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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 935
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 3875
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT REQUIRING THE OFFICE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD TO
DEVELOP AN EARLY CHI LDHOOD EDUCATOR COMP ENSATION
SCHEDULE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Early childhood education program" means any program that 2
accepts state funds for infant, toddler and preschool spaces associated 3
with such program's child care program or school readiness program; 4
(2) "Employee" means any person who is employed by an early 5
childhood education program and meets the applicable staff 6
qualifications requirement defined in section 10-16p of the general 7
statutes; 8
(3) "Compensation" means the salary, wages, benefits and other 9
forms of valuable consideration earned by and provided to an 10
employee in remuneration for services rendered; and 11
(4) "Compensation schedule" means a list or lists specifying a series 12 Raised Bill No. 935
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of compensation steps and ranges. 13
(b) The Office of Early Childhood shall establish, after notice and 14
opportunity for public comment, an early childhood educator 15
compensation schedule for employees of early childhood education 16
programs. 17
(c) (1) The office shall consider the following factors in developing 18
the early childhood educator compensation schedule: (A) Level of 19
education, (B) training in early childhood education or child 20
development, (C) relevant employment experience, including the 21
number of years an individual has been employed in an early 22
childhood education program, (D) compensation levels for certified 23
teachers employed in a preschool program operated by a local or 24
regional board of education or regional educational service center, and 25
(E) cost of living in the state. 26
(2) In developing the early childhood educator compensation 27
schedule, the office may ( A) consider the findings and 28
recommendations provided in "A Plan to Assist Early Education State 29
Funded Providers to Degree Attainment and Increased Compensation" 30
created by the office, pursuant to section 4 of public act 15-134, to 31
create a standardized salary scale and incentive package for early 32
childhood educators, (B) utilize state and federal funding, and (C) 33
examine existing programs that address early childhood educator 34
compensation and staff retention through financial incentives, such as 35
bonuses for degree or course completion. 36
(3) The office shall establish a minimum salary for employees as 37
part of the early childhood educator compensation schedule. 38
(d) Not later than January 1, 2020, the office shall submit an initial 39
version of the early childhood educator compensation schedule and a 40
report to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly 41
having cognizance of matters relating to education and appropriations 42
and the budgets of state agencies, in accordance with the provisions of 43
section 11-4a of the general statutes. Such report shall include: (1) Any 44 Raised Bill No. 935
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recommendations for legislation relating to the implementation of the 45
proposed early childhood educator compensation schedule, (2) an 46
estimate of the cost of implementing the early childhood educator 47
compensation schedule, (3) an analysis of the effect of the 48
implementation of the early childhood educator compensation 49
schedule on the number of available preschool seats, and (4) an 50
explanation of how the early childhood educator compensation 51
schedule will be included in any quality rating and improvement 52
system developed by the office, pursuant to subdivision (15) of 53
subsection (b) of section 10-500 of the general statutes. 54
(e) For the period of January 1, 2020, to January 1, 2021, inclusive, 55
the office shall make any revisions or adjustments to the initial version 56
of the early childhood educator compensation schedule. Not later than 57
February 1, 2021, the office shall adopt a final version of the early 58
childhood educator compensation schedule, and submit the 59
compensation schedule to the joint standing committees of the General 60
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education and 61
appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, in accordance with 62
the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. 63
(f) On and after July 1, 2021, early childhood education program 64
providers shall implement the early childhood educator compensation 65
schedule. The office shall provide technical assistance to early child 66
education program providers for the implementation of the early 67
childhood educator compensation schedule. 68
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To require the Office of Early Childhood to develop an early childhood
educator compensation schedule and for early childhood program
providers to implement such compensation schedule. Raised Bill No. 935
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[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]