the poorer urban and rural districts be assured at the same level of funding as the property-rich districts. The Supreme Court ruled that the funding could not be dependent on the ability of local school districts to tax, but that instead funding must be guaranteed by the state. The decision also ordered that the level of funding must also provide for the special education needs of the poorer urban and rural districts to redress disadvantages.

The Abbott Decision promises resources for children in high-need communities starting at pre-school through the high school level. Smaller class sizes, technical support, teacher training, better equipment, and a myriad of resources are available to districts to ensure equitable education of Abbott District children. However, there are a variety of factors preventing the successful implementation of the Abbott Mandate within eligible districts, including Camden. The RUCCCS Camden Campaign for Children's Literacy has created the Abbott Pre-School Outreach Initiative to help address these issues.

Angela Connor-Morris, Program Director, has assembled key leaders to participate in the planning group for the Abbott Pre-School Outreach Initiative. We are pleased to announce the following members of the planning group: Yvette Benton, Director of Head Start Camden; Carol Dann, Director of the Camden Neighborhood Renaissance; Reggie Dorsey, Association for Children in New Jersey; Wilma Farmer, Camden City Board of Education; Dr. Stella Horton, Director of the Juvenile Resource Center; , Dr. Larrone Jackson, Cooper Community Services; Tom Jones, Director of the Urban Community Development Center; Foday Kamara, Director of the Camden City Department of Health and Human Services; Albert N. Mitchell, Executive Director of the NJ Minority Educational Development Center; Wilbur and Gloria Mitchell, Directors of Respond, Inc.; Cindy Rice, Association for Children in New Jersey; and Zalika Shawnee, Director of Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies.

We are grateful to these individuals for their dedication to the children of Camden and for making time in their extremely busy schedules. We firmly believe that without the input and guidance of these individuals, a successful initiative could not be planned.

The first Abbott Pre-School Outreach Initiative meeting took place on April 18th at 3 p.m. at the Rutgers University-Camden Campus, Student Campus Center. If you are interested in joining our planning group, please email Angela Connor-Morris or call her at 856-225-6741.