1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to early childhood education; modifying the membership and duties 
1.3 	of the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care; 
1.4 	appropriating money;amending Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 124D.141, 
1.5 	subdivisions 1, 2, 3.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 124D.141, subdivision 1, is amended to 
1.8 	read:
1.9 		Subdivision 1.Membership; duties. Two members of the house of representatives, 
1.10 	one appointed by the speaker and one appointed by the minority leader; and two members 
1.11 	of the senate appointed by the Subcommittee on Committees of the Committee on Rules 
1.12 	and Administration, including one member of the minority; the commissioner of health, or 
1.13 	the commissioner's designee; and two parents with a child under age six, shall be added 
1.14 	to the membership of the State Advisory Council on Early Education and Care. The 
1.15 	council must fulfill the duties required under the federal Improving Head Start for School 
1.16 	Readiness Act of 2007 as provided in Public Law 110-134.

1.17 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 124D.141, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
1.18 		Subd. 2.Additional duties. (a)  The following duties are added to those assigned 
1.19 	to the council under federal law:
1.20 	(1) make recommendations on the most efficient and effective way to leverage state 
1.21 	and federal funding streams for early childhood and child care programs;
1.22 	(2) make recommendations on how to coordinate or colocate early childhood and 
1.23 	child care programs in one state Office of Early Learning;
2.1 	(3) review program evaluations regarding high-quality early childhood programs; 
2.2 	and
2.3 	(4) make recommendations to the governor and legislature, including proposed 
2.4 	legislation as provided in paragraph (c)  on how to most effectively create a high-quality 
2.5 	early childhood system in Minnesota in order to improve the educational outcomes of 
2.6 	children so that all children are school-ready by 2020.; and
2.7 	(5) make recommendations as provided in paragraph (c) on how to screen earlier and 
2.8 	comprehensively assess children for school readiness in order to provide increased early 
2.9 	interventions and increase the number of children ready for kindergarten. In formulating 
2.10 	recommendations, the council shall consider: 
2.11 	(i) ways to communicate with parents of children who are not participating in early 
2.12 	childhood education or care programs about early intervention and school readiness;
2.13 	(ii) ways to communicate with family child care providers, child care centers, and 
2.14 	school-based early childhood and Head Start programs about early intervention and 
2.15 	school readiness;
2.16 	(iii) if there are age-appropriate and culturally sensitive screening and assessment 
2.17 	tools for three-, four-, and five-year-olds;
2.18 	(iv) the role of the medical community in screening;
2.19 	(v) incentives for parents to have children screened at an earlier age;
2.20 	(vi) incentives for early education and care providers to comprehensively assess 
2.21 	children in order to improve instructional practice;
2.22 	(vii) how to phase in increases in screening and assessment over time;
2.23 	(viii) how the screening and assessment data will be collected and used and who will 
2.24 	have access to the data;
2.25 	(ix) how to monitor progress toward the goal of having 50 percent of three-year-old 
2.26 	children screened and 50 percent of five-year-old children assessed for school readiness 
2.27 	by 2015 and 100 percent of three-year-old children screened and five-year-old children 
2.28 	assessed for school readiness by 2020;
2.29 	(x) how to monitor progress toward the goal of having 50 percent of four-year-old 
2.30 	children assessed by their early childhood education and care providers to determine their 
2.31 	level of performance in order to promote their learning and development; and
2.32 	(xi) costs to meet these benchmarks. 
2.33 	The council shall consider the screening instruments and comprehensive assessment 
2.34 	tools used in Minnesota early childhood education and care programs and kindergarten. 
2.35 	The council may survey early childhood education and care programs in the state to 
3.1 	determine the screening and assessment tools being used or rely on previously collected 
3.2 	survey data, if available. 
3.3 	(b) For purposes of this subdivision:
3.4 	(1) "school readiness" is defined as the child's skills, knowledge, and behaviors 
3.5 	at kindergarten entrance in these areas of child development: social; self-regulation; 
3.6 	cognitive, including language, literacy, and mathematical thinking; and physical;
3.7 	(2) "screening" is defined as the activities used to identify a child who may need 
3.8 	further evaluation to determine delay in development or disability; and
3.9 	(3) "assessment" is defined as the activities used to determine a child's level of 
3.10 	performance in order to promote the child's learning and development.
3.11 	(c) Any costs incurred by the council in making recommendations under paragraph 
3.12 	(a), clause (5), must be paid from nonstate and nonfederal funds appropriated to the 
3.13 	council under subdivision 3. If no nonstate or nonfederal funds are received, the council 
3.14 	may not proceed in making recommendations under paragraph (a), clause (5). The council 
3.15 	shall report its recommendations under this subdivision, including draft legislation 
3.16 	necessary to implement the recommendations, to the governor and the chairs and ranking 
3.17 	minority members of the legislative committees and divisions with jurisdiction over early 
3.18 	childhood education policy and finance no later than January 15, 2013, with interim 
3.19 	reports on February 15, 2011, and February 15, 2012.

3.20 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 124D.141, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
3.21 		Subd. 3.Administration. An amount up to $12,500 from federal child care 
3.22 	and development fund administrative funds and up to $12,500 from prekindergarten 
3.23 	exploratory project funds appropriated under Laws 2007, chapter 147, article 19, section 
3.24 	3, may be used to reimburse the parents on the council and for technical assistance and 
3.25 	administrative support of the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and 
3.26 	Care. This funding stream is for fiscal year 2009. The council may pursue additional 
3.27 	funds funding  from state, federal, and private sources. If additional operational funds are 
3.28 	received, the council must reduce the amount of prekindergarten exploratory project 
3.29 	funds used in an equal amount Money received from these sources shall be credited to an 
3.30 	account in the special revenue fund and is appropriated to the council for the purposes 
3.31 	of this section.