BILL REQ. #:  Z-1090.1 

Read first time 01/15/10.   Referred to Committee on Early Learning & Children's Services.

     AN ACT Relating to early learning; amending RCW 43.215.005, 43.215.020, 43.215.090, 28A.215.010, and 43.215.410; adding new sections to chapter 43.215 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature intends to make available early learning preschool opportunities to every three and four-year old child in the state. The legislature further finds that early learning experiences are improved when all children have the opportunities to learn together. Early learning opportunities can be expanded by combining state support with private payments by families who can afford to pay. Requiring programs to earn certification will improve the quality of preschool programs, provide better information about quality to parents, and improve outcomes for children.

Sec. 2   RCW 43.215.005 and 2007 c 415 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The legislature recognizes that:
     (a) Parents are their children's first and most important teachers and decision makers;
     (b) Research across disciplines now demonstrates that what happens in the earliest years makes a critical difference in children's readiness to succeed in school and life;
     (c) Washington's competitiveness in the global economy requires a world-class education system that starts early and supports life-long learning;
     (d) Washington state currently makes substantial investments in voluntary child care and early learning services and supports, but because services are fragmented across multiple state agencies, and early learning providers lack the supports and incentives needed to improve the quality of services they provide, many parents have difficulty accessing high quality early learning services;
     (e) A more cohesive and integrated voluntary early learning system would result in greater efficiencies for the state, increased partnership between the state and the private sector, improved access to high quality early learning services, and better employment and early learning outcomes for families and all children; and
     (f) Voluntary high quality preschool opportunities for all three and four-year olds will help children succeed in school and life.
     (2) The legislature finds that the early years of a child's life are critical to the child's healthy brain development and that the quality of caregiving during the early years can significantly impact the child's intellectual, social, and emotional development.
     (3) The purpose of this chapter is:
     (a) To establish the department of early learning;
     (b) To coordinate and consolidate state activities relating to child care and early learning programs;
     (c) To safeguard and promote the health, safety, and well-being of children receiving child care and early learning assistance, which is paramount over the right of any person to provide care;
     (d) To provide tools to promote the hiring of suitable providers of child care by:
     (i) Providing parents with access to information regarding child care providers;
     (ii) Providing parents with child care licensing action histories regarding child care providers; and
     (iii) Requiring background checks of applicants for employment in any child care facility licensed or regulated under current law;
     (e) To promote linkages and alignment between early learning programs and elementary schools and support the transition of children and families from prekindergarten environments to kindergarten;
     (f) To promote the development of a sufficient number and variety of adequate child care and early learning facilities, both public and private; and
     (g) To license agencies and to assure the users of such agencies, their parents, the community at large and the agencies themselves that adequate minimum standards are maintained by all child care and early learning facilities.
     (4) This chapter does not expand the state's authority to license or regulate activities or programs beyond those licensed or regulated under existing law.

Sec. 3   RCW 43.215.020 and 2007 c 394 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The department of early learning is created as an executive branch agency. The department is vested with all powers and duties transferred to it under this chapter and such other powers and duties as may be authorized by law.
     (2) The primary duties of the department are to implement state early learning policy and to coordinate, consolidate, and integrate child care and early learning programs in order to administer programs and funding as efficiently as possible. The department's duties include, but are not limited to, the following:
     (a) To support both public and private sectors toward a comprehensive and collaborative system of early learning that serves parents, children, and providers and to encourage best practices in child care and early learning programs;
     (b) To make early learning resources available to parents and caregivers;
     (c) To carry out activities, including providing clear and easily accessible information about quality and improving the quality of early learning opportunities for young children, in cooperation with the nongovernmental private-public partnership;
     (d) To administer child care and early learning programs;
     (e) To establish certification for preschool programs serving three and four-year old children, including a timeline for requiring all preschools to become certified;
     (f) To standardize internal financial audits, oversight visits, performance benchmarks, and licensing criteria, so that programs can function in an integrated fashion;
     (((f))) (g) To support the implementation of the nongovernmental private-public partnership and cooperate with that partnership in pursuing its goals including providing data and support necessary for the successful work of the partnership;
     (((g))) (h) To work cooperatively and in coordination with the early learning council;
     (((h))) (i) To collaborate with the K-12 school system at the state and local levels to ensure appropriate connections and smooth transitions between early learning and K-12 programs; ((and
     (i))) (j) To develop preschool programs for voluntary attendance by three and four-year old children under section 5 of this act;
     (k) To review the early childhood education and assistance program and head start program standards to make recommendations for improving program quality;
     (l) To work with the federal agency administering the head start program to integrate the state and federal programs to better serve children and families;
     (m) To develop, coordinate, and implement services and programs for children from birth to age three that support families and caregivers through a continuum of options including but not limited to programs or services provided in community settings such as health care offices, libraries, children's museums, and park and recreation programs; and
     (n) Upon the development of an early learning information system, to make available to parents timely inspection and licensing action information through the internet and other means.
     (3) The department's programs shall be designed in a way that respects and preserves the ability of parents and legal guardians to direct the education, development, and upbringing of their children, and that recognizes and honors cultural and linguistic diversity. The department shall include parents and legal guardians in the development of policies and program decisions affecting their children.

Sec. 4   RCW 43.215.090 and 2007 c 394 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The early learning advisory council is established to advise the department on statewide early learning community needs and progress.
     (2) The council shall work in conjunction with the department to develop a statewide early learning plan that crosses systems and sectors to promote alignment of private and public sector actions, objectives, and resources, and to ensure school readiness. The council shall update the plan at least every five years after the initial plan is completed in 2010.
     (3) The council shall include diverse, statewide representation from public, nonprofit, and for-profit entities. Its membership shall reflect regional, racial, and cultural diversity to adequately represent the needs of all children and families in the state.
     (4) Council members shall serve two-year terms. However, to stagger the terms of the council, the initial appointments for twelve of the members shall be for one year. Once the initial one-year to two-year terms expire, all subsequent terms shall be for two years, with the terms expiring on June 30th of the applicable year. The terms shall be staggered in such a way that, where possible, the terms of members representing a specific group do not expire simultaneously.
     (5) The council shall consist of not more than twenty-five members, as follows:
     (a) The governor shall appoint at least one representative from each of the following: The department, the office of financial management, the department of social and health services, the department of health, the higher education coordinating board, and the state board for community and technical colleges;
     (b) One representative from the office of the superintendent of public instruction, to be appointed by the superintendent of public instruction;
     (c) The governor shall appoint at least seven leaders in early childhood education, with at least one representative with experience or expertise in each of the following areas: Children with disabilities, the K-12 system, family day care providers, and child care centers;
     (d) Two members of the house of representatives, one from each caucus, and two members of the senate, one from each caucus, to be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate, respectively;
     (e) Two parents, one of whom serves on the department's parent advisory council, to be appointed by the governor;
     (f) Two representatives of the private-public partnership created in RCW 43.215.070, to be appointed by the partnership board;
     (g) One representative designated by sovereign tribal governments; and
     (h) One representative from the Washington federation of independent schools.
     (6) The council shall be cochaired by one representative of a state agency and one nongovernmental member, to be elected by the council for two-year terms.
     (7) Each member of the board shall be compensated in accordance with RCW 43.03.240 and reimbursed for travel expenses incurred in carrying out the duties of the board in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
     (8) The department shall provide staff support to the council.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The all start voluntary preschool program for three and four-year old children is created. The department shall phase-in all start as funds are available. It is the intent that all start begin in September 2013 and that opportunities for all start be available to all three and four-year old children by September 2020. The program shall be implemented first in areas that have state-funded all-day kindergarten programs. In implementing the program, the department shall:
     (a) Establish a schedule of state support and copayments based upon the ability to pay for families at or below two hundred percent of the federal poverty guidelines;
     (b) Establish criteria for eligible providers that provide for a service delivery system that includes both public and private entities, including criteria that requires programs to obtain preschool certification under RCW 43.215.020;
     (c) Establish program criteria including, but not limited to, program hours, length of program year, class size, and ratios of children to early childhood educators;
     (d) Establish criteria for early childhood educators including, but not limited to, requirements for credentialing, background screening, and professional development;
     (e) Establish performance measures and collect data to evaluate the achievement of children over time as required under RCW 43.215.080;
     (f) Require curricula options that are developmentally appropriate and promote creativity and include but are not limited to helping children acquire language and literacy skills, large and small motor skills, learn through hands-on experiences, and acquire social and emotional skills including successful participation in learning activities as an individual and as part of a group;
     (g) Require programs to provide for family participation; and
     (h) Require programs to have plans to help the children and families transition to kindergarten and to have strong connections with other early learning providers in the community and the public schools in the community.
     (2) The department may adopt rules as needed to implement this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:
     The department shall charge fees for the certification and for the renewal of certification. The fees shall be set at a sufficient level to defray the costs of the certification. All such fees shall be fixed by rule adopted under the administrative procedure act, chapter 34.05 RCW.

Sec. 7   RCW 28A.215.010 and 2006 c 263 s 410 are each amended to read as follows:
     The board of directors of any school district shall have the power to establish and maintain preschools and to provide before-and-after-school and vacation care in connection with the common schools of said district located at such points as the board shall deem most suitable for the convenience of the public, for the care and instruction of infants and children residing in said district. The board shall establish such courses, activities, rules, and regulations governing preschools and before-and-after-school care as it may deem best: PROVIDED, That these courses and activities shall meet the minimum standard for such preschools as established by the United States department of health, education and welfare, or its successor agency, the department of early learning, and the superintendent of public instruction. Except as otherwise provided by state or federal law, the board of directors may fix a reasonable charge for the care and instruction of children attending such schools. The board may, if necessary, supplement such funds as are received for the superintendent of public instruction or any agency of the federal government, by an appropriation from the general school fund of the district.

Sec. 8   RCW 43.215.410 and 2006 c 265 s 211 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall administer a state-supported early childhood education and assistance program to assist eligible children with educational, social, health, nutritional, and cultural development to enhance their opportunity for success in the common school system. Eligible children shall be admitted to approved early childhood programs to the extent that the legislature provides funds, and additional eligible children may be admitted to the extent that grants and contributions from community sources provide sufficient funds for a program equivalent to that supported by state funds.
     (2) Without reducing services to eligible children, programs may admit additional children with incomes above the eligibility criteria set under RCW 43.215.405 and may charge a fee for the portion of the program services that the child receives. If state funds are available the department may establish a schedule of state support and copayments for families with incomes above the eligibility criteria set under RCW 43.215.405 and at or under two hundred percent of the federal poverty guidelines. The department may charge fees for families above two hundred percent of the federal poverty guidelines.