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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1911 FILED ON: 1/18/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 436 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Antonio F. D. Cabral |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act to achieve universal pre-kindergarten. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Antonio F. D. Cabral13th Bristol1/18/2023Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/26/2023Christopher Hendricks11th Bristol1/26/2023Alan Silvia7th Bristol1/30/2023Paul A. Schmid, III8th Bristol2/1/2023Vanna Howard17th Middlesex2/1/2023Carole A. Fiola6th Bristol2/7/2023Michelle M. DuBois10th Plymouth2/7/2023Priscila S. Sousa6th Middlesex2/15/2023 1 of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1911 FILED ON: 1/18/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 436 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Cabral of New Bedford, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 436) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Antonio F. D. Cabral and others for legislation to establish universal pre-kindergarten |
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| 20 | 20 | | commission and dedicate funding for pre-kindergarten offerings. Education. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act to achieve universal pre-kindergarten. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 Section 13 of chapter 15D of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2is hereby amended by adding the following subsections: - |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 (e) The Universal Pre-Kindergarten Commission. |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4 (1) Establishment of the Commission. There shall be a special commission for the |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5purpose of making an investigation and study relative to how to expand universal pre- |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6kindergarten to provide pre-kindergarten to every pre-kindergarten aged child in the |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7Commonwealth, which shall be known as the Universal Pre-Kindergarten Commission (in this |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8subsection referred to as the ‘commission’). |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9 (2) Members. The commission shall be chaired by the commissioner of the department of |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10early education and care or the commissioner’s designee. The secretary of education or the |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11secretary’s designee and the commissioner of the department of elementary and secondary |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12education or the commissioner’s designee shall be members. The governor shall appoint 6 2 of 3 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13members, one of whom shall be nominated by Head Start Massachusetts, one of whom shall |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14have experience operating a private preschool, one of whom shall be a member of a teachers’ |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15union or association, one of whom shall be nominated by the Massachusetts Association of |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16School Superintendents, Inc. and one of whom shall be nominated by the Massachusetts |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17Association of School Committees. The speaker of the house and the senate president shall each |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18appoint one member. |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19 (3) Report Recommending Legislation. |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20 (i) Deadline. The commission shall report its findings and any legislation necessary to |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21implement said findings to the governor, the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22the senate and house of representatives committees on ways and means, the joint committee on |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23children, families, and persons with disabilities and the joint committee on education by |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24December 31, 2024. |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25 (ii) Contents of the Report. The commission report shall include an analysis of how to |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26best expand quality pre-kindergarten offerings in Massachusetts such that every 3- and 4-year- |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27old child would be able to attend; how to pay for expanding pre-kindergarten offerings; the |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28appropriate ratio and combination of various types of pre-kindergarten programs to best serve |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29children throughout the state; and the best way to promote high quality educational curriculum, |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30child development and safety standards. In making its recommendations the commission shall |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31consider among other issues: |
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| 60 | 60 | | 32 (A) the advantages and disadvantages including cost, parental preference and ease of |
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| 61 | 61 | | 33expansion of pre-kindergarten as provided by Head Start, public schools, programs licensed or |
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| 62 | 62 | | 34subsidized by the department of early education and care and private programs. 3 of 3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | 35 (B) the cost of expanding pre-kindergarten offerings according to the different program |
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| 64 | 64 | | 36models that are available, for example Head Start, public schools, programs licensed or |
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| 65 | 65 | | 37subsidized by the department of early education and care and private programs. |
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| 66 | 66 | | 38 (C) the financial benefits of universal pre-kindergarten for education readiness and |
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| 67 | 67 | | 39greater employment opportunities for parents. |
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| 68 | 68 | | 40 (D) the possibility of including pre-kindergarten students when calculating the |
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| 69 | 69 | | 41distribution of chapter 70 education funds. |
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| 70 | 70 | | 42 (E) how to appropriately increase pre-kindergarten offerings over time while ensuring |
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| 71 | 71 | | 43quality of care and safety; and |
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| 72 | 72 | | 44 (F) the optimum way to expand participation in the Quality Rating Information System |
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| 73 | 73 | | 45(or ‘QRIS’) or other curriculum standards programs adopted by Massachusetts, including |
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| 74 | 74 | | 46providing grants or other financial incentives for participation. |
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| 75 | 75 | | 47 (f) Universal Pre-Kindergarten Expansion Funding. Notwithstanding subsection (c) of |
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| 76 | 76 | | 48section 10 of chapter 152 of the acts of 1997 or any other general or special law to the contrary, |
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| 77 | 77 | | 49no later than June 30 of each year, that portion of the balance in the Convention Center Fund |
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| 78 | 78 | | 50which the state treasurer has determined to exceed the amount necessary to satisfy the |
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| 79 | 79 | | 51requirement of sufficiency under said subsection (c) of said section 10 of said chapter 152, shall |
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| 80 | 80 | | 52be transferred to the department of early education and care to be used solely for the purpose of |
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| 81 | 81 | | 53expanding pre-kindergarten offerings. |
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