2025 -- H 5199

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LC000827

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- THE RHODE ISLAND PREKINDERGARTEN

EDUCATION ACT

     Introduced By: Representatives McNamara, Cotter, Solomon, Potter, Carson, and
Ackerman

     Date Introduced: January 24, 2025

     Referred To: House Finance

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 16-87-2 and 16-87-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-87 entitled

"Rhode Island Prekindergarten Education Act" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     16-87-2. Findings.

     (a) The general assembly hereby finds that attending high quality early childhood education

programs help helps children develop important social and cognitive skills and knowledge that

prepares children to succeed in school. Research has shown long-lasting benefits for children who

participate in very high quality, educationally focused early childhood programs. The benefits to

children can also generate substantial government cost savings, including reduced need for special

education services, reduced need for cash assistance and other public benefits, and reduced rates of

incarceration.

     (b) The general assembly finds that there are substantial numbers of children in Rhode

Island entering kindergarten who are not adequately prepared to succeed in school. Early school

failure may ultimately contribute to such children dropping out of school at an early age, failing to

achieve their full potential, becoming dependent upon public assistance, or becoming involved in

criminal activities.

     (c) Furthermore, the general assembly finds that there is an existing infrastructure of early

childhood programs in Rhode Island serving preschool age children in full-day and half-day

programs that is supported through state and federal investments in child care, Head Start and

special education. It is the goal of the general assembly to support a system of publicly-funded,

high quality prekindergarten education programs that are operated through a diverse delivery

network, including child care, Head Start and public school districts.

     (d) By enacting this law, 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) years.

     16-87-4. Early childhood workforce development.

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

the department of human services to sustain and expand the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Program,

other state departments and private philanthropy to establish 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.

     SECTION 2. Chapter 16-87 of the General Laws entitled "Rhode Island Prekindergarten

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

     16-87-8. Prekindergarten implementation and expansion.

     (a) The state managed prekindergarten program model shall be sustained and, as funds are

available, expanded in a mixed delivery-system that includes Head Start programs, local education

agencies, licensed center-based child care providers, and licensed family child care providers or

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family child care networks so that no less than seventy percent (70%) of all children ages three (3)

and four (4) are enrolled in high-quality prekindergarten options.

     (b) The department of elementary and secondary education (the "department") is hereby

authorized to promulgate and adopt rules and regulations for the implementation of high-quality

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;

     (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 (20 U.S.C. §1400 et seq.) 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.

     (c) To whatever extent deemed appropriate and efficient by the department, quality

standards may be differentiated by prekindergarten education setting and include federal support

and oversight for the Head Start Performance Standards, such that every provider-type in a mixed-

delivery model is able and expected to meet research-based quality standards.

     (d) Funds to sustain and expand prekindergarten and Head Start shall be allocated to ensure

teacher wages and benefits are competitive with similarly qualified kindergarten teacher wages and

benefits.

     (e) Beginning July 1, 2025, any new state general revenue 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, including Early Head

Start.

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     SECTION 3. 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 -- THE RHODE ISLAND PREKINDERGARTEN

EDUCATION ACT

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     This act would direct the department of elementary and secondary education to 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 further authorize the

development of regulations to ensure high-quality prekindergarten services, require competitive

wages and benefits for prekindergarten and Head Start teachers, and would 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 take effect upon passage.

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