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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 24, 2017 10:04 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Isabella V. Fitzgerald |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | To Provide For Full-Day Kindergarten |
| In the near future, I will be reintroducing legislation from last session (House Bill 754) that would amend the Public School Code of 1949 to provide for full-day kindergarten. This legislation would require the board of school directors in each school district to establish and maintain a full-time kindergarten program for children between the ages of three and five years of age by the 2018-2019 school year. In addition, this legislation would provide for the powers and duties of the Department of Education and for the creation of a Full-Day Kindergarten Implementation Advisory Committee. The advisory committee would assist the department with the development and implementation of a state plan for full-day kindergarten, advise school districts on how to implement a full-day kindergarten program, and provide technical assistance and other resources to school districts. A state plan for full-day kindergarten would be required to include a description of the full-day kindergarten program that would be developed, a statement of the program’s goals, a description of how the department will coordinate with existing state-funded and federal-funded early-learning programs (such as Pre-K Counts and Head Start), a description of how the department will involve representatives of approved providers of early-learning programs, and a comprehensive financial analysis. Early childhood education enhances the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of children and is the primary reason I believe that full-day kindergarten should be implemented as a formal component of basic education. I hope you will join me in sponsoring this important legislation. Thank you. |
Introduced as HB1487