HLS 15RS-3071 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 174
BY REPRESENTATIVE MORENO
EDUCATION: Requests that the State Bd. of Elementary and Secondary Education identify
funding sources for early childhood care and education and submit a report relative
to the implementation of its funding model for early childhood care and education
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To urge and request the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, in consultation
3 with stakeholders which include but are not limited to the Advisory Council on Early
4 Care and Education, to identify sources of state and federal funds available in
5 Louisiana for early childhood care and education, as well as additional potential
6 funding sources used by other states for such purpose, and submit to the House
7 Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education a written proposal
8 of funding mechanisms and a corresponding strategy for implementation of the
9 eighty million dollar funding model developed in response to House Concurrent
10 Resolution No. 61 of the 2014 Regular Session of the Legislature.
11 WHEREAS, the legislature passed Act No. 3 of the 2012 Regular Session of the
12Legislature (Act 3), which requires the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
13(BESE) to create a comprehensive and integrated network through which to manage and
14oversee all programs funded through state or federal resources that provide early childhood
15care or educational services; and
16 WHEREAS, the legislature expressed its intent that a comprehensive and integrated
17delivery system for early childhood care and education be created to ensure that every child
18enters kindergarten healthy and ready to learn; and
19 WHEREAS, BESE, the state Department of Education, and the Department of
20Children and Family Services have worked diligently and collaboratively to implement the
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HCR NO. 174
1provisions of Act 3, including the integration of standards and expectations across publicly
2funded early childhood care and education programs and the support of regional pilot
3programs; and
4 WHEREAS, the implementation of Act 3 has appropriately focused on increasing
5the quality of care and education, preparing children for kindergarten, and honoring family
6choices; and
7 WHEREAS, it is imperative that all publicly funded early childhood care and
8education programs offer high quality care and education to families, providing a safe,
9nurturing environment for children and preparing all children for kindergarten; and
10 WHEREAS, the quality of care and education is determined, in large part, by the
11ability of early learning centers to employ capable individuals as caregivers and teachers;
12and
13 WHEREAS, publicly funded early childhood care and education programs in
14Louisiana are not currently funded equitably, contributing to the inability of some early
15learning centers and programs to meet the state's quality standards and its expectation that
16children will be ready for kindergarten; and
17 WHEREAS, fewer than thirty percent of at-risk children ages birth to four in
18Louisiana have access to a publicly funded early childhood care and education program; and
19 WHEREAS, Louisiana currently appropriates no state general fund money and no
20Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) money to early care and education
21services for children under age four; and
22 WHEREAS, the state should make every reasonable attempt to equitably fund family
23choices to the fullest extent possible and to offer high quality options as families select
24publicly funded early childhood care and education; and
25 WHEREAS, HCR No. 61 of the 2014 Regular Session of the Legislature requested
26BESE to develop a statewide model for the funding of and equitable distribution of public
27funds for quality early childhood care and education for Louisiana children, ages birth to
28five, whose families request such services, and to submit a written report relative to such
29model to the legislature prior to the 2015 Regular Session; in response to this Resolution,
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HCR NO. 174
1BESE developed a funding model that was presented to the legislature in a report to the
2House and Senate education committees (the report); and
3 WHEREAS, the report defined three major challenges in the implementation of Act
43, including upgrading quality as child care funding is too low to ensure adequate teaching,
5creating equity as the state investment in Pre-K is less than the state investment in
6kindergarten, and increasing access as there are not enough Pre-K seats for all at-risk
7families who want one; and
8 WHEREAS, the report estimated the cost of addressing these challenges to be eighty
9million dollars; however, the report did not define specific funding mechanisms nor how this
10funding might be phased in; and
11 WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to address the early childhood care and
12education funding gaps in the state, as the full implementation of Act 3 is mandated to begin
13in the 2015-2016 school year, and only fifty-four percent of children in Louisiana who are
14entering kindergarten are considered ready for kindergarten.
15 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
16urge and request the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, in consultation
17with stakeholders, which include but are not limited to the Advisory Council on Early Care
18and Education, to identify funding sources of state and federal funds available in Louisiana
19to be used for early childhood care and education, as well as additional potential funding
20sources used by other states for such purpose, and submit a written report to the House
21Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education.
22 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that such report, which BESE shall submit to these
23committees by January 15, 2016, shall include a proposal of specific funding mechanisms
24and a corresponding strategy for implementation of the eighty million dollar funding model
25developed in response to House Concurrent Resolution No. 61 of the 2014 Regular Session
26of the Legislature.
27 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
28to the president of the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the state
29superintendent of education.
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HCR NO. 174
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 174 Original 2015 Regular Session Moreno
Requests that the State Bd. of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), in consultation
with stakeholders, identify sources of state and federal funds available in La. for early
childhood care and education, as well as additional potential funding sources used by other
states for this purpose, and submit a written report to the House and Senate Education
committees by Jan. 15, 2016, which includes a proposal of specific funding mechanisms and
a corresponding strategy for implementation of the funding model developed in response
HCR No. 61 of the 2014 R.S.
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