2024 -- S 2843

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LC004678

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- RHODE ISLAND PREKINDERGARTEN EDUCATION

ACT

     Introduced By: Senators Gallo, DiMario, Cano, Murray, LaMountain, Zurier, and Burke

     Date Introduced: March 22, 2024

     Referred To: Senate Education

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Chapter 16-87 of the General Laws entitled "Rhode Island Prekindergarten

Education Act" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following sections:

     16-87-8. High quality, universal prekindergarten.

     (a) The general assembly acknowledges the need to adequately prepare all children to

succeed in school by providing access to publicly funded, high quality prekindergarten education

programs for all children ages three (3) and four (4) and to sustain and expand access to high-

quality early care and education programs for infants and toddlers under age three (3).

     (b) Access to free, inclusive and high-quality prekindergarten classrooms in a mixed-

delivery system that includes state investments to be layered on top of federal investments to sustain

and expand the federally managed Head Start program model for children ages three (3) and four

(4) and the federally managed Early Head Start program model for infants and toddlers under age

three (3).

     The state managed prekindergarten program model shall be sustained and expanded in a

mixed delivery-system that includes Head Start agencies, local education agencies, licensed center-

based child care providers, and licensed family child care providers, or family child care networks,

shall be expanded annually across all communities in Rhode Island until every family who wants

a high-quality prekindergarten seat for their children ages three (3) or four (4), has one.

     (c) Universal access will be considered achieved when no less than seventy percent (70%)

of all children ages three (3) and four (4) are enrolled in high-quality prekindergarten programs.

     (d)(1) The Rhode Island prekindergarten program administered by the department of

elementary and secondary education shall make funds available that are needed to sustain all

existing RI Pre-K classrooms through a mixed-delivery model to ensure the median wages for all

to RI Pre-K teachers and teaching assistants are at least equal to the median wages of public

kindergarten teaching staff with comparable qualifications and experience.

     (2) The department of human services shall make funds available through state contracts

with Head Start agencies to support programs in offering competitive wages to Head Start and

Early Head Start classroom teachers and teaching assistants with the goal of ensuring the median

wages for all Head Start teachers and teaching assistants are at least equal to the median wages of

public kindergarten teaching staff with comparable qualifications and experience.

     (3) Any new funding allocated for expansion of the Rhode Island prekindergarten program

shall include a thirty percent (30%) set aside of funding to be administered by the department of

human services to sustain and expand access to high-quality child care and early learning programs

for infants and toddlers.

     (e) On or before October 1, 2024, and annually on or before October 1 thereafter, the

department of elementary and secondary education, in collaboration with the department of human

services, the Head Start Collaboration Office, and the RI early learning council, shall submit to the

governor, speaker of the house, senate president, and chairs of house and senate finance committees

and education committees a status report and updated year-by-year growth plan to achieve

universal access to high-quality prekindergarten for all children ages three (3) and four (4)

including investments in both the federally managed Head Start model and the state managed

prekindergarten model; the growth plan shall detail annual growth targets and projected funding

needs, as well as how the state will:

     (1) Equitably distribute prekindergarten funding to eligible providers, to sustain and

expand access to both the federally managed Head Start model and the state managed

prekindergarten model, as described in §16-87-9(a);

     (2) Ensure that Early Head Start classrooms serving infants and toddlers under age three

(3) are adequately funded and can be sustained and expanded with a combination of federal and

state resources to deliver high-quality early care and education staffed with competitively-

compensated educators who meet or exceed the qualifications outlined in the federal Head Start

Performance Standards;

     (3) Set year-by-year investment targets for each year of the pre-K growth plan to sustain

and improve access to high-quality infant-toddler early care and education in both child care centers

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and family child care homes staffed with qualified and skilled educators;

     (4) Identify resources needed to prepare, recruit and retain a highly-qualified early

childhood educator workforce statewide to staff existing programs that provide support for healthy

child development and early learning opportunities for children from infancy through age five (5).

This shall include resources needed to ensure competitive compensation to attract and retain

qualified and skilled early childhood educators, regardless of setting, that provide a living wage

and are equivalent to wages to public kindergarten teaching staff with similar credentials and

experience in the state;

     (5) Build capacity among new and existing early care and education providers to ensure

quality standards are met in all settings; and

     (6) Ensure providers in the mixed-delivery system have sufficient facilities to expand

access to high-quality prekindergarten and infant/toddler early care and education services.

     16-87-9. High quality elements.

     (a) To expand access to high-quality prekindergarten education programs, the state shall

implement and provide sufficient funding to support a mixed-delivery system including state

investments to sustain all state prekindergarten, Head Start, and Early Head Start classrooms

statewide and to expand these models through contracting with eligible providers including local

education agencies, Head Start agencies, licensed center-based child care providers, licensed family

child care providers or licensed family child-care provider networks, or a consortium of these

entities.

     (b) To build and maintain an adequate system of providers, the state shall support a

continuous quality improvement system for providers of prekindergarten services participating in,

or seeking to participate in, the state prekindergarten program and shall work with the federal Office

of Head Start to ensure all Head Start and Early Head Start programs receive continuous quality

improvement support

     (c) The Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary education (the

"department") is hereby authorized to promulgate and adopt rules and regulations for the

implementation of high quality, universal prekindergarten. Research-based quality standards shall

be defined in regulation by the department, and shall meet or exceed the recommended quality

standards for state preschool programs outlined by the National Institute for Early Education

Research and/or the federal Head Start Performance Standards. Quality standards shall include, but

not be limited to:

     (1) Teacher education and certification;

     (2) Class size and staff ratios;

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     (3) Learning time;

     (4) Developmentally appropriate, evidence-based learning standards;

     (5) Curriculum prioritizing developmentally appropriate, play-based learning;

     (6) Access, inclusion and support for students with special needs, including a system to

ensure delivery of high-quality, inclusive early education services required by the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act to children with developmental delays and disabilities who are enrolled

in community-based programs which may or may not be located in the same municipality where

the child lives;

     (7) Support for English language learners;

     (8) Professional development;

     (9) Child assessments; and

     (10) Observations and coaching to improve practice.

     (d) To whatever extent deemed necessary by the department, quality standards may be

differentiated by prekindergarten education setting and include federal support and oversight for

the Head Start and Early Head Start Performance Standards, such that every provider-type in a

mixed-delivery model is able and expected to meet the highest research-based quality standards as

defined by the department.

     16-87-10. Successful transition.

     (a) Successful coordination between Rhode Island’s high-quality prekindergarten and

kindergarten programs is essential for setting a solid foundation for all students. In order to have a

seamless pathway from prekindergarten to third grade, standards, curriculum, instruction and

assessments shall be aligned.

     (b) Effective transition programs and practices to help students and families move

successfully from one setting to another shall be established.

     (c) All local education agencies (LEAs) in Rhode Island shall develop a kindergarten

transition strategy to support incoming students and families. The transition strategy must include:

     (1) Student and family communication and engagement plans; and

     (2) Program-level transition plans including student visits to their future kindergarten

classroom.

     16-87-11. Prekindergarten facilities.

     (a) No later than December 31, 2024, the department of human services shall provide the

senate president and the speaker of the house with a report on the status of disbursement and impact

of capital funds made available by the early learning facilities general obligation bond approved

March 2, 2021.

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     (b) The department of elementary and secondary education and the department of human

services shall establish programs and initiatives to ensure providers renovate, acquire, develop,

and/or expand facilities that meet licensing and facilities standards, in order to sustain and increase

access to high-quality prekindergarten and early learning environments. Programs and initiatives

may include, but shall not be limited to:

     (1) Grant programs to be used for facility planning, predevelopment activities, and/or

urgent facility maintenance required for the health, safety and quality of existing programs;

     (2) Supporting the establishment of strategic partnerships between local education agencies

and community-based early learning providers to make use of available space in existing facilities;

and/or

     (3) Technical assistance for providers to access capital, navigate licensing standards for

facilities, and/or begin the facility improvement and development processes.

     SECTION 2. Section 16-87-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-87 entitled "Rhode Island

Prekindergarten Education Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     16-87-4. Early childhood workforce development.

     (a) The Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary education shall work with

other state departments and private philanthropy to establish the department of human services to

sustain and expand the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood program, a statewide, comprehensive,

research-based early childhood workforce development scholarship program to expand the number

of early childhood educators who have an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in early childhood

education and who work with children from birth to age five (5).

     (b)(1) In furtherance of the goals set forth in this chapter, no later than January 1, 2023, the

governor’s workforce board shall convene a working group comprised of representatives from the

department of elementary and secondary education, department of human services, office of the

postsecondary commissioner, the RI early learning council, organized labor, and early childhood

education industry employers, whose purpose shall be to identify barriers to entry into the early

childhood education workforce, and to design accessible and accelerated pathways into the

workforce, including, but not limited to, registered apprenticeships and postsecondary credit for

prior work experience.

     (2) No later than April 1, 2023, the working group shall provide the general assembly with

recommendations for addressing the barriers to workforce entry and implementing the solutions

identified by the working group; the recommendations shall outline any administrative and

legislative action that would be required by participating agencies to implement the

recommendations.

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     (3) If and when appropriate, and in accordance with program administration guidelines, the

industry employers may seek to create a sector partnership via the real jobs Rhode Island program

to implement workforce solutions.

     SECTION 3. Sections 16-87-3 and 16-87-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-87 entitled

"Rhode Island Prekindergarten Education Act" are hereby repealed.

     16-87-3. Planning phase for a prekindergarten program.

     (a) The Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary education shall begin

planning an initial, pilot prekindergarten program that meets high quality standards, builds on the

existing early childhood education infrastructure in the state (including child care, Head Start and

public schools) and serves children ages three (3) and four (4) who reside in communities with

concentrations of low performing schools. This planning phase will develop specific goals to

expand the pilot prekindergarten program over time and will also identify opportunities to

strengthen care and learning programs for infants and toddlers.

     (b) During this planning phase, the Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary

education will quantify the resources needed to achieve and maintain high quality standards in

prekindergarten programs and identify incentives and supports to develop a qualified early

education workforce, including opportunities for experienced early childhood educators and

paraprofessionals to acquire college degrees and earn early childhood teacher certification.

     (c) The Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary education will begin to

develop plans to collect and analyze data regarding the impact of the pilot prekindergarten program

on participating children’s school readiness and school achievement.

     16-87-5. Reporting.

     The Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary education shall report back to

the general assembly and the governor on the progress of the pilot planning phase no later than

October 31, 2008.

     SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- RHODE ISLAND PREKINDERGARTEN EDUCATION

ACT

***

     This act would establish guidelines for the continued implementation and expansion of

public, high quality prekindergarten education programs with the goal of reaching all children ages

three (3) and four (4) throughout Rhode Island to increase children’s school readiness. This act

would require continued investments in the RI Pre-K, Head Start, and Early Head Start models;

require adequate funding to provide compensation parity with comparably qualified public

kindergarten teaching staff; and require a 30% funding set-aside of prekindergarten expansion

funds to sustain and expand access to high-quality child care and early learning programs for infants

and toddlers. This act would also repeal the statutory laws pertaining to the initial pilot

prekindergarten program.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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