1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to early childhood education; establishing
1.3 	the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation, a
1.4 	public-private partnership; appropriating money for
1.5 	the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. MINNESOTA EARLY LEARNING FOUNDATION.
 1.8 		Subdivision 1.Goal. The Minnesota Early Learning
1.9 	Foundation is a public-private partnership which will identify
1.10 	cost-effective ways to deliver quality early care and education
1.11 	experiences and parent education for families whose children are
1.12 	at risk of being unprepared for school.  The partnership will
1.13 	also develop infrastructure supports and accountability measures
1.14 	to increase quality of early care and education settings and
1.15 	will build community capacity for school readiness.  The
1.16 	partnership will evaluate the resulting benefits and long-term
1.17 	savings to the Minnesota economy and the effectiveness of
1.18 	strategies for increasing children's readiness for school at
1.19 	kindergarten entrance.
1.20 		Subd. 2.Board. The Minnesota Early Learning Foundation,
1.21 	section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, shall be
1.22 	governed by a board made up of public and private citizens with
1.23 	at least 51 percent of the members from the private sector.  The
1.24 	governor shall appoint the public sector members, including
1.25 	government, academia, and civil society.
2.1 	A review and planning advisory committee shall provide
2.2 	knowledgeable counsel and advice to the executive director and
2.3 	board for development of policies and procedures for the
2.4 	Minnesota Early Learning Foundation and review of cost-effective
2.5 	strategies for strengthening Minnesota's early care and
2.6 	education capabilities.  The committee shall include parents,
2.7 	representatives of the early care and education field, K-12
2.8 	education, and business leaders, and shall reflect the ethnic
2.9 	and geographic diversity of the state of Minnesota.
2.10 		Subd. 3.Matching funds; awards. The Minnesota Early
2.11 	Learning Foundation shall match dollars appropriated from the
2.12 	state with nonpublic dollars raised by the board.  The board
2.13 	shall award grants for:
2.14 	(1) pilot projects that demonstrate successful approaches
2.15 	to the delivery of early childhood services and parent education
2.16 	to low-income families;
2.17 	(2) scholarships to low-income families to access early
2.18 	childhood parent education and high-quality early learning
2.19 	programs for their children; and 
2.20 	(3) strategies to improve the quality of early care and
2.21 	education through early learning standards and assessment, a
2.22 	quality rating system, program improvement grants, and
2.23 	professional development grants.

2.24 	Sec. 2. APPROPRIATION.
 2.25 	$....... is appropriated from the general fund in fiscal
2.26 	year 2006 to the commissioner of education for the Minnesota
2.27 	Early Learning Foundation.