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STATE OF MAINE
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IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-THREE
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S.P. 724 - L.D. 1799
An Act to Expand Maine's High-quality Early Learning and Care for
Children by Increasing Public Preschool Opportunities in Communities
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §4272 is enacted to read:
§4272. Expansion of public preschool programs report
The commissioner shall report annually by February 15th to the joint standing
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education matters on the department's
initiatives, incentives and progress to expand public preschool programs.
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §4501, first ¶,
§1, is further amended to read:
In accordance with the policy expressed in section 2, every school administrative unit
shall raise annually sufficient funds to maintain or support elementary and secondary
schools to provide free education for its resident students at all grade levels. These schools
shall meet the requirements of basic school approval. To the extent the State provides
adequate start-up funding, a school administrative unit may offer an opportunity for every
child 4 years of age residing in the school administrative unit to attend a public preschool
program, or a program affiliated with the school administrative unit, meeting the
requirements of basic school approval. It is the goal of the State to provide adequate start-
up funding to ensure that public preschool programs for children 4 years of age are offered
by all school administrative units by the 2023-2024 school year establish an equitable,
mixed-delivery public preschool system that provides universal access for preschool-aged
children and their families in accordance with the following timeline: 60% by the 2024-
2025 school year; 80% by the 2025-2026 school year; and 100% by the 2026-2027 school
year.
Sec. 3. The Commission to Study Expansion of Public
Preschool and Early Care and Education, referred to in this section as "the commission," is
established.
1. Notwithstanding Joint Rule 353, the commission consists of 15 members appointed
as follows:
APPROVED
JULY 27, 2023
BY GOVERNOR
CHAPTER
477
PUBLIC LAW Page 2 - 131LR1861(08)
A. Two members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate, including a
member from each of the 2 parties holding the largest number of seats in the
Legislature;
B. Two members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the
House, including a member from each of the 2 parties holding the largest number of
seats in the Legislature;
C. One representative from the Department of Health and Human Services involved in
the provision of services for children and families of children under 5 years of age
selected by the Commissioner of Health and Human Services;
D. One representative from the Department of Education involved in the provision of
services for children and families of children under 5 years of age selected by the
Commissioner of Education;
E. One representative of the public school system nominated by the Maine School
Management Association and appointed by the President of the Senate;
F. Two parents of children who are under 5 years of age who have used state services
for their children, one appointed by the President of the Senate and one appointed by
the Speaker of the House;
G. One representative of family child care services appointed by the President of the
Senate;
H. One representative of a Head Start program appointed by the President of the Senate;
I. One representative of center-based child care services appointed by the Speaker of
the House;
J. One representative of public preschool teachers appointed by the Speaker of the
House;
K. One member with expertise in school funding nominated by the Commissioner of
Education and appointed by the Speaker of the House; and
L. One representative from the Child Development Services System selected by the
Commissioner of Education.
2. The first-named Senate member is the Senate chair, and the first-named House of
Representatives member is the House chair of the commission.
3. All appointments must be made no later than 30 days following the effective date of
this Act. The appointing authorities shall notify the Executive Director of the Legislative
Council once all appointments have been completed. After appointment of all members,
the chairs shall call and convene the first meeting of the commission. If 30 days or more
after the effective date of this Act a majority of but not all appointments have been made,
the chairs may request authority and the Legislative Council may grant authority for the
commission to meet and conduct its business.
4. The commission shall explore options to provide full-day preschool and pathways
for publicly funded early care and education programs. The commission shall establish a
plan that must address the following:
A. How to offer publicly funded preschool in all types of programs and classrooms
where 4-year-olds are enrolled, including, but not limited to, school administrative Page 3 - 131LR1861(08)
units and licensed child care programs such as Head Start programs, child care centers
and family child care programs;
B. Partnerships between school administrative units and child care programs that meet
or could be supported to meet the public preschool basic approval standards under
Department of Education rule Chapter 124: Basic Approval Standards: Public
Preschool Programs; and
C. Ways to design a funding formula that can achieve the goal of 100% access to
preschool programming by 2026. The commission shall establish a timeline, an
implementation plan and incentives to expand publicly funded preschool programming
to 30 hours per week or the length of the local school day at a school administrative
unit with the goal of establishing an equitable, mixed-delivery public preschool system
that provides universal access for preschool-aged children and their families as follows:
60% by the 2024-2025 school year; 80% by the 2025-2026 school year; and 100% by
the 2026-2027 school year.
5. The commission may also study and make recommendations on aligning programs
and blending and braiding funding in early care and education systems. The commission
may make recommendations on the following:
A. Improving the opportunities for children under 5 years of age by ensuring the
availability and coordination of early childhood programs and services through the
State with a focus on child development, education and supporting the needs of
working families;
B. Prioritizing the interests and input of children, parents, providers and the community
in designing and delivering early childhood programs and services and the equitable
delivery of resources and supports for early childhood education;
C. Determining whether integrating early care and education systems with a central
state access point and a regional hub structure could serve as part of a funding structure;
D. Examining how various funding streams can be blended and braided to provide
more efficient service delivery for families and providers; and
E. Ensuring that data about programs and early care and early childhood education
systems are available to the public and are shared, coordinated and used by the State to
improve policies and outcomes for children and families.
6. The Legislative Council shall provide necessary staffing services to the commission,
except that Legislative Council staff support is not authorized when the Legislature is in
regular or special session.
7. No later than December 6, 2023, the commission shall submit a report that includes
its findings and recommendations, including suggested legislation, to the Joint Standing
Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs and the Joint Standing Committee on Health
and Human Services. The Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs
may report out a bill based on the recommendations to the Second Regular Session of the
131st Legislature.
Sec. 4. The Department of
Education, referred to in this section as "the department," shall inform the Joint Standing
Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs and the Commission to Study Expansion of Page 4 - 131LR1861(08)
Public Preschool and Early Care and Education on progress relating to the expansion of
public preschools, and the department shall:
1. Develop a plan to align the credentials and training earned through the Maine Roads
to Quality Professional Development Network with those earned through the Department
of Education early childhood education certification. The department, through a
professional development and certification stakeholder working group, shall develop a plan
that includes the following components:
A. The development of a competency-based credential that recognizes experience,
cumulative elective training hours and a demonstration of knowledge and skills in early
childhood teaching practices;
B. Reciprocity for credit for or training hours toward certification from other states and
countries;
C. A Maine Roads to Quality Professional Development Network career lattice to align
with department educator credentials and that considers credentials obtained in the
absence of college course work of the same content;
D. Eligibility of family child care providers who hold and maintain national
accreditation standards accepted by the Department of Health and Human Services,
Office of Child and Family Services as publicly funded preschool locations; and
E. Collaborating with local adult education providers, apprenticeship sponsors, career
and technical education programs, the Maine Community College System and the
University of Maine System to create articulation agreements between these entities
for the transfer of credits for course work related to early childhood education and to
facilitate enrollment in courses that lead to the awarding of a postsecondary degree by
an accredited institution of higher education; and
2. Report to the Commission to Study Expansion of Public Preschool and Early Care
and Education and the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs on
progress relating to public preschool expansion, including establishing state and
community partnerships for a mixed delivery of child care and early childhood education
programs and services through community and school-based providers by November 15,
2023.