Report Title:

Early Childhood Education

Description:

Establishes the Early Learning Working Group to plan a state early learning system that will be accessible to all four-year olds in the state. (HB3237 HD2)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

3237

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

H.D. 2

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 the mind is shaped significantly by experiences and other stimuli in the first five years of a child's life. This period sets the foundation in which a person forms his or her behavioral, emotional, social, and decision-making skills, values, self-esteem, and lifelong learning ability. In short, this period paves the way for a child's healthy, successful development.

Neglect and inadequate care in the early years can hold a child back from achieving the child's full potential and, instead, place the child at risk for poor outcomes later in life, which has considerable social costs.

Research and studies have shown that providing children with proper early childhood care and education has a far-reaching, long-term impact on their development. Thus, the legislature recognizes the importance of providing children with early learning opportunities of the highest quality. Early learning programs, both public and private, should meet professionally-accepted standards, be staffed by well-trained, appropriately-compensated educators, and be available to all children.

Accordingly, the legislature created the temporary early childhood education task force in 2005 to:

(1) Develop plans and proposals to increase access to early learning programs for all children;

(2) Increase participation in these programs by promoting their value; and

(3) Improve the quality of programs and practitioners.

The legislature also finds that forty per cent of four-year-old children are already being served by public schools through the kindergarten program. Having recognized this fact, the legislature, through Act 219, Session Laws of Hawaii 2004 (Act 219), established junior kindergarten in public elementary schools for children who are at least five years old after August 1 and before January 1 of the school year, beginning with the 2006-2007 school year. The intent of Act 219 was to implement a flexible, developmentally appropriate curriculum to ensure a child's school readiness.

The benefits of early learning programs have already been proven in states such as Oklahoma, which has provided state funding for voluntary pre-kindergarten or junior kindergarten programs since 1998 through its Early Childhood Four-Year-Old Program, resulting in a closing of the achievement gap among students: the test scores of low-income students improved by twenty-six per cent, and those of Hispanic students improved by fifty-four per cent.

The purpose of this Act is to further develop and refine the recommendations of the temporary early childhood education task force, and to build upon the existing framework for junior kindergarten, with the specific goal of ensuring universal access to early learning opportunities for all children in the state who are four years old by January 1 of that school year, by establishing an inter-departmental working group to plan a state early learning system.

SECTION 2. (a) There is established the early learning working group, to be attached to the department of education for administrative purposes only.

The early learning working group shall develop plans and timelines for a coherent, comprehensive, and sustainable early learning system that maximizes public and private resources to provide early learning opportunities for all children in the state who are four years old by January 1 of that school year. The early learning system shall:

(1) Expand upon the current system of public education services for all four-year-old children;

(2) Retain and expand the role of the department of human services in providing early learning opportunities through programs such as the preschool open doors program;

(3) Retain and expand the role of the department of education in extending educational services to all four-year-old children who wish to enroll;

(4) Be primarily site-based in public facilities, whether the program is publicly or privately run;

(5) Recognize a variety of early learning approaches and service deliveries; and

(6) Be sustained by various types of funding, including federal, state, and private funds.

(b) The early learning working group shall make recommendations for the early learning system, relating to:

(1) Developing standards for age- and developmentally-appropriate curriculum;

(2) Recruiting teachers into public and private schools who are certified in early childhood education;

(3) Continuing professional development of teachers;

(4) Maintaining small class sizes and adult-to-child ratios; and

(5) Encouraging more family involvement.

(c) The early learning working group shall be composed of nine members as follows:

(1) The superintendent of education or the superintendent's designee;

(2) The director of human services or the director's designee;

(3) The director of health or the director's designee;

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

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

(6) Two members from the community, appointed by the superintendent of education; and

(7) Two members from the community, appointed by the director of human services.

(d) The chairperson of the early learning working group shall be selected from among the community members appointed to the early learning working group, by a majority of the members of the early learning working group.

(e) The early learning working group may form subcommittees to:

(1) Obtain input from stakeholders, early education professionals, and any other individual as may be determined necessary by the early learning working group; and

(2) Perform any other function as may be deemed necessary by the early learning working group for the fulfillment of its functions.

(f) The subcommittees shall be exempt from chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

(g) The department of education and department of human services may enter into a contract with a non-profit organization to administer or implement any part of this Act.

(h) The members of the early learning working group shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses necessary for the performance of their duties, including travel expenses.

SECTION 3. The early learning working group shall submit reports to the governor and legislature as follows:

(1) An interim report of its progress, including any proposed legislation, to be submitted no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2007 regular session; and

(2) A final report of its progress, findings, and recommendations, including any additional proposed legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2008 regular session.

SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $250,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007 for the operations of the early learning working group.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2020, and shall be repealed on July 1, 2008.