By: West S.B. No. 1123
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of the office of early learning
within the Texas Education Agency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 29.15301 and 29.15302 to read as
follows:
Sec. 29.15301. OFFICE OF EARLY LEARNING. (a) The
commissioner by rule shall establish the office of early learning
as a division within the agency to:
(1) provide oversight of prekindergarten programs and
prekindergarten funding;
(2) provide resources to school districts to ensure
prekindergarten programs meet quality standards and best
practices; and
(3) assist school districts in developing local
solutions and improving prekindergarten programs.
(b) The office of early learning shall:
(1) monitor state funding of prekindergarten
programs;
(2) adopt accountability standards for the use of
public funds for prekindergarten programs;
(3) create a model contract for school districts to
use in forming partnerships with child-care centers and federal
Head Start programs to provide prekindergarten programs;
(4) determine the type of data needed from school
districts to assess prekindergarten programs;
(5) publish approved, age-appropriate assessment
instruments that may be administered to students in prekindergarten
programs;
(6) create a communication and outreach plan to
increase collaboration on prekindergarten programs throughout the
state;
(7) develop resources for school districts operating
prekindergarten programs to establish prekindergarten programs on
a tuition basis; and
(8) conduct outreach to school districts to encourage
the use of the resources developed under Subdivision (7) to
establish tuition-based prekindergarten programs.
(c) The office of early learning shall ensure that an
assessment instrument administered in a prekindergarten program:
(1) includes observation-based assessment;
(2) measures the effectiveness of the prekindergarten
program; and
(3) is not used as a basis for teacher evaluation or
student promotion or retention.
Sec. 29.15302. TEXAS EARLY LEARNING COUNCIL ADVISORY ROLE.
(a) The governor's Texas Early Learning Council shall act in an
advisory role to the office of early learning and provide
assistance when requested by the office.
(b) The council shall hold public meetings to discuss
requests received from the office of early learning under
Subsection (a) at least four times each year. The council may
address issues relating to the office of early learning during any
other scheduled meeting of the council.
(c) The council shall establish a process for receiving
public input related to the office of early learning.
SECTION 2. Section 29.1534, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b), (c), and (e), and adding Subsection (f)
to read as follows:
(b) The office of early learning [agency] shall develop
joint strategies with other state agencies regarding methods to
increase community awareness of prekindergarten programs through
programs that provide information relating to public assistance
programs.
(c) The office of early learning [agency] may develop
outreach materials for use by school districts to increase
community awareness of prekindergarten programs.
(e) The office of early learning [agency] shall provide
information to school districts regarding effective methods to
communicate to the parent of an eligible child the availability of
prekindergarten programs, including information regarding
prekindergarten programs through public, private, and nonprofit
institutions that provide assistance and support to families with
children eligible for prekindergarten programs.
(f) On an annual basis each school district shall submit to
the office of early learning a report that details the district's
plan for promoting and increasing community awareness of
prekindergarten programs in the district.
SECTION 3. Section 29.154, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 29.154. EVALUATION OF PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS.
(a) The commissioner of education, in consultation with the office
of early learning [commissioner of human services], shall monitor
and evaluate prekindergarten programs as to their developmental
appropriateness. The commissioner and the office [commissioners]
shall also evaluate the potential for coordination on a statewide
basis of prekindergarten programs with government-funded early
childhood care and education programs such as child care
administered under Chapter 44, Human Resources Code, and federal
Head Start programs. That evaluation shall use recommendations
formulated by the office of early learning under Subsection (b)
[contained in the report to the 71st Legislature required by
Chapter 717, Acts of the 70th Legislature, Regular Session, 1987].
For the purpose of providing cost-effective care for children
during the full workday with developmentally appropriate
curriculum, the commissioner and the office [commissioners] shall
investigate the use of existing child-care program sites as
prekindergarten sites. Following the evaluation required by this
section, the commissioner and the office [commissioners], in
cooperation with school districts and other program
administrators, shall integrate programs, staff, and program sites
for prekindergarten, child-care, and federal Head Start programs to
the greatest extent possible.
(b) The office of early learning shall formulate
recommendations based on national best practices for increasing the
quality of the state's prekindergarten programs.
SECTION 4. Sections 29.158(a) and (d), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) In a manner consistent with federal law and regulations,
each prekindergarten program provider, Head Start and Early Head
Start program provider, and provider of an after-school child-care
program provided at a school shall coordinate with the office of
early learning [agency], the Texas Workforce Commission, and local
workforce development boards regarding subsidized child-care
services.
(d) In coordinating child-care services under this section
and in making any related decision to contract with another
provider for child-care services, the office of early learning
[agency], Texas Workforce Commission, local workforce development
boards, and each prekindergarten program provider, Head Start and
Early Head Start program provider, and provider of an after-school
child-care program provided at a school shall consider the quality
of the services involved in the proposed coordination or
contracting decision and shall give preference to services of the
highest quality. Any appropriate indicator of quality services may
be considered under this subsection, including whether the provider
of the services:
(1) meets Texas Rising Star Program certification
criteria;
(2) is accredited by a nationally recognized
accrediting organization approved by the Texas Workforce
Commission and the Department of Family and Protective Services;
(3) meets standards developed by the State Center for
Early Childhood Development; or
(4) has achieved any other measurable target relevant
to improving the quality of child care in this state.
SECTION 5. Subchapter E, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.162 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.162. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON
PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM COORDINATION. (a) The office of early
learning, the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas Head Start
State Collaboration Office, the Department of Assistive and
Rehabilitative Services, the Health and Human Services Commission,
and the Department of Family and Protective Services shall enter
into a memorandum of understanding regarding the coordination of
early childhood learning programs, including prekindergarten
programs. The memorandum of understanding must:
(1) identify opportunities for and barriers to
collaboration and coordination among federally funded and
state-funded child development, child-care, and early childhood
learning programs and services that are administered by the
agencies that are party to the memorandum; and
(2) require the parties to the memorandum to implement
steps to take advantage of the opportunities and eliminate the
barriers identified under Subdivision (1) in an effort to establish
a comprehensive, statewide system of early childhood care and
education.
(b) Not later than August of each year, the office of early
learning and the other agencies and organizations shall review and
update the memorandum.
(c) The rulemaking body for each agency by rule shall adopt
the memorandum of understanding and all revisions to the
memorandum.
SECTION 6. Not later than January 1, 2016, the Texas
Education Agency, the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas Head
Start State Collaboration Office, the Department of Assistive and
Rehabilitative Services, the Health and Human Services Commission,
and the Department of Family and Protective Services shall enter
into the memorandum of understanding required under Section 29.162,
Education Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.