Report Title:

Early Childhood Education Program

Description:

Establishes the Governor's School Readiness Commission to develop the Open Doors Expansion Program. (HB2156 HD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2156

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to early childhood education.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that early education helps to shape a child's future, as it is the most effective means of closing the K-12 achievement gap. Accordingly, the ability to prepare young children for school is clearly dependent upon an institution with the proper infrastructure to support school readiness. Currently, however, quality early education and care are not only scarce, but also unaffordable for many families in Hawaii.

The legislature also finds that sixty-two per cent of mothers in Hawaii work full-time and often lose productivity as a result of inadequate child care. Over half of Hawaii's children who enter kindergarten are up to two years behind academically. Hawaii also suffers from social ills such as high rates of incarceration for drug-related offenses, particularly in light of the crystal methamphetamine epidemic that is running rampant throughout our islands today. The effects of these dynamics further necessitate a highly structured and monitored program to make early education outside of the home accessible to all young children, especially those from low-income families.

Federal, state, and private resources have been utilized to help young children attend preschool programs, including the department of education's special education preschool, Kamehameha Preschools, Head Start, and the department of human services child care program. The amount of funds necessitated and utilized has dramatically increased from more than $43,000,000 in 1997 to nearly $83,500,000 in 2001. A total of eight thousand two hundred fifty-nine low-income three-and-four-year-olds received subsidies in 2001 for various pre-school programs. However, six thousand eight hundred forty-eight low-income three-and-four-year-olds who were eligible did not receive assistance in 2001.

Government funding allotted for child care is comprised of moneys obtained from the Federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program designated for child care, a federal block grant, and matching funds received from the state equal to approximately $55,000,000. Approximately thirty-five per cent of the funds are spent on formal child care programs, including preschools, family licensed day care centers, and the open doors program. However, the remaining sixty-five per cent of the allotted funds is spent on unstructured, unregulated, informal child care, including the care of young children by relatives and other extended family members.

The legislature further finds that the cost of providing a high quality early education program for low-income three-and-four-year-olds who do not receive any assistance is approximately $8,700 per child. Additionally, the cost of providing programs with suitable incentives to implement quality improvement measures, such as employing teachers with appropriate degrees, accreditation, implementing the Hawaii preschool content standards, and authentic assessment, would require an additional $300 per child.

The legislature determines that investing in quality early education and care is a preventive strategy that will ultimately save Hawaii money by reducing social risk factors and further costs to society. Research estimates that for every dollar invested in early childhood education there is a savings to the State of $7 in foregone remedial education costs, a reduction in welfare dependency, and a reduced crime rate. The return on this investment will generate benefits that greatly exceed its cost. Therefore, steps must be taken to ensure that existing federal, state, and private funding is properly utilized to provide programs and assistance to our young children for their social and academic success.

The purpose of this Act is to provide for the establishment of a governor's school readiness commission to develop the open doors expansion program, an early childhood education program designed to meet professionally accepted standards and delivered by well-trained early childhood educators in a variety of public and private settings.

SECTION 2. (a) There is established a governor's school readiness commission, placed within the governor's office for administrative purposes, to develop the open doors expansion program, a voluntary preschool program for all preschool-aged children in Hawaii. The commission shall be established as an ad hoc entity and consist of fifteen members appointed by the governor as provided in section 26-34, Hawaii Revised Statutes, from each of the following categories, unless otherwise indicated:

(1) A member of the senate appointed by the president of the senate;

(2) A member of the house of representatives appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives;

(3) Department of education;

(4) Department of health;

(5) Department of human services;

(6) University of Hawaii college of education;

(7) Kamehameha Schools;

(8) Hawaii state teachers association;

(9) Hawaii Association for Education of Young Children;

(10) Head Start;

(11) Program coordinating council of the early childhood education programs of University of Hawaii community colleges;

(12) University of Hawaii Center on the Family;

(13) People Attentive to Children Hawaii (PATCH);

(14) Childcare Business Coalition; and

(15) Hawaii Business Roundtable.

The good beginnings alliance and the interdepartmental council and community councils, specified under Act 77, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997, as amended by Act 60, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, as amended by Act 13, Session Laws of Hawaii 2002, shall facilitate this commission.

(b) Commission members shall receive no compensation. Commission members shall be reimbursed for necessary travel expenses incurred in the conduct of official council business. The chairperson of the commission shall be designated by the members of the commission.

(c) Within twelve months of the effective date of this Act, the commission shall develop a plan for the establishment of the open doors expansion program. The plan for the open doors expansion program shall provide as follows:

(1) Child subsidies shall be directed to the preschool programs enrolling the child;

(2) Preschool programs receiving open doors expansion program funds shall also be eligible to receive quality improvement incentive grants;

(3) Preschool programs receiving open doors expansion program funds shall demonstrate a willingness to serve and integrate children of diverse abilities and special needs, diverse cultural linguistic backgrounds, and diverse economic circumstances;

(4) A child shall be eligible for participation based upon the following successive criteria until the open doors expansion program can fully meet the needs of all preschool-aged children in Hawaii:

(A) The child is four years old by the program start date; and

(B) The child resides within the geographic boundaries of a department of education Title I elementary school;

(5) A sliding fee scale for participation in a preschool program shall apply requiring families to be assessed a fee based upon their income level and ability to pay;

(6) Preschool programs receiving open doors expansion program funds shall be required to adopt the Hawaii preschool content standards, which incorporates essential elements of high-quality early education and care program content and promotes healthy cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical outcomes for children;

(7) Standards that shall include the use of a developmentally appropriate curriculum aligned with the 2003 Hawaii preschool content standards or any subsequent amendments thereto;

(8) Standards shall be based upon the department of human services child care services licensing standards and incorporate essential elements of the nationally approved accreditation standards set by the National Association for the Education of Young Children;

(9) Preschool programs, within five years of initially receiving open doors expansion program funding, shall employ a program director and at least one teacher in each classroom to hold an associate degree with specialized training in early childhood education or a related field;

(10) Preschool programs, within ten years of initially receiving open doors expansion program funding, shall employ a program director and at least one teacher in each classroom, with each program requiring a specific number of teachers holding either a two-year or four-year degree based on the size of the program;

(11) A community-based training program shall be established to facilitate recruitment and training of entry-level staff to ensure that programs are able to meet the increased demand; and

(12) A base funding level shall be established for programs that meet the open doors expansion program standard; provided that programs that meet the requirements of paragraph (8) or (9) shall be eligible to qualify for higher funding levels.

(d) The commission shall advise the State in developing the open doors expansion program and provide on-going oversight to the governor on the progress of the program. The commission shall also be tasked with:

(1) Developing the funding allocation for the open doors expansion program to ensure that funding is:

(A) Adequate for programs to meet and maintain standards;

(B) Sufficient to allow programs to meet compensation guidelines for directors and teachers as prescribed by the professional development board, established in this Act;

(C) Complementary to and does not supplant existing funding streams;

(D) Structured to allow direct payment of funding to programs serving children;

(E) Designed to allow programs to deliver open doors expansion program services to families as described in this Act; and

(F) Reflective of a policy to ensure family choice;

(2) Working to ensure that each county has a community council, pursuant to Act 77, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997, as amended by Act 60, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, as amended by Act 13, Session Laws of Hawaii 2002, that shall be responsible for developing and submitting to the commission a plan to inform the implementation of the open doors expansion program within their community that includes the following:

(A) An assessment of the current and future supply and demand for early education services within the community for children from birth to five years old, and identification of potentially eligible open doors expansion program providers in the community;

(B) Strategies for ensuring that families are informed about and can easily access existing and new early education and care resources;

(C) Methods by which to inform the public about the open doors expansion program and to coordinate with public and private agencies to create a consumer-friendly intake system; and

(D) Strategies for working with families to ensure successful transitions to early education and care programs from home or infant programs and to kindergarten from home or early education and care programs;

(3) Holding public hearings on the plan to elicit feedback from the community;

(4) Developing a phase-in plan for the open doors expansion program that provides an equitable balance of representation from urban and rural communities, beginning in Title I school areas and extending statewide upon full implementation within ten years of the effective date of this Act; and

(5) Conducting an annual assessment to ensure that the resources exist for both preschool programs and teachers to achieve the goals described in the program standard.

(e) The commission shall develop a plan for the consolidation and coordination of publicly funded early education and care administration and functions. In developing the plan, the commission shall:

(1) Review current early education and care programs, services, and funding at various public agencies;

(2) Analyze options for implementing an effective and permanent administrative structure; and

(3) Ensure authentic consultation and representation by consumers and providers of early education and care in administration of the new system.

The plan shall include strategies, recommendations, and methods to:

(1) Describe the coordination of services of current programs, including child care connection federal subsidies, current open doors subsidies, and pre-plus facilities;

(2) Coordinate and maximize existing federal, state, and local early education and care funding with other community resources to increase the options available for families, including but not limited to partnerships with Head Start, Kamehameha Schools, military, and native Hawaiian early childhood programs;

(3) Direct subsidies to the preschool programs enrolling the child and incorporate quality improvement incentives to programs meeting program standards;

(4) Utilize existing community preschools and available department of human services resources, including but not limited to pre-plus facilities;

(5) Ensure regulatory, funding, and administrative alignment, including but not limited to streamlining administrative paperwork and addressing inconsistencies and conflicts in subsidy eligibility criteria, sliding-fee scales, reimbursement rates, services, regulations, and policies among publicly funded agencies;

(6) Strengthen consumer education and accessibility to existing and new early education and care resources;

(7) Create a single application form that can be used across early education and care programs for all families seeking financial assistance, while maintaining multiple points of entry to ensure maximum access for families; and

(8) Create an effective data collection system to support the necessary functions of a consolidated system and to enable accurate evaluation of its impact.

(f) The commission shall make a recommendation to the governor for an agency or organization to provide for the administration of the open doors expansion program, once implemented.

(g) The commission shall submit its proposed plans for the open doors expansion program, program consolidation and coordination, and the professional development board's workforce development system plan established pursuant to section 4(c) of this Act to the governor within twelve months of the effective date of this part for its review and approval. Upon approval, the governor shall submit to the legislature any necessary proposed legislation for the implementation of the open doors expansion program.

SECTION 3. (a) The department of education shall design and implement a developmentally appropriate assessment of school readiness within each kindergarten classroom in the State. This assessment will focus upon kindergarten classrooms to assess whether children enter kindergarten ready to learn, and whether schools are prepared to receive those children. School readiness assessment costs shall be included in the open doors expansion program annual budget and shall be calculated based upon a per child rate.

(b) The department of human services, in consultation with the commission, shall provide for and manage a comprehensive evaluation of the implementation and impact of the open doors expansion program that shall include items to be determined by the commission. Annual comprehensive program evaluation costs shall be included in the open doors expansion program annual budget and shall constitute approximately six per cent of the total open doors expansion program expenditures.

(c) The department of human services, in consultation with the commission, shall also be responsible for the following:

(1) Administering funding directly to programs to provide open doors expansion program services;

(2) Utilizing local needs assessment data to assess supply and demand statewide;

(3) Monitoring open doors expansion program programs on a regular basis for compliance with standards as established by the council as well as for compliance with applicable standards and laws including appropriate punishment for violations; and

(4) Maximizing family choice by ensuring that not less than fifty per cent of total open doors expansion program is delivered through community-based, nonpublic school programs.

SECTION 4. (a) There is established a Hawaii professional development board, which shall be placed within the department of human services for administrative purposes only. The development board shall include representatives from organizations and agencies representing a broad spectrum of expertise, knowledge, and understanding of workforce development, as well as early childhood education workforce development, including but not limited to representatives selected by the commission from the following:

(1) Licensed teachers regularly engaged in teaching;

(2) Educational officers;

(3) The chairperson of the board of education or the chairperson's designee;

(4) The superintendent or the superintendent's designee;

(5) A representative of independent schools;

(6) The Childcare Business Coalition;

(7) The dean of the University of Hawaii college of education or the dean's designee; and

(8) A representative from the Early Childhood Professional Organization.

To the extent possible, the development board membership shall reflect representation from all of the islands within the State.

(b) Development board members shall receive no compensation. Development board members shall be reimbursed for necessary travel expenses incurred in the conduct of official board business. The chairperson of the development board shall be designated by the members of the development board.

(c) Within twelve months of the effective date of this Act, the development board shall establish a workforce development system designed to support the education, training, and compensation of early education and care workforce. The plan shall include the following:

(1) An inventory of existing training programs and support;

(2) An analysis and data of current workforce composition;

(3) A career ladder;

(4) A registry;

(5) Incentives and supports for additional training and education;

(6) An articulated system of education;

(7) A streamlined certification process;

(8) Incentives for associate's degree and bachelor's degree attainment; and

(9) Recruitment and retention strategies.

(d) The development board shall present a draft of the workforce development system plan to the commission for discussion and approval. Upon approval, the development board shall oversee the implementation of the workforce development system.

SECTION 5. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2004-2005 for the governor's school readiness commission to carry out its purpose.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the office of the governor for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2020.