The Legislature hereby finds and declares that there is a need for new programs and institutions capable of reaching and motivating the high-school dropout; that the experience gained by the creation of neighborhood education centers in other States indicates that those centers may be a partial answer to the problem of the high-school dropout; that the Commissioners of Education and Community Affairs should be authorized to establish such neighborhood education centers; and that the expenditure of public funds for those purposes is in the public interest.
N.J.S. § 18A:54A-3