BILL REQ. #:  S-1064.2 

Read first time 01/31/2005.   Referred to Committee on Early Learning, K-12 & Higher Education.

     AN ACT Relating to preschool or nursery schools; adding new sections to chapter 28A.215 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

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   By rule, the superintendent of public instruction shall adopt 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 superintendent shall develop programs to encourage preschool programs to apply for approval.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall post a list of certified preschool programs on its web site.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   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 shall annually file its business name, name of the business owner, address, and phone number with the superintendent of public instruction.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   Sections 2 through 4 of this act are each added to chapter 28A.215 RCW.