2SHB 1723 -
By Committee on Ways & Means
NOT ADOPTED 04/15/2013
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 A new section is added to chapter 43.215
RCW to read as follows:
The legislature finds that the first five years of a child's life
establish the foundation for educational success. The legislature also
finds that children who have high quality early learning opportunities
from birth through age five are more likely to succeed throughout their
K-12 education and beyond. The legislature further finds that the
benefits of high quality early learning experiences are particularly
significant for low-income parents and children, and provide an
opportunity to narrow the opportunity gap in Washington's K-12
educational system. The legislature understands that early supports
for high-risk parents of young children through home visiting services
show a high return on investment due to significantly improved chances
of better education, health, and life outcomes for children. The
legislature further recognizes that, when parents work or go to school,
high quality and full-day early learning opportunities should be
available and accessible for their children. In order to improve
education outcomes, particularly for low-income children, the
legislature is committed to expanding high quality early learning
opportunities and integrating currently disparate funding streams for
all birth-to-five early learning services including, working
connections child care and the early childhood education and assistance
program, into a single high quality continuum of learning that provides
essential services to low-income families and prepares all enrolled
children for success in school. The legislature therefore intends to
establish the early start program to provide a continuum of high
quality and accountable early learning opportunities for Washington's
parents and children.
Sec. 2 RCW 28A.150.220 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 27 s 1 are each
amended to read as follows:
(1) In order for students to have the opportunity to develop the
basic education knowledge and skills under RCW 28A.150.210, school
districts must provide instruction of sufficient quantity and quality
and give students the opportunity to complete graduation requirements
that are intended to prepare them for postsecondary education, gainful
employment, and citizenship. The program established under this
section shall be the minimum instructional program of basic education
offered by school districts.
(2) Each school district shall make available to students the
following minimum instructional offering each school year:
(a) For students enrolled in grades one through twelve, at least a
district-wide annual average of one thousand hours, which shall be
increased to at least one thousand eighty instructional hours for
students enrolled in each of grades seven through twelve and at least
one thousand instructional hours for students in each of grades one
through six according to an implementation schedule adopted by the
legislature, but not before the 2014-15 school year; and
(b) For students enrolled in kindergarten, at least four hundred
fifty instructional hours, which shall be increased to at least one
thousand instructional hours according to the implementation schedule
under RCW 28A.150.315.
(3) The instructional program of basic education provided by each
school district shall include:
(a) Instruction in the essential academic learning requirements
under RCW 28A.655.070;
(b) Instruction that provides students the opportunity to complete
twenty-four credits for high school graduation, subject to a phased-in
implementation of the twenty-four credits as established by the
legislature. Course distribution requirements may be established by
the state board of education under RCW 28A.230.090;
(c) If the essential academic learning requirements include a
requirement of languages other than English, the requirement may be met
by students receiving instruction in one or more American Indian
languages;
(d) Supplemental instruction and services for underachieving
students through the learning assistance program under RCW 28A.165.005
through 28A.165.065;
(e) Supplemental instruction and services for eligible and enrolled
students whose primary language is other than English through the
transitional bilingual instruction program under RCW 28A.180.010
through 28A.180.080;
(f) The opportunity for an appropriate education at public expense
as defined by RCW 28A.155.020 for all eligible students with
disabilities as defined in RCW 28A.155.020; and
(g) Programs for highly capable students under RCW 28A.185.010
through 28A.185.030.
(4) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to require
individual students to attend school for any particular number of hours
per day or to take any particular courses.
(5) Each school district's kindergarten through twelfth grade basic
educational program shall be accessible to all students who are five
years of age, as provided by RCW 28A.225.160, and less than twenty-one
years of age and shall consist of a minimum of one hundred eighty
school days per school year in such grades as are conducted by a school
district, and one hundred eighty half-days of instruction, or
equivalent, in kindergarten, to be increased to a minimum of one
hundred eighty school days per school year according to the
implementation schedule under RCW 28A.150.315. However, schools
administering the Washington kindergarten inventory of developing
skills may use up to three school days at the beginning of the school
year to meet with parents and families as required in the parent
involvement component of the inventory. In addition, effective May 1,
1979, a school district may schedule the last five school days of the
one hundred and eighty day school year for noninstructional purposes in
the case of students who are graduating from high school, including,
but not limited to, the observance of graduation and early release from
school upon the request of a student, and all such students may be
claimed as a full-time equivalent student to the extent they could
otherwise have been so claimed for the purposes of RCW 28A.150.250 and
28A.150.260.
(6) Nothing in this section precludes a school district from
enriching the instructional program of basic education, such as
offering additional instruction or providing additional services,
programs, or activities that the school district determines to be
appropriate for the education of the school district's students.
(7) The state board of education shall adopt rules to implement and
ensure compliance with the program requirements imposed by this
section, RCW 28A.150.250 and 28A.150.260, and such related supplemental
program approval requirements as the state board may establish.
Sec. 3 RCW 43.215.010 and 2011 c 295 s 3 and 2011 c 78 s 1 are
each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter
unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Agency" means any person, firm, partnership, association,
corporation, or facility that provides child care and early learning
services outside a child's own home and includes the following
irrespective of whether there is compensation to the agency:
(a) "Child day care center" means an agency that regularly provides
((child day care)) early childhood education and early learning
services for a group of children for periods of less than twenty-four
hours;
(b) "Early learning" includes but is not limited to programs and
services for child care; state, federal, private, and nonprofit
preschool; child care subsidies; child care resource and referral;
parental education and support; and training and professional
development for early learning professionals;
(c) "Family day care provider" means a child ((day)) care provider
who regularly provides ((child day care)) early childhood education and
early learning services for not more than twelve children in the
provider's home in the family living quarters;
(d) "Nongovernmental private-public partnership" means an entity
registered as a nonprofit corporation in Washington state with a
primary focus on early learning, school readiness, and parental
support, and an ability to raise a minimum of five million dollars in
contributions;
(e) "Service provider" means the entity that operates a community
facility.
(2) "Agency" does not include the following:
(a) Persons related to the child in the following ways:
(i) Any blood relative, including those of half-blood, and
including first cousins, nephews or nieces, and persons of preceding
generations as denoted by prefixes of grand, great, or great-great;
(ii) Stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister;
(iii) A person who legally adopts a child or the child's parent as
well as the natural and other legally adopted children of such persons,
and other relatives of the adoptive parents in accordance with state
law; or
(iv) Spouses of any persons named in (a)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this
subsection (2)(((a))), even after the marriage is terminated;
(b) Persons who are legal guardians of the child;
(c) Persons who care for a neighbor's or friend's child or
children, with or without compensation, where the person providing care
for periods of less than twenty-four hours does not conduct such
activity on an ongoing, regularly scheduled basis for the purpose of
engaging in business, which includes, but is not limited to,
advertising such care;
(d) Parents on a mutually cooperative basis exchange care of one
another's children;
(e) Nursery schools ((or kindergartens)) that are engaged primarily
in ((educational work)) early childhood education with preschool
children and in which no child is enrolled on a regular basis for more
than four hours per day;
(f) Schools, including boarding schools, that are engaged primarily
in education, operate on a definite school year schedule, follow a
stated academic curriculum, accept only school-age children, and do not
accept custody of children;
(g) Seasonal camps of three months' or less duration engaged
primarily in recreational or educational activities;
(h) Facilities providing child care for periods of less than
twenty-four hours when a parent or legal guardian of the child remains
on the premises of the facility for the purpose of participating in:
(i) Activities other than employment; or
(ii) Employment of up to two hours per day when the facility is
operated by a nonprofit entity that also operates a licensed child care
program at the same facility in another location or at another
facility;
(i) ((Any agency having been in operation in this state ten years
before June 8, 1967, and not seeking or accepting moneys or assistance
from any state or federal agency, and is supported in part by an
endowment or trust fund;)) A program operated by any unit of local, state, or
federal government or an agency, located within the boundaries of a
federally recognized Indian reservation, licensed by the Indian tribe;
(j) An agency
(((k) An agency)) (j) A program located on a federal military
reservation, except where the military authorities request that such
agency be subject to the licensing requirements of this chapter;
(((l) An agency)) (k) A program that offers early learning and
support services, such as parent education, and does not provide child
care services on a regular basis.
(3) "Applicant" means a person who requests or seeks employment in
an agency.
(4) "Conviction information" means criminal history record
information relating to an incident which has led to a conviction or
other disposition adverse to the applicant.
(5) "Department" means the department of early learning.
(6) "Director" means the director of the department.
(7) "Early achievers" means a program that improves the quality of
early learning programs and supports and rewards providers for their
participation.
(8) "Employer" means a person or business that engages the services
of one or more people, especially for wages or salary to work in an
agency.
(((8))) (9) "Enforcement action" means denial, suspension,
revocation, modification, or nonrenewal of a license pursuant to RCW
43.215.300(1) or assessment of civil monetary penalties pursuant to RCW
43.215.300(3).
(((9))) (10) "Negative action" means a court order, court judgment,
or an adverse action taken by an agency, in any state, federal, tribal,
or foreign jurisdiction, which results in a finding against the
applicant reasonably related to the individual's character,
suitability, and competence to care for or have unsupervised access to
children in child care. This may include, but is not limited to:
(a) A decision issued by an administrative law judge;
(b) A final determination, decision, or finding made by an agency
following an investigation;
(c) An adverse agency action, including termination, revocation, or
denial of a license or certification, or if pending adverse agency
action, the voluntary surrender of a license, certification, or
contract in lieu of the adverse action;
(d) A revocation, denial, or restriction placed on any professional
license; or
(e) A final decision of a disciplinary board.
(((10))) (11) "Nonconviction information" means arrest, founded
allegations of child abuse, or neglect pursuant to chapter 26.44 RCW,
or other negative action adverse to the applicant.
(((11))) (12) "Probationary license" means a license issued as a
disciplinary measure to an agency that has previously been issued a
full license but is out of compliance with licensing standards.
(((12))) (13) "Requirement" means any rule, regulation, or standard
of care to be maintained by an agency.
(14) "Washington state preschool program" means an education
program for children three-to-five years of age who have not yet
entered kindergarten, such as the early childhood education and
assistance program.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 (1)(a) The chairs of the early learning
committees of the legislature shall convene a technical working group
to:
(i) Review federal and state early education funding streams;
(ii) Develop technical options for aligning eligibility
requirements for child care and Washington state preschool;
(iii) Develop recommendations for an effective and responsive
eligibility system;
(iv) Develop technical options for system designs that blend and
braid disparate federal and state funding streams into a single
program, including the option of applying for waivers from existing
federal requirements; and
(v) Present findings and options in a report to the early learning
committees of both houses of the legislature by December 1, 2013.
(b) At a minimum, the technical working group must be composed of
financial and policy staff from the department of social and health
services and the department of early learning.
(2) Staff support for the technical working group must be provided
by senate committee services and the house of representatives office of
program research, with assistance from the department of social and
health services and the department of early learning.
(3) This section expires December 31, 2013.
Sec. 5 RCW 43.215.020 and 2010 c 233 s 1, 2010 c 232 s 2, and
2010 c 231 s 6 are each reenacted and 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 apply data already collected comparing state-funded child
care and preschool program compensation rates to market rates of
similar programs to make biennial recommendations to the legislature
regarding compensation models that would attract and retain high
quality early learning professionals to state programs;
(f) To serve as the state lead agency for Part C of the federal
individuals with disabilities education act (IDEA);
(((f))) (g) To standardize internal financial audits, oversight
visits, performance benchmarks, and licensing criteria, so that
programs can function in an integrated fashion;
(((g))) (h) 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;
(((h))) (i) To work cooperatively and in coordination with the
early learning council;
(((i))) (j) 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;
(((j))) (k) To develop and adopt rules for administration of the
program of early learning established in RCW 43.215.141;
(((k))) (l) To develop a comprehensive birth-to-three plan to
provide education and support through a continuum of options including,
but not limited to, services such as: Home visiting; quality
incentives for infant and toddler child care subsidies; quality
improvements for family home and center-based child care programs
serving infants and toddlers; professional development; early literacy
programs; and informal supports for family, friend, and neighbor
caregivers; and
(((l))) (m) Upon the development of an early learning information
system, to make available to parents timely inspection and licensing
action information and provider comments through the internet and other
means.
(3) When additional funds are appropriated for the specific purpose
of home visiting and parent and caregiver support, the department must
reserve at least eighty percent for home visiting services to be
deposited into the home visiting services account and up to twenty
percent of the new funds for other parent or caregiver support.
(4) Home visiting services must include programs that serve
families involved in the child welfare system.
(5) The legislature shall fund the expansion in the Washington
state preschool program pursuant to RCW 43.215.142 in fiscal year 2014.
(6) 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. 6 RCW 43.215.100 and 2007 c 394 s 4 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this
specific purpose, the department, in collaboration with community and
statewide partners, shall implement a voluntary quality rating and
improvement system, called the early achievers program, that is
applicable to licensed or certified child care centers and homes and
early education programs.
(2) The purpose of the ((voluntary quality rating and improvement
system)) early achievers program is: (a) To give parents clear and
easily accessible information about the quality of child care and early
education programs, support improvement in early learning programs
throughout the state, increase the readiness of children for school,
and close the disparity in access to quality care; and (b) to establish
a common set of expectations and standards that define, measure, and
improve the quality of early learning settings.
(3) Participation in the early achievers program is voluntary for
licensed or certified child care centers and homes.
(4) By fiscal year 2015, Washington state preschool programs
receiving state funds must enroll in the early achievers program and
maintain a minimum score level.
(5) Before final implementation of the ((voluntary quality rating
and improvement system)) early achievers program, the department shall
report on program progress, as defined within the race to the top
federal grant award, and expenditures to the appropriate policy and
fiscal committees of the legislature. Nothing in this section changes
the department's responsibility to collectively bargain over mandatory
subjects.
Sec. 7 RCW 43.215.430 and 1994 c 166 s 8 are each amended to read
as follows:
The department shall review applications from public or private
nonsectarian organizations for state funding of early childhood
education and assistance programs ((and award funds as determined by
department rules and based on)). The department shall consider local
community needs ((and)), demonstrated capacity ((to provide services)),
and the need to support a mixed delivery system of early learning that
includes alternative models for delivery including licensed centers and
licensed family child care providers when reviewing applications.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8 If specific funding for the purposes of
section 5 of this act, referencing section 5 of this act by bill or
chapter and section number, is not provided by June 30, 2013, in the
omnibus appropriations act, section 5 of this act is null and void."
2SHB 1723 -
By Committee on Ways & Means
NOT ADOPTED 04/15/2013
On page 1, line 2 of the title, after "programs;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "amending RCW 28A.150.220, 43.215.100, and 43.215.430; reenacting and amending RCW 43.215.010 and 43.215.020; adding a new section to chapter 43.215 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date."
EFFECT: (1) The technical working group tasked with examining
federal and state early learning funding streams will be convened and
staffed by the Legislature and will report to the early learning
committees of the Legislature.
(2) Adds a waiver for schools administering the Washington
Kindergarten inventory of developing skills (WaKids) to use up to three
school days to meet with parents and families.
(3) Removes language requiring the Department of Early Learning to
annually compare child care subsidy rates and staff compensation to
market rates. Reviews are replaced with a mandate to use existing data
to compare compensation levels for state funded programs to market
rates and to make recommendations to the Legislature regarding
compensation models.
(4) Adds reporting requirements for DEL related to the Race to the
Top grant.
(5) Specifies that a mixed-delivery system must include alternative
models for delivery including licensed centers and licensed family
child care providers.
(6) Strikes language regarding increasing subsidy rates and tiered
subsidy rate enhancements for child care providers.
(7) Strikes language regarding directing revenues from Initiative
502 to early learning.