Bill Text: TX HB3887 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of the office of early learning within the Texas Education Agency.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-23 - Referred to Public Education [HB3887 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HB3887-Introduced.html
84R8917 JSL-D | ||
By: Dutton | H.B. No. 3887 |
|
||
|
||
relating to the establishment of the office of early learning | ||
within the Texas Education Agency. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 29, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Sections 29.15301 and 29.15302 to read as | ||
follows: | ||
Sec. 29.15301. OFFICE OF EARLY LEARNING. (a) The | ||
commissioner by rule shall establish the office of early learning | ||
as a division within the agency to: | ||
(1) provide oversight of prekindergarten programs and | ||
prekindergarten funding; | ||
(2) provide resources to school districts to ensure | ||
prekindergarten programs meet quality standards and best | ||
practices; and | ||
(3) assist school districts in developing local | ||
solutions and improving prekindergarten programs. | ||
(b) The office of early learning shall: | ||
(1) monitor state funding of prekindergarten | ||
programs; | ||
(2) adopt accountability standards for the use of | ||
public funds for prekindergarten programs; | ||
(3) create a model contract for school districts to | ||
use in forming partnerships with child-care centers and federal | ||
Head Start programs to provide prekindergarten programs; | ||
(4) determine the type of data needed from school | ||
districts to assess prekindergarten programs; | ||
(5) publish approved, age-appropriate assessment | ||
instruments that may be administered to students in prekindergarten | ||
programs; | ||
(6) create a communication and outreach plan to | ||
increase collaboration on prekindergarten programs throughout the | ||
state; | ||
(7) develop a process for school districts operating a | ||
prekindergarten program to establish additional prekindergarten | ||
programs on a tuition basis; and | ||
(8) promote and conduct outreach to school districts | ||
to encourage the use of the process developed under Subdivision (7) | ||
to establish tuition-based prekindergarten programs. | ||
(c) The office of early learning shall ensure that an | ||
assessment instrument administered in a prekindergarten program: | ||
(1) includes observation-based assessment; | ||
(2) measures the effectiveness of the prekindergarten | ||
program; and | ||
(3) is not used as a basis for teacher evaluation or | ||
student promotion or retention. | ||
Sec. 29.15302. TEXAS EARLY LEARNING COUNCIL ADVISORY ROLE. | ||
(a) The governor's Texas Early Learning Council shall act in an | ||
advisory role to the office of early learning and provide | ||
assistance when requested by the office. | ||
(b) The council shall hold public meetings to discuss | ||
requests received from the office of early learning under | ||
Subsection (a) at least four times each year. The council may | ||
address issues relating to the office of early learning during any | ||
other scheduled meeting of the council. | ||
(c) The council shall establish a process for receiving | ||
public input related to the office of early learning. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 29.1534, Education Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsections (b), (c), and (e), and adding Subsection (f) | ||
to read as follows: | ||
(b) The office of early learning [ |
||
joint strategies with other state agencies regarding methods to | ||
increase community awareness of prekindergarten programs through | ||
programs that provide information relating to public assistance | ||
programs. | ||
(c) The office of early learning [ |
||
outreach materials for use by school districts to increase | ||
community awareness of prekindergarten programs. | ||
(e) The office of early learning [ |
||
information to school districts regarding effective methods to | ||
communicate to the parent of an eligible child the availability of | ||
prekindergarten programs, including information regarding | ||
prekindergarten programs through public, private, and nonprofit | ||
institutions that provide assistance and support to families with | ||
children eligible for prekindergarten programs. | ||
(f) On an annual basis each school district shall submit to | ||
the office of early learning a report that details the district's | ||
plan for promoting and increasing community awareness of | ||
prekindergarten programs in the district. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 29.154, Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 29.154. EVALUATION OF PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS. (a) | ||
The commissioner of education, in consultation with the office of | ||
early learning [ |
||
evaluate prekindergarten programs as to their developmental | ||
appropriateness. The commissioner and the office [ |
||
shall also evaluate the potential for coordination on a statewide | ||
basis of prekindergarten programs with government-funded early | ||
childhood care and education programs such as child care | ||
administered under Chapter 44, Human Resources Code, and federal | ||
Head Start programs. That evaluation shall use recommendations | ||
formulated by the office of early learning under Subsection (b) | ||
[ |
||
|
||
For the purpose of providing cost-effective care for children | ||
during the full workday with developmentally appropriate | ||
curriculum, the commissioner and the office [ |
||
investigate the use of existing child-care program sites as | ||
prekindergarten sites. Following the evaluation required by this | ||
section, the commissioner and the office [ |
||
cooperation with school districts and other program | ||
administrators, shall integrate programs, staff, and program sites | ||
for prekindergarten, child-care, and federal Head Start programs to | ||
the greatest extent possible. | ||
(b) The office of early learning shall formulate | ||
recommendations based on national best practices for increasing the | ||
quality of the state's prekindergarten programs. | ||
SECTION 4. Sections 29.158(a) and (d), Education Code, are | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) In a manner consistent with federal law and regulations, | ||
each prekindergarten program provider, Head Start and Early Head | ||
Start program provider, and provider of an after-school child-care | ||
program provided at a school shall coordinate with the office of | ||
early learning [ |
||
workforce development boards regarding subsidized child-care | ||
services. | ||
(d) In coordinating child-care services under this section | ||
and in making any related decision to contract with another | ||
provider for child-care services, the office of early learning | ||
[ |
||
boards, and each prekindergarten program provider, Head Start and | ||
Early Head Start program provider, and provider of an after-school | ||
child-care program provided at a school shall consider the quality | ||
of the services involved in the proposed coordination or | ||
contracting decision and shall give preference to services of the | ||
highest quality. Any appropriate indicator of quality services may | ||
be considered under this subsection, including whether the provider | ||
of the services: | ||
(1) meets Texas Rising Star Program certification | ||
criteria; | ||
(2) is accredited by a nationally recognized | ||
accrediting organization approved by the Texas Workforce | ||
Commission and the Department of Family and Protective Services; | ||
(3) meets standards developed by the State Center for | ||
Early Childhood Development; or | ||
(4) has achieved any other measurable target relevant | ||
to improving the quality of child care in this state. | ||
SECTION 5. Subchapter E, Chapter 29, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 29.162 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 29.162. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON | ||
PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM COORDINATION. (a) The office of early | ||
learning, the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas Head Start | ||
State Collaboration Office, the Department of Assistive and | ||
Rehabilitative Services, the Health and Human Services Commission, | ||
and the Department of Family and Protective Services shall enter | ||
into a memorandum of understanding regarding the coordination of | ||
early childhood learning programs, including prekindergarten | ||
programs. The memorandum of understanding must: | ||
(1) identify opportunities for and barriers to | ||
collaboration and coordination among federally funded and | ||
state-funded child development, child-care, and early childhood | ||
learning programs and services that are administered by the | ||
agencies that are party to the memorandum; and | ||
(2) require the parties to the memorandum to implement | ||
steps to take advantage of the opportunities and eliminate the | ||
barriers identified under Subdivision (1) in an effort to establish | ||
a comprehensive, statewide system of early childhood care and | ||
education. | ||
(b) Not later than August of each year, the office of early | ||
learning and the other agencies and organizations shall review and | ||
update the memorandum. | ||
(c) The rulemaking body for each agency by rule shall adopt | ||
the memorandum of understanding and all revisions to the | ||
memorandum. | ||
SECTION 6. Not later than January 1, 2016, the Texas | ||
Education Agency, the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas Head | ||
Start State Collaboration Office, the Department of Assistive and | ||
Rehabilitative Services, the Health and Human Services Commission, | ||
and the Department of Family and Protective Services shall enter | ||
into the memorandum of understanding required under Section 29.162, | ||
Education Code, as added by this Act. | ||
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |