1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to child care; improving the quality of child care and expanding the 
1.3 	professional development of child care practitioners; appropriating money;
1.4 	amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 119B.21, subdivision 5; proposing 
1.5 	coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 119B.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 119B.21, subdivision 5, is amended to read:
1.8 		Subd. 5.Child care services grants. (a) A child care resource and referral program 
1.9 	designated under section 119B.19, subdivision 1a, may award child care services grants 
1.10 	for: 
1.11 	(1) creating new licensed child care facilities and expanding existing facilities, 
1.12 	including, but not limited to, supplies, equipment, facility renovation, and remodeling;
1.13 	(2) improving licensed child care facility programs;
1.14 	(3) staff training and development services including, but not limited to, in-service 
1.15 	training, curriculum development, accreditation, certification, consulting, resource centers, 
1.16 	and program and resource materials, supporting effective teacher-child interactions, 
1.17 	child-focused teaching, and content-driven classroom instruction;
1.18 	(4) interim financing;
1.19 	(5) capacity building through the purchase of appropriate technology to create, 
1.20 	enhance, and maintain business management systems;
1.21 	(6) emergency assistance for child care programs;
1.22 	(7) new programs or projects for the creation, expansion, or improvement of 
1.23 	programs that serve ethnic immigrant and refugee communities; and
2.1 	(8) targeted recruitment initiatives to expand and build the capacity of the child 
2.2 	care system and to improve the quality of care provided by legal nonlicensed child care 
2.3 	providers.
2.4 	(b) A child care resource and referral program designated under section 119B.19, 
2.5 	subdivision 1a, may award child care services grants to: 
2.6 	(1) licensed providers;
2.7 	(2) providers in the process of being licensed;
2.8 	(3) corporations or public agencies that develop or provide child care services;
2.9 	(4) school-age care programs; or
2.10 	(5) any combination of clauses (1) to (4).
2.11 	Unlicensed providers are only eligible for grants under paragraph (a), clause (7).
2.12 	(c) A recipient of a child care services grant for facility improvements, interim 
2.13 	financing, or staff training and development must provide a 25 percent local match.

2.14 	Sec. 2. [119B.27] TEACHER EDUCATION AND COMPENSATION HELPS; 
2.15 	MINNESOTA EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER RETENTION PROGRAMS.
2.16 		Subdivision 1.TEACH. The teacher education and compensation helps program 
2.17 	(TEACH) is established to provide tuition scholarships, education incentives, and an 
2.18 	early childhood teacher retention program to provide retention incentives to early care 
2.19 	and education providers. The commissioner shall transfer funds provided under this 
2.20 	section through a grant to a nonprofit organization licensed to administer the TEACH 
2.21 	early childhood program.
2.22 		Subd. 2.Program components. (a) The nonprofit organization shall distribute 
2.23 	funds for:
2.24 	(1) tuition scholarships up to $5,000 per year for courses leading to the nationally 
2.25 	recognized child development associate credential or college-level courses leading to an 
2.26 	associate's or bachelor's degree in early childhood development and school-age care; and 
2.27 	(2) education incentives of a minimum of $100 to participants in the tuition 
2.28 	scholarship program if they complete a year of working in the early care and education 
2.29 	field.
2.30 	(b) Applicants for the scholarship must be either employed by a licensed early 
2.31 	childhood or child care program and working directly with children, a licensed family 
2.32 	child care provider, or an employee in a school-age program operated under the auspices 
2.33 	of a license-exempt public program. Lower wage earners will be given high consideration 
2.34 	when awarding the tuition scholarships. Scholarship recipients must contribute ten 
2.35 	percent of the total scholarship and must be sponsored by their employers, who must 
3.1 	also contribute ten percent of the total scholarship. Scholarship recipients who are 
3.2 	self-employed must contribute only 20 percent of the total scholarship. 
3.3 	(c) The organization shall also distribute funds for teacher retention incentives of 
3.4 	$1,000 to $3,500 annually to be paid biannually. Applicants for the retention incentives 
3.5 	must be either employed by a licensed early childhood or child care program and 
3.6 	working directly with children, a licensed family child care provider, or an employee in 
3.7 	a school-age program operated under the auspices of a license-exempt public program. 
3.8 	Lower wage earners will be given high consideration. The amount of the retention 
3.9 	incentive must be based on the applicant's level of education when the applicant applies 
3.10 	for the incentive. A provider is eligible for the retention incentive if the provider:
3.11 	(1) has worked in the field for at least one year and has been working at the same 
3.12 	location for at least one year at the time of application;
3.13 	(2) agrees to remain in the provider's current position for a period of at least one 
3.14 	year; and
3.15 	(3) has an associate's or bachelor's degree or a child development associate's degree.
3.16 		Subd. 3.Advisory committee. The TEACH early childhood and Minnesota early 
3.17 	childhood teacher retention programs must have an advisory board as prescribed by the 
3.18 	national TEACH organization.

3.19 	Sec. 3. COMMISSIONER OF HUMAN SERVICES DUTIES; EARLY 
3.20 	CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL-AGE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 
3.21 	TRAINING.
 3.22 		Subdivision 1.Development and implementation of an early childhood and 
3.23 	school-age professional development system. (a) The commissioner of human services, 
3.24 	in cooperation with the commissioners of education and health, shall develop and phase-in 
3.25 	the implementation of a professional development system for practitioners serving 
3.26 	children in early childhood and school-age programs.
3.27 	The system must, at a minimum, include the following features:
3.28 	(1) a continuum of training content based on the early childhood and school-age 
3.29 	care practitioner core competencies that translates knowledge into improved practice to 
3.30 	support children's school success;
3.31 	(2) training strategies that provide direct feedback about practice to practitioners 
3.32 	through ongoing consultation, mentoring, or coaching with special emphasis on early 
3.33 	literacy and early math;
3.34 	(3) an approval process for trainers;
4.1 	(4) a professional development registry for early childhood and school-age care 
4.2 	practitioners that will provide tracking and recognition of practitioner training/career 
4.3 	development progress;
4.4 	(5) a career lattice that includes a range of professional development and educational 
4.5 	opportunities that provide appropriate coursework and degree pathways;
4.6 	(6) development of a plan with public higher education institutions for an articulated 
4.7 	system of education, training, and professional development that includes credit for prior 
4.8 	learning and development of equivalences to two- and four-year degrees;
4.9 	(7) incentives and support for early childhood and school-age care practitioners to 
4.10 	seek additional training and education, including TEACH, other scholarships, and career 
4.11 	guidance; and
4.12 	(8) coordinated and accessible delivery of training to early childhood and school-age 
4.13 	care practitioners.
4.14 	(b) The commissioner of human services must evaluate the professional development 
4.15 	system and make continuous improvements.
4.16 	(c) Beginning July 1, 2007, as appropriations permit, the commissioner shall 
4.17 	phase-in the professional development system.
4.18 		Subd. 2.Two-hour early childhood training. By January 15, 2008, the 
4.19 	commissioner of human services, with input from the Minnesota Licensed Family Child 
4.20 	Care Association and the Minnesota Professional Development Council, shall identify 
4.21 	new training that meets the two-hour early childhood development training requirement 
4.22 	for new child care practitioners under Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.14, subdivision 
4.23 	9a. For licensed family child care, the commissioner will also seek the input of labor 
4.24 	unions that serve licensed family child care providers, if the union has been recognized 
4.25 	by a county to serve licensed family child care providers.

4.26 	Sec. 4. APPROPRIATIONS.
 4.27 		Subdivision 1.Expanded quality rating system pilot program. $....... is 
4.28 	appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of human services for the 
4.29 	biennium beginning July 1, 2007, to be transferred to the Minnesota Early Learning 
4.30 	Foundation under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.175, to fund an expanded pilot 
4.31 	program that offers geographic diversity to the current pilot program to test and evaluate 
4.32 	the quality rating system.
4.33 		Subd. 2.Child care services grants. $....... is appropriated from the general 
4.34 	fund to the commissioner of human services for the biennium beginning July 1, 2007, 
5.1 	for purposes of providing child care services grants under Minnesota Statutes, section 
5.2 	119B.21, subdivision 5.
5.3 		Subd. 3.Early childhood professional development system. $....... is appropriated 
5.4 	from the general fund to the commissioner of human services for the biennium beginning 
5.5 	July 1, 2007, for purposes of the early childhood professional development system, which 
5.6 	increases the quality and continuum of professional development opportunities for child 
5.7 	care practitioners.
5.8 		Subd. 4.TEACH. $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner 
5.9 	of human services for the teacher education and compensation helps and the Minnesota 
5.10 	early childhood teacher retention programs in Minnesota Statutes, section 119B.27, in 
5.11 	fiscal year 2007 and shall become part of the base level funding for fiscal year 2008.