Bill Text: VA HB1423 | 2023 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: School Readiness Committee; renaming as Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2023-03-16 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0008) [HB1423 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2023-HB1423-Chaptered.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §2.2-208.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§2.2-208.1. Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education.
A. In recognition of the fact that early care and education of
young children is linked to academic success and workforce readiness, the
Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human
Resources, and upon receiving recommendations for appointments from the
Virginia Education Association, the Virginia School Boards Association, the
Virginia Association of Elementary School Principals, the Virginia Council for
Private Education, the Virginia Child Care Association, the Virginia
Association for Early Childhood Education, the Virginia Head Start Association,
the Virginia Alliance for Family Child Care Associations, and the Virginia Chamber
of Commerce, shall establish and appoint members to the School Readiness
Committee (the Committee) Commission on Early Childhood Care and
Education (the Commission) is hereby established for the purpose of providing
recommendations for and tracking progress on the financing of a comprehensive
birth-to-five early childhood care and education system as established in §
22.1-289.03 that provides stable, high-quality early childhood care and
education services for families who need them the most, empowers parents with
choices that meet their needs and preferences, and supports both school
readiness and workforce participation.
B. The Committee Commission shall have a total
membership of no fewer than 27 31 members that shall consist of
seven nine legislative members, no fewer than 16 18
nonlegislative citizen members, and four ex officio members. Members shall be
appointed as follows: four five members of the House of Delegates
to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates in accordance with the
principles of proportional representation contained in the Rules of the House
of Delegates; three four members of the Senate to be appointed by
the Senate Committee on Rules on the recommendation of the Chair of the Senate
Committee on Education and Health; and no fewer than 16 18
nonlegislative citizen members to be appointed by the Secretary of Education.
The Secretary of Education, upon receiving recommendations for appointments
from the Virginia Council for Private Education, the Virginia Child Care
Association, the Virginia Head Start Association, the Virginia Alliance for
Family Child Care Associations, and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, shall
appoint nonlegislative citizen members to the Commission in a manner that
ensures representation from each of the nine Ready Regions identified by the
Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (Ready Regions). Nonlegislative citizen
members shall include at least three representatives of the office of the
Secretary of Education, one representative of the State Council of Higher
Education for Virginia, one representative of a baccalaureate public
institution of higher education in the Commonwealth with a teacher education
program, one representative of an associate-degree-granting public institution
of higher education in the Commonwealth with a teacher education program,
one representative of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, one
representative of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, four
one representative of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, three
executive-level representatives of the private business sector who each
represent different Ready Regions, one early childhood education teacher
from a public early childhood education program, one early childhood education
teacher from a private early childhood education program local
government representative recommended by the Virginia Association of Counties
and the Virginia Municipal League, one administrator from a public early
childhood education program, one administrator from a faith-based
private early childhood education program, one administrator from a
non-faith-based private early childhood education program, one
administrator from a Head Start program, one administrator from a family child
care program, one representative from an organization advocating for
children with disabilities, and one parent three parents
or guardian guardians of a child children who is
participating are age-eligible or who were recently age-eligible to
participate in early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth,
one educator from a public early childhood education program, and one educator
from a private early childhood education program. The Commissioner of
Social Services or his designee, the Secretary of Education or his
designee, the Secretary of Health and Human Resources or his designee, and,
the Secretary of Labor, the Superintendent of Public Instruction or his
designee, and the Commissioner of Social Services, or their designees,
shall serve ex officio with voting privileges.
C. In recognition of the fact that one The
Commission shall have the following powers and duties:
1. Expand access to and the quality of child care in all regions of the Commonwealth;
2. Analyze all existing and potential new opportunities for financing early childhood care and education programs with a focus on outcomes that are verifiable by data;
3. Retain, grow, and strengthen the quality of the Commonwealth's early childhood care and education workforce;
4. Gather and study information and data to accomplish its purposes as set forth in this section;
5. Gather and analyze data on the current and the projected five-year availability, quality, cost, and affordability of early childhood care and education throughout the Commonwealth for children from birth to age five, determine needs and priorities for early childhood care and education, and develop funding recommendations focused on family choice, access, affordability, and quality, giving due consideration to potential unforeseen impacts of funding and policy changes on the early childhood care and education sector;
6. Annually report on specific expenditures, outcomes, and impact, including the number of children served, demographics, child-level assessment data via the Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program (VKRP), classroom-level assessment data via the Unified Virginia Quality Birth to Five System (VQB5), teacher turnover and retention data, and parental employment data;
7. Support the development of an integrated early childhood longitudinal data process to capture and link access, quality, and educator data with preschool growth and school readiness outcome data through third grade and facilitate the sharing and use of such data and the seamless integration of the early childhood longitudinal data process with other student longitudinal data systems and processes; and
8. Monitor and support ongoing research and evaluation conducted by the Department of Education, the University of Virginia, and the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, and any other higher education or research institutions as deemed relevant, to continuously improve the quality of early childhood care and education services in the Commonwealth.
D. One of the most important factors in learning
outcomes for young children is the capabilities, exposure to
high-quality teacher-student interactions made possible through the hiring,
training, and retention of skilled educators who support their growth and
learning. In recognizing the importance of strong professional supports,
and competitive compensation of the to retaining skilled
educators who support their growth and learning, the primary goal of
the Committee is to provide recommendations for and track progress on the
financing of a comprehensive birth-to-five early childhood care and education
system in the Commonwealth that addresses both affordability for families and
adequate compensation for educators Commission shall prioritize
financing early childhood care and education services using the Department of
Education's cost of quality estimation model. Adoption of this model will
ensure that early childhood care and education programs are resourced to
attract and retain talented educators and consistently deliver high-quality
services, yielding strong school readiness and literacy outcomes for
participating young children. As part of this effort, the Committee
Commission should consider best practices and innovations in the private
and public sector from across the Commonwealth and the country. The
Commission should consider different sources of revenue and establish
long-term goals and targets for affordable access to quality care and education
for all birth-to-five children in the Commonwealth. Based on disparities in
school readiness outcomes, the Committee Commission should ensure
that all recommendations address societal inequities and address the
needs of the Commonwealth's more most vulnerable children,
families, and early childhood educators. The Committee Commission
shall periodically review the goals set forth in this subsection and
other priorities within the early childhood care and education systems
system and make submit no later than October 1 of each year
recommendations to the Board of Education, the State Council of Higher
Education for Virginia, the Department of Social Services, and the Chairmen of
the House Committee on Education, the Senate Committee on Education and Health,
the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, and the Senate
Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services. The Board of Education shall
review the recommendations of the Committee and submit to the Governor
and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate
Committee on Finance and Appropriations, the House Committee on Commerce and
Energy, the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor, the House Committee on
Education, and the Senate Committee on Education and Health, in
advance of the next regular session of the General Assembly, any comments on
such recommendations that the Board of Education deems appropriate. The
Commission shall also post such recommendations on its website in a manner and
format that ensure ease of access by interested parents and other members of
the public.
D. E. Appointments to fill vacancies, other than
by expiration of a term, shall be for the unexpired terms. Vacancies shall be
filled in the same manner as the original appointments. All legislative members
and nonlegislative citizen members may be reappointed.
E. F. After the initial staggering of terms,
legislative members and nonlegislative citizen members shall be appointed for
terms of three years.
F. G. No legislative member or nonlegislative
citizen member shall serve more than two consecutive three-year terms. The
remainder of any term to which a member is appointed to fill a vacancy shall
not constitute a term in determining the member's eligibility for
reappointment.
G. H. The Committee Commission
shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its membership. The
chairman shall be a legislative member. The vice-chairman shall be a
nonlegislative citizen member who is an executive-level representative of the
private business sector. A majority of the members shall constitute a
quorum. The meetings of the Committee Commission shall be held
at least four times per year at the call of the chairman or whenever the
majority of the members so request.
H. I. Recommendations and other actions by the
Commission shall require an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of
the Commission.
J. The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation shall
provide for the facilitation of the work of the Committee Commission
under the direction of the Secretary of Education or his designee and with the
guidance of a steering subcommittee committee that includes the
Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Health and Human Resources
Labor, one legislative member, one executive-level representative of
the private business sector, one representative of the Virginia Early Childhood
Foundation, and one early childhood education teacher or administrator from
a private early childhood education program parent or guardian of a
child who is age-eligible or was recently age-eligible to participate in early
childhood care and education in the Commonwealth.
I. K. The chairman may request and access the
expertise of additional representatives and organizations relating to the
Committee's Commission's goals and priorities. In order to meet
the federally mandated requirements for early childhood advisory councils, the
chairman may establish and appoint additional members to advisory subcommittees
to address areas of special concern and priority.
J. The Department of Education and the Department of Social
Services shall provide staff support to the Committee. All agencies of the
Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Committee, upon request
L. The Commission may appoint, employ, and remove an executive director and such other persons as it deems necessary, and determine their duties and fix their salaries or compensation within the amounts appropriated therefor. The Commission may also employ experts who have special knowledge of the issues before it.
M. The Commission may request and shall receive from every department, division, board, bureau, commission, authority, or other agency created by the Commonwealth, or to which the Commonwealth is party, or from any political subdivision of the Commonwealth, cooperation and assistance in the performance of its duties.
2. That the initial appointments of nonlegislative citizen members by the Secretary of Education shall be staggered as follows: five members for a term of one year, six members for a term of two years, and seven members for a term of three years.
3. That the terms of the current members of the School Readiness Committee shall expire on the effective date of this act.
