READ FIRST TIME 03/05/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to early child development and learning; amending RCW 43.215.010 and 43.215.020; adding new sections to chapter 43.215 RCW; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that education is the single most effective investment that can be made in children, the state, the economy, and the future. A well-educated citizenry is essential both for the preservation of democracy and for enhancing the state's ability to compete in the knowledge-based global economy.
     As recommended by Washington learns, the legislature declares that the overarching goal for education in the state is to have a world-class, learner-focused, seamless education system that educates more Washingtonians to the highest levels of educational attainment.

Sec. 2   RCW 43.215.010 and 2006 c 265 s 102 are each 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 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 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 (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 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 care to children for periods of less than twenty-four hours whose parents remain on the premises to participate in activities other than employment;
     (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;
     (j) An agency 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;
     (k) An agency 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 that offers early learning and support services, such as parent education, and does not provide child care services on a regular basis.
     (3) "Department" means the department of early learning.
     (4) "Director" means the director of the department.
     (5) "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).
     (6) "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.
     (7) "Requirement" means any rule, regulation, or standard of care to be maintained by an agency.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:
     EARLY LEARNING ADVISORY COUNCIL. (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.
     (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. 4   A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:
     VOLUNTARY QUALITY RATING AND IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM. 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 applicable to licensed or certified child care centers and homes and early education programs. The purpose of the voluntary quality rating and improvement system is 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. Before final implementation of the voluntary quality rating and improvement system, the department shall report 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. 5   RCW 43.215.020 and 2006 c 265 s 103 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 ((improve parent education and support)) make early learning resources available to parents and caregivers;
     (c) To carry out activities ((to improve)), including providing clear and easily accessible information about quality and improving the quality of early learning opportunities for young children ((including activities)), in cooperation with the nongovernmental private-public partnership;
     (d) To administer child care and early learning programs;
     (e) To standardize internal financial audits, oversight visits, performance benchmarks, and licensing criteria, so that programs can function in an integrated fashion;
     (f) To ((assist in)) 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) To work cooperatively and in coordination with the early learning council; ((and))
     (h) 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) 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. The department shall include parents and legal guardians in the development of policies and program decisions affecting their children.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:
     DEPARTMENT'S PARTNERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES. (1) In order to meet its partnership responsibilities, the department shall:
     (a) Work collaboratively with the nongovernmental private-public partnership; and
     (b) Actively seek public and private money for distribution as grants to the nongovernmental private-public partnership.
     (2) In order to meet its partnership responsibilities, the nongovernmental private-public partnership shall:
     (a) Work with and complement existing statewide efforts by enhancing parent resources and support, child care, preschool, and other early learning environments;
     (b) Accept and expend funds to be used for quality improvement initiatives, including but not limited to parent resources and support, and support the alignment of existing funding streams and coordination of efforts across sectors;
     (c) In conjunction with the department, provide leadership to early learning private-public partnerships forming in communities across the state. These local partnerships shall be encouraged to seek local funding and develop strategies to improve coordination and exchange information between the community, early care and education programs, and the K-12 system; and
     (d) Assist the statewide movement to high quality early learning and the support of parents as a child's first and best teacher.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:
     RULES REVIEW. In conjunction with child care providers and other early learning leaders, the department shall review and revise child care provider rules in order to emphasize the need for mutual respect among parents, providers, and state staff who enforce rules. Revised rules shall clearly focus on keeping children safe and improving early learning outcomes for children. The department shall develop a plan by July 2007 that outlines the process and timelines to complete the rules review. Nothing in this section changes the department's responsibility to collectively bargain over mandatory subjects.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   Captions used in this act are not any part of the law.