Bill Text: FL S1612 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-03-11 - Died in Education Pre-K - 12 [S1612 Detail]
Download: Florida-2016-S1612-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2016 SB 1612 By Senator Sobel 33-01555-16 20161612__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to the Voluntary Prekindergarten 3 Education Program; amending s. 1002.55, F.S.; revising 4 requirements for prekindergarten instructors employed 5 by a private prekindergarten provider; providing that 6 private prekindergarten providers meeting certain 7 criteria are eligible for additional funding; amending 8 s. 1002.67, F.S.; revising requirements for the pre- 9 and post-assessment administered to students enrolled 10 in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program; 11 providing an effective date. 12 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14 15 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (3) and subsection 16 (4) of section 1002.55, Florida Statutes, are amended, and 17 subsection (6) is added to that section, to read: 18 1002.55 School-year prekindergarten program delivered by 19 private prekindergarten providers.— 20 (3) To be eligible to deliver the prekindergarten program, 21 a private prekindergarten provider must meet each of the 22 following requirements: 23 (c) The private prekindergarten provider must have, for 24 each prekindergarten class of 11 children or fewer, at least one 25 prekindergarten instructor who meets each of the following 26 requirements: 27 1. The prekindergarten instructor must hold, at a minimum, 28 one of the following credentials: 29 a. A child development associate credential issued by the 30 National Credentialing Program of the Council for Professional 31 Recognition; or 32 b. A credential approved by the Department of Children and 33 Families as being equivalent to or greater than the credential 34 described in sub-subparagraph a. 35 36 The Department of Children and Families may adopt rules under 37 ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 which provide criteria and procedures 38 for approving equivalent credentials under sub-subparagraph b. 39 2. The prekindergarten instructor must successfully 40 complete an emergent literacy training course and a student 41 performance standards training course approved by the office as 42 meeting or exceeding the minimum standards adopted under s. 43 1002.59. The requirement for completion of the standards 44 training course shall take effect July 1, 2014, and the course 45 shall be available online. 46 3. The prekindergarten instructor must annually complete a 47 minimum of 1.5 continuing education units of approved inservice 48 training, or 15 clock hours of equivalent training, as approved 49 by the office. 50 (4) A prekindergarten instructor, in lieu of the minimum 51 credentials and courses required under paragraph (3)(c), may 52 hold one of the following educational credentials: 53 (a) A bachelor’s or higher degree in early childhood 54 education, prekindergarten through 3rd gradeor primary55 education, preschool education, or family and consumer science; 56 (b) A bachelor’s or higher degree in elementary education, 57 if the prekindergarten instructor has been certified to teach 58 children any age from birth through kindergarten6th grade, 59 regardless of whether the instructor’s educator certificate is 60 current, and if the instructor is not ineligible to teach in a 61 public school because his or her educator certificate is 62 suspended or revoked; 63 (c) An associate’s or higher degree in early childhood 64 education or child development; 65 (d) An associate’s or higher degree in an unrelated field, 66 at least 6 credit hours in early childhood education or child 67 development, and at least 480 hours of experience in teaching or 68 providing child care services for children any age from birth 69 through 68years of age; or 70 (e) An educational credential approved by the department as 71 being equivalent to or greater than an educational credential 72 described in this subsection. The department may adopt criteria 73 and procedures for approving equivalent educational credentials 74 under this paragraph. 75 (6) A private prekindergarten provider serving children in 76 an area designated as an enterprise zone pursuant to s. 290.0065 77 with instructors who meet the requirements of paragraph (4)(a) 78 or paragraph (4)(c) is eligible for additional funding as 79 provided in the General Appropriations Act. 80 Section 2. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (3) of 81 section 1002.67, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 82 1002.67 Performance standards; curricula and 83 accountability.— 84 (3)(a) Contingent upon legislative appropriation, each 85 private prekindergarten provider and public school in the 86 Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program must implement a 87 single,anevidence-based pre- and post-assessment that has been 88 approved by rule of the State Board of Education. 89 (b) In order to be approved, the assessment must be 90 observational, valid, reliable, developmentally appropriate, and 91 designed to measure student progress on domains which must 92 include, but are not limited to, early literacy, numeracy, and 93 language. 94 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.