Maryland 2024 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB1385 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	hb1385
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 1385
8	8	F5 4lr3101
9	9
10	10	By: Delegate Feldmark
11	11	Introduced and read first time: February 9, 2024
12	12	Assigned to: Ways and Means
13	13
14	14	A BILL ENTITLED
15	15
16	16	AN ACT concerning 1
17	17
18	18	Early Childhood Education – Prekindergarten Providers – Resident and 2
19	19	Conditional Teaching Certificates 3
20	20
21	21	FOR the purpose of requiring the State Department of Education to establish a resident 4
22	22	early childhood teaching certificate and a conditional early childhood teaching 5
23	23	certificate for teachers who meet certain criteria in eligible publicly funded 6
24	24	prekindergarten programs; and generally relating to resident teacher and 7
25	25	conditional teaching certificates for prekindergarten providers. 8
26	26
27	27	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 9
28	28	Article – Education 10
29	29	Section 7–1A–04 11
30	30	Annotated Code of Maryland 12
31	31	(2022 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 13
32	32
33	33	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 14
34	34	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 15
35	35
36	36	Article – Education 16
37	37
38	38	7–1A–04. 17
39	39
40	40	(a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, all eligible 18
41	41	prekindergarten providers shall include structural elements that are evidence–based and 19
42	42	nationally recognized as important for ensuring program quality, including: 20
43	43
44	44	(i) [Beginning] SUBJECT TO SUBSECTION (C) OF THIS SECTION, 21
45	45	BEGINNING in the 2027–2028 school year: 22
46	46	2 HOUSE BILL 1385
47	47
48	48
49	49	1. High staff qualifications, including teachers who, at a 1
50	50	minimum, hold: 2
51	51
52	52	A. State certification for teaching in early childhood 3
53	53	education; or 4
54	54
55	55	B. A bachelor’s degree in any field and are pursuing 5
56	56	residency through the Maryland Approved Alternative Preparation Program, which 6
57	57	includes early childhood coursework, clinical practice, and evidence of pedagogical content 7
58	58	knowledge; and 8
59	59
60	60	2. Teaching assistants who have at least: 9
61	61
62	62	A. A Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate; or 10
63	63
64	64	B. An associate’s degree; 11
65	65
66	66	(ii) Professional development for all staff; 12
67	67
68	68	(iii) A student–to–classroom personnel ratio of no more than 10 to 1 13
69	69	in each class; 14
70	70
71	71	(iv) Class sizes of no more than 20 students per classroom; 15
72	72
73	73	(v) A full–day prekindergarten program; 16
74	74
75	75	(vi) Inclusion of students with disabilities to ensure access to and full 17
76	76	participation in all program opportunities; 18
77	77
78	78	(vii) For at least 1 year before a student’s enrollment in kindergarten, 19
79	79	learning environments that: 20
80	80
81	81	1. Are aligned with State Early Learning and Development 21
82	82	Standards; 22
83	83
84	84	2. Use evidence–based curricula; and 23
85	85
86	86	3. Use instruction methods that are: 24
87	87
88	88	A. Developmentally appropriate; and 25
89	89
90	90	B. Culturally and linguistically responsive; 26
91	91
92	92	(viii) Individualized accommodations and supports for all students; 27
93	93	HOUSE BILL 1385 3
94	94
95	95
96	96	(ix) Instructional staff salaries and benefits that are comparable to 1
97	97	the salaries and benefits of instructional staff employed by the county board of the county 2
98	98	in which the early learning program is located; 3
99	99
100	100	(x) Program evaluation to ensure continuous program improvement; 4
101	101
102	102	(xi) On–site or accessible comprehensive services for students; 5
103	103
104	104	(xii) Community partnerships that promote access to comprehensive 6
105	105	services for families of students; and 7
106	106
107	107	(xiii) Evidence–based health and safety standards. 8
108	108
109	109	(2) An eligible prekindergarten provider that is a Montessori school or 9
110	110	Montessori program shall include all of the structural elements listed in paragraph (1) of 10
111	111	this subsection except the following: 11
112	112
113	113	(i) For staff qualifications, the eligible prekindergarten provider 12
114	114	shall employ teachers who: 13
115	115
116	116	1. Hold a bachelor’s degree in any field; and 14
117	117
118	118	2. Hold a Montessori credential issued by: 15
119	119
120	120	A. The Association Montessori Internationale; 16
121	121
122	122	B. The American Montessori Society; or 17
123	123
124	124	C. A program accredited by the Montessori Accreditation 18
125	125	Council for Teacher Education; and 19
126	126
127	127	(ii) For the student –to–classroom personnel ratio, the 20
128	128	prekindergarten provider shall maintain a student–to–classroom personnel ratio of: 21
129	129
130	130	1. No more than 10 to 1, with a maximum of 20 students per 22
131	131	classroom if all of the students are under the age of 5 years; and 23
132	132
133	133	2. No more than 14 to 1, with a maximum of 28 students per 24
134	134	classroom if some of the students are at least 5 years old. 25
135	135
136	136	(b) In addition to the requirements listed in subsection (a) of this section, an 26
137	137	eligible prekindergarten provider shall: 27
138	138
139	139	(1) If the provider is an eligible private provider, achieve a quality rating 28
140	140	level of 3 in the Maryland EXCELS program and publish that quality rating in a publicly 29
141	141	available manner, determined by the Department; 30
142	142	4 HOUSE BILL 1385
143	143
144	144
145	145	(2) If the provider is an eligible public provider, achieve a quality rating 1
146	146	level of 4 in the Maryland EXCELS program and publish that quality rating in a publicly 2
147	147	available manner, determined by the Department; 3
148	148
149	149	(3) Submit to the Department a plan to achieve a quality rating level 5 in 4
150	150	the Maryland EXCELS program within 5 years after becoming an eligible prekindergarten 5
151	151	provider; 6
152	152
153	153	(4) Achieve in accordance with the plan a quality rating level 5 in the 7
154	154	Maryland EXCELS program within 5 years after becoming an eligible prekindergarten 8
155	155	provider and publish that quality rating in a publicly available manner, determined by the 9
156	156	Department; and 10
157	157
158	158	(5) Except as otherwise provided in § 7–1A–07 of this subtitle, be open for 11
159	159	pupil attendance in accordance with § 7–103 of this title. 12
160	160
161	161	(C) (1) THE DEPARTMENT SHALL ESTABLISH A RESIDENT EARLY 13
162	162	CHILDHOOD TEACHING C ERTIFICATE FOR AN INDIVIDUAL WHO IS BEGINNING A 14
163	163	CAREER IN EARLY CHILDHOOD E DUCATION. 15
164	164
165	165	(2) THE DEPARTMENT SHALL ESTABLISH A CONDITIONAL EARLY 16
166	166	CHILDHOOD TEACHING C ERTIFICATE FOR A N INDIVIDUAL APPLYING TO WORK IN AN 17
167	167	ELIGIBLE PREKINDERGARTEN PROG RAM THAT IS UNABLE TO FILL AN OP EN 18
168	168	TEACHING POSITION WI TH A TEACHER WHO MEETS THE STANDARD 19
169	169	QUALIFICATIONS . 20
170	170
171	171	(3) CERTIFICATES ISSUED UNDER THIS SUBSECTIO N SHALL BE: 21
172	172
173	173	(I) VALID FOR A LIMITED P ERIOD OF TIME DETERMINED BY 22
174	174	THE DEPARTMENT; AND 23
175	175
176	176	(II) QUALIFYING FOR EMPLOY MENT AS A TEACHER AT BOTH 24
177	177	PUBLIC AND PRIVATE E LIGIBLE PREKINDERGAR TEN PROVIDERS . 25
178	178
179	179	(4) THE DEPARTMENT SHALL ADOP T REGULATIONS TO CARRY O UT 26
180	180	THIS SUBSECTION . 27
181	181
182	182	[(c)] (D) (1) An eligible prekindergarten provider may not engage in 28
183	183	explicitly religious activities during school hours. 29
184	184
185	185	(2) If an eligible prekindergarten provider engages in an explicitly religious 30
186	186	activity, the activity shall be: 31
187	187
188	188	(i) Separate in time and location from any instruction offered by the 32
189	189	eligible prekindergarten provider; and 33 HOUSE BILL 1385 5
190	190
191	191
192	192
193	193	(ii) Voluntary. 1
194	194
195	195	(3) (i) An eligible prekindergarten provider shall make reasonable 2
196	196	efforts to make the areas where prekindergarten children spend time during school hours 3
197	197	as nonsectarian as possible. 4
198	198
199	199	(ii) An eligible prekindergarten provider may not be required to 5
200	200	adopt any rule, regulation, or policy that conflicts with its religious or moral teachings. 6
201	201
202	202	(4) (i) An eligible prekindergarten provider shall comply with Title VI 7
203	203	of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, Title 20, Subtitle 6 of the State Government 8
204	204	Article, and not discriminate in student admissions, retention, or expulsion or otherwise 9
205	205	discriminate against any student or parent of a student on the basis of race, color, national 10
206	206	origin, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. 11
207	207
208	208	(ii) If a student has a disability, placement of the student shall be 12
209	209	based on where the student will be best served. 13
210	210
211	211	(iii) An eligible prekindergarten provider found to have violated the 14
212	212	nondiscrimination requirements under this section: 15
213	213
214	214	1. May not continue to be an eligible prekindergarten 16
215	215	provider; and 17
216	216
217	217	2. Shall reimburse the Department all public funds provided 18
218	218	under this subtitle minus any amount received from the child care scholarship program. 19
219	219
220	220	(5) Except as provided in § 7–305.1 of this title, an eligible prekindergarten 20
221	221	provider may not suspend or expel a child who is enrolled in a prekindergarten program. 21
222	222
223	223	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 22
224	224	1, 2024. 23