HF 61

as introduced - 84th Legislature, 2005 1st Special Session (2005 - 2005) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to education finance; increasing funding for
early education programs; appropriating money;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 124D.135,
subdivision 1; proposing coding for new law in
Minnesota Statutes, chapter 124D.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 124D.135,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Revenue.

The revenue for early childhood
family education programs for a school district equals deleted text begin $120 for
fiscal years 2003 and 2004 and deleted text end $96 for fiscal year 2005 new text begin , $120
for fiscal year 2006, and $125 for fiscal year 2007 new text end and later,
times the greater of:

(1) 150; or

(2) the number of people under five years of age residing
in the district on October 1 of the previous school year.

Sec. 2.

new text begin [124D.175] MINNESOTA EARLY LEARNING FOUNDATION.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Goal. new text end

new text begin The Minnesota Early Learning
Foundation is a public-private partnership which shall identify
cost-effective ways to deliver quality early care and education
experiences and parent education for families whose children are
at risk of being unprepared for school. The partnership shall
also develop infrastructure supports and accountability measures
to increase quality of early care and education settings and
build community capacity for school readiness. The partnership
shall evaluate the resulting benefits and long-term savings to
the Minnesota economy and the effectiveness of strategies for
increasing children's readiness for school at kindergarten
entrance.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Board. new text end

new text begin The Minnesota Early Learning Foundation,
once established under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code, shall be governed by a board made up of public and private
citizens with more than 50 percent of the members from the
private sector. The governor shall appoint the public sector
members, including members from government, academia, and civil
society.
new text end

new text begin A review and planning advisory committee shall provide
knowledgeable counsel and advice to the executive director and
board for development of policies and procedures for the
Minnesota Early Learning Foundation and review of cost-effective
strategies for strengthening Minnesota's early care and
education capabilities. The committee shall include parents;
representatives of the early care and education field,
kindergarten through grade 12 education, and public libraries;
and business leaders, and shall reflect the ethnic and
geographic diversity of the state of Minnesota.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Matching funds; awards. new text end

new text begin The Minnesota Early
Learning Foundation shall match dollars appropriated from the
state with nonpublic dollars raised by the board. The board
shall award grants for:
new text end

new text begin (1) projects, including pilot projects that demonstrate
successful approaches to the delivery of early childhood
services and parent education to low-income families;
new text end

new text begin (2) scholarships to low-income families to access early
childhood parent education and high-quality early learning
programs for their children; and
new text end

new text begin (3) strategies to improve the quality of early care and
education through early learning standards and assessment, a
quality rating system, program improvement grants, and
professional development grants.
new text end

Sec. 3. new text begin SCHOOL READINESS KINDERGARTEN ASSESSMENT
INITIATIVE.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Establishment. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of
education shall establish a system for assessing the school
readiness of children entering kindergarten, building on the two
school readiness studies conducted by the Department of
Education in 2002 and 2003. The department shall also set
biennial milestones for progress in the number of children
reaching proficiency on all measures of the assessment.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Description. new text end

new text begin (a) The school readiness
kindergarten assessment initiative must be implemented in all
school districts in Minnesota on a voluntary basis over a
five-year period. The schedule for implementation is as follows:
new text end

new text begin (1) fiscal year 2007, 6,000 entering kindergarteners;
new text end

new text begin (2) fiscal year 2008, 18,000 entering kindergarteners;
new text end

new text begin (3) fiscal year 2009, 30,000 entering kindergarteners;
new text end

new text begin (4) fiscal year 2010, 45,000 entering kindergarteners; and
new text end

new text begin (5) fiscal year 2011, 60,000 entering kindergarteners.
new text end

new text begin (b) Results of the assessment must be included in the
annual school performance report cards under Minnesota Statutes,
section 120B.36.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Evaluation and reporting. new text end

new text begin The commissioner
shall evaluate the effectiveness of the data gathering system
for implementing developmental assessments at kindergarten
entrance on a school-by-school basis. The commissioner shall
report to the senate and house of representatives committees
having jurisdiction over early childhood education on the
progress toward reaching the milestones in odd-numbered years
beginning with fiscal year 2007.
new text end

Sec. 4. new text begin COORDINATION OF EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION
PROGRAMS.
new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioners of education, human services, and
health shall identify how they will coordinate activities and
resources, with input from local communities and tribal
governments, including setting priorities, aligning policies,
and leveraging existing resources to achieve the goal for
increased school readiness of all Minnesota children. The
commissioners shall report on the progress made, which must
include information on:
new text end

new text begin (1) coordinating and disseminating resources and
information on school readiness and early care and education,
health, and nutrition, including child mental health and family
support to:
new text end

new text begin (i) parents and families with children birth to age five
through key entry points, such as women, infants, and children
(WIC), family home visiting, child welfare, public and private
health care providers, and other public programs; and
new text end

new text begin (ii) early care and education providers, public and private
health care providers, foster care providers, temporary care
providers, shelters, crisis nurseries, and other facilities
providing long-term or temporary care for young children from
birth to age five;
new text end

new text begin (2) supporting families, schools, and communities in
facilitating the transition of young children into the
kindergarten environment;
new text end

new text begin (3) identifying, coordinating, and sharing resources and
strategies between state departments that address the cultural
and linguistic needs of families served;
new text end

new text begin (4) amending the state Medicaid plan to expand the use of
the child and teen checkup funding for allowable child
development services, such as outreach for early childhood
screening, and streamlining the process for voluntary
certification of school districts as child and teen checkup
providers; and
new text end

new text begin (5) referring children ages three to five in the child
welfare system to the interagency early intervention system for
a developmental screening and referral to services if problems
are identified.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commissioners shall report to the senate and house
of representatives committees having jurisdiction over early
care and education by March 1, 2006.
new text end

Sec. 5. new text begin APPROPRIATIONS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Department of education. new text end

new text begin The sums
indicated in this section are appropriated from the general fund
to the Department of Education for the fiscal years designated.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Minnesota early learning foundation. new text end

new text begin For the
Minnesota Early Learning Foundation under Minnesota Statutes,
section 124D.175:
new text end

new text begin $ 2,500,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2006
new text end

new text begin This is a onetime appropriation. Any amounts not expended
in fiscal year 2006 may be carried forward to fiscal year 2007.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin School readiness kindergarten assessment
initiative. new text end

new text begin For the school readiness kindergarten assessment
initiative:
new text end

new text begin $ 450,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2006
new text end

new text begin $ 500,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2007
new text end

new text begin These amounts must be added to the department's base
appropriations.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin School readiness. new text end

new text begin For revenue for school
readiness programs under Minnesota Statutes, sections 124D.15
and 124D.16:
new text end

new text begin $10,706,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2006
new text end

new text begin $11,042,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2007
new text end

new text begin The 2006 appropriation includes $1,417,000 for 2005 and
$9,289,000 for 2006.
new text end

new text begin The 2007 appropriation includes $1,729,000 for 2006 and
$9,313,000 for 2007.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Early childhood family education aid. new text end

new text begin For early
childhood family education aid under Minnesota Statutes, section
124D.135:
new text end

new text begin $19,155,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2006
new text end

new text begin $22,328,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2007
new text end

new text begin The 2006 appropriation includes $1,861,000 for 2005 and
$17,294,000 for 2006.
new text end

new text begin The 2007 appropriation includes $3,220,000 for 2006 and
$19,108,000 for 2007.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Health and developmental screening aid. new text end

new text begin For
health and developmental screening aid under Minnesota Statutes,
sections 121A.17 and 121A.19:
new text end

new text begin $ 3,076,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2006
new text end

new text begin $ 3,512,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2007
new text end

new text begin The 2006 appropriation includes $418,000 for 2005 and
$2,658,000 for 2006.
new text end

new text begin The 2007 appropriation includes $495,000 for 2006 and
$3,017,000 for 2007.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Head start program. new text end

new text begin For Head Start programs
under Minnesota Statutes, section 119A.52:
new text end

new text begin $18,375,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2006
new text end

new text begin $18,375,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2007
new text end