SB 5621 -
By Committee on Children & Family Services
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 (1) The legislature finds that the early
years of a child's life are a time of enormous growth. The legislature
further finds that when parents choose to provide early educational
opportunities for their children in public or private preschools,
parents should have the tools to help find high-quality programs for
their children that will help their students be ready to go to school.
(2) The legislature intends to establish a voluntary certification
process for the child development and educational program offerings of
public and nonpublic preschool programs. The purpose of the voluntary
certification is to give parents and other consumers of preschool
programs the ability to evaluate the educational quality of the
preschool program including the program's ability to prepare the child
for kindergarten.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 The Washington early learning council,
created in Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill No. 1152, shall
develop standards and procedures for the voluntary certification of
public and nonpublic preschool child development and educational
programs. The standards at a minimum should outline essential
components, including, but not limited to, the following categories:
School-home relationships; class size and teacher-student ratios;
standards for teachers and staff; specification of pedagogical goals,
content, and methods, consistent with early learning development
benchmarks developed in Washington; and methods for monitoring quality.
The council shall also develop strategies to encourage preschool
programs to apply for certification.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 The Washington early learning council,
created in Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill No. 1152, shall make
recommendations to the governor and the appropriate committees of the
legislature concerning implementation of the standards and procedures
for the voluntary certification, under section 2 of this act, of public
and nonpublic preschool child development and educational programs,
which shall include the following:
(1) Identification of an appropriate state agency to implement the
standards and procedures for voluntary certification;
(2) A mechanism for making the list of certified preschool programs
widely available to the public; and
(3) A mechanism for any program that meets the definition of
nursery school or kindergarten under RCW 74.15.020(2)(g) and is not
required to be licensed under chapter 74.15 RCW to annually file its
business name, name of the business owner, address, and phone number
with the state."
Correct the title.
EFFECT: Charges the Washington Early Learning Council (Council),
which is created in Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill No. 1152,
rather than the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with developing
standards and procedures for the voluntary certification of public and
nonpublic preschool child development and educational programs, as well
as developing strategies to encourage preschool programs to apply for
certification.
Requires the Council to make recommendations to the Governor and
the appropriate committees of the Legislature concerning implementation
of the developed standards and procedures for the voluntary
certification of public and nonpublic preschool child development and
educational programs, which must include the following:
(1) Identification of an appropriate state agency to implement the
standards and procedures for voluntary certification;
(2) A mechanism for making the list of certified preschool programs
widely available to the public; and
(3) A mechanism for any program that meets the definition of
nursery school or kindergarten under RCW 74.15.020(2)(g) and is not
required to be licensed under chapter 74.15 RCW to annually file its
business name, name of the business owner, address, and phone number
with the state.