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AB-712 Preschool for All Program.(2003-2004)

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Passed  IN  Senate  August 27, 2004
Passed  IN  Assembly  August 28, 2004

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2003–2004 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 712

Introduced  by  Assembly Member Steinberg, Chan, Daucher, Liu
 (Coauthor(s): Assembly Member Nakano, Pavley)
 (Coauthor(s): Senator Alpert, Florez, Karnette, Ortiz)

February 19, 2003

An act to add Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 8238) to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of the Education Code, relating to child care and development.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 712, Steinberg. Preschool for All Program.
Existing law, the Child Care and Developmental Services Act, establishes various full- and part-time programs for a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of developmental services for children to age 14 and their parents. Other existing law, the Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Program, permits, until January 1, 2011, school districts to participate in the program to provide kindergarten preparedness opportunities to increase a child’s readiness for school. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer state preschool programs including part-day and preschool appropriate programs for prekindergarten children 3 to 5 years of age in specified services.
This bill would require the California Children and Families Commission, if so approved by the commission, to complete and submit to the Legislature and Governor by November 1, 2005, a cost study that provides an estimate of the cost of a voluntary Preschool for All program in California.
The bill would require the Legislature to cause to be convened a Workforce Development Blue Ribbon Committee under the direction of the California Children and Families Commission, if so approved by the commission. The bill would require the committee to develop a workforce development plan that develops an infrastructure for educating, preparing, and supporting a well-trained, culturally and linguistically diverse teaching and administrative staff to work in high-quality early care and education programs, Preschool for All programs, and kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive. The bill would require the committee, by January 1, 2006, to present a workforce development plan to specified legislative committees and the Secretary for Education analyzing certain existing data and making various recommendations. The bill would require the committee to operate only to the extent that moneys that do not derive from the General Fund are made available for that purpose.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) A compelling body of scientific evidence demonstrates that the first five years of development are crucial to future success in school and in life. Educational opportunities must be provided during early childhood and must not be delayed until a child reaches five or six years of age.
(2) Low Academic Performance Index scores among children are most prevalent among low-income households. More than one-quarter of California’s children under five years of age live in poverty. Research demonstrates that high-quality preschool experiences boost academic achievement in school, decrease grade retention, decrease special education placements, and increase graduation rates.
(3) In California, 39 percent of children come from homes in which a language other than English is spoken. Therefore, pathways to excellence must be created for all children while communicating respect and support for differences in their cultural origins.
(4) The Council of Chief State School Officers has found that efforts to reform and strengthen education in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, cannot succeed without a concerted effort to support and improve programs that provide the care and education for our youngest children.
(5) The National Education Goals Panel has posited that school readiness has five key dimensions:
(A) Children who benefit by good prenatal care, good nutrition, health monitoring, and early intervention perform better in school.
(B) Children who have secure relationships with family members and peers can become self-confident learners.
(C) Children’s attitudes toward learning, ways of approaching new tasks, and skills, all affect school success.
(D) Children with rich language experiences have the tools to interact with other people and articulate their thoughts, feelings, and experiences effectively.
(E) Children who have the opportunity to explore and learn from their surroundings can construct knowledge of patterns and relationships and discover ways to solve problems.
(6) The National Education Goals Panel has identified the following three objectives that reflect important foundations for school readiness:
(A) All children should have access to high quality and developmentally appropriate preschool programs that help prepare them for school.
(B) Every parent should be the first teacher of a child and should devote time each day to helping his or her preschool child learn. To this end, parents should have access to the training and support needed in order to help his or her preschool child learn.
(C) Children should receive the nutrition, physical activity, and health care they need to arrive at school with healthy minds and bodies and to maintain mental alertness. To this end, the number of low birth weight babies should be significantly reduced through enhanced prenatal care.
(7) There is a further compelling need in California to ensure that early childhood development programs and services are universally and continuously available for children so that children enter school in optimum health and are emotionally well-developed and ready and able to learn.
(8) During their formative years, some children show signs of delayed development or of being at risk of delayed development. Early intervention often can resolve developmental issues before those children are enrolled in school.
(9) Research clearly indicates that teacher education and experience are critical factors in providing quality developmentally appropriate learning experiences to young children in early care and education programs that will prepare them to effectively enter kindergarten.
(10) To strengthen California’s delivery of early care and education programs, institutions that provide teacher preparation and early care and education experts need to define teaching competencies and establish educational course requirements that effectively prepare early care and education teachers to achieve these competencies.
(b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to determine the cost of a voluntary Preschool for All program in California and optimal training standards for Preschool for All instructional staff.

SEC. 2.

 Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 8238) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of the Education Code, to read:
Article  7.5. Preschool for All Cost Study and Early Care and Education Workforce Development

8238.
 To better assess the potential financial impact of a voluntary Preschool for All program in California, the California Children and Families Commission shall, if so approved by the commission, complete and submit to the Legislature and Governor by November 1, 2005, a cost study that provides an estimate of the cost of a voluntary Preschool for All program in California.

8238.1.
 (a) The Legislature shall cause to be convened a Workforce Development Blue Ribbon Committee under the direction of the California Children and Families Commission, if so approved by the commission. The committee shall establish a workforce development plan that develops an infrastructure for educating, preparing, and supporting a well-trained, culturally and linguistically diverse teaching and administrative staff to work with all children from birth to age eight, inclusive, in high-quality early care and education programs, Preschool for All programs, and kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive. For purposes of this article, “committee” means the Workforce Development Blue Ribbon Committee.
(b) The committee shall consist of experts in early child care and education, parents, and representatives from all levels of higher education and shall be composed of representatives from all of the following:
(1) The University of California, if the Regents of the University of California choose to participate.
(2) The California State University.
(3) The California Community Colleges.
(4) Private colleges and universities located in the state.
(5) The Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
(6) The State Department of Education.
(7) The California Children and Families Commission and county commissions established pursuant to Section 130140.1 of the Health and Safety Code.
(8) Early child care and education experts and practitioners, including administrators, teachers, providers, and experts in early childhood development, research and especially those with expertise in the following areas:
(A) Brain and social-emotional development.
(B) Content learning areas.
(C) Teaching children who are learning English as a second language.
(D) The inclusion of special needs children.
(9) Teachers and administrators in the public schools.
(10) Early care and education mentor representatives.
(11) Early care and education trainers who provide training outside of the postsecondary education system.
(12) Parent groups.
(13) Child advocacy organizations.
(14) The Department of Finance.
(15) The Governor.
(16) Designees of the President pro Tempore and the minority leader of the Senate, and of the Speaker and the minority leader of the Assembly.
(c) By January 1, 2006, the committee shall present a workforce development plan with recommendations to the Senate Committee on Education, the Assembly Committee on Education, the Assembly Committee on Higher Education, and the Secretary for Education. In developing the plan, the committee should analyze existing data about the early care and education workforce.

8238.2.
 The plan developed by the committee pursuant to Section 8232.1 shall include, but not be limited to, recommendations on all of the following:
(a) Delineating core competencies that teachers and administrators of early care and education programs should possess in order to achieve the desired child outcome goals.
(b) Aligning college instruction among all levels of the postsecondary educational system to provide, at all those levels, curriculum in early child care and education and the methods by which to establish uniformity of course content and certification requirements.
(c) Articulating a system among all educational systems and training institutions, including all levels of the postsecondary educational system, for the training of providers of early care and education and their professional development.
(d) Creating a mechanism to approve or accredit training and academic programs that prepare providers of early care and education and to approve the certification of trainers and teachers of those programs.
(e) Establishing a framework for teacher certification in early childhood education consistent with the recommended core competencies.
(f) Providing a method to create academic and career counseling opportunities for current and potential providers of early care and education.
(g) Providing assistance, including various types of financial incentives and academic support, to current preschool personnel and potential Preschool for All Program teachers who seek additional training and education, especially training and education in meeting the linguistic, cultural, and special needs of children.
(h) Establishing ongoing professional development requirements for early care and education professionals.
(i) Developing strategies to recruit and retain teachers and administrators of early care and education programs who reflect the ethnic, racial, linguistic, and cultural diversity of the families of California based on the most recently released census data.
(j) Defining strategies to ensure a range of professional development and educational opportunities, including appropriate coursework, degrees, practicums, and certification pathways, for early care and education professionals at all levels of the career ladder, including family child care home- and center-based providers.
(k) Providing appropriate compensation incentives to reward educational attainment, experience, and professional development activities.
(l) A method to establish an inventory of resources on professional development opportunities for early care and education professionals and the manner in which these resources can be better coordinated.

8238.3.
 The committee shall operate only to the extent that moneys that do not derive from the General Fund are made available for that purpose.