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90_HB1301
105 ILCS 5/Art. 14D heading new
105 ILCS 5/14D-1 new
105 ILCS 5/14D-5 new
105 ILCS 5/14D-10 new
105 ILCS 5/14D-15 new
Amends the School Code. Creates the Early Childhood
Education Collaboration Law to provide a continuum of early
childhood education opportunities in community settings to
prepare children from birth through 5 years of age for
school. Makes program participation voluntary for any school
district, early childhood program, or family. Provides that
the State Board of Education is to administer the
Collaboration, in cooperation with the Department of Human
Services and the Early Childhood Education Advisory Board,
and promulgate rules for that purpose, including rules for a
grant application procedure and program reporting processes.
Specifies the purposes for which grants may be made to school
districts and provides that those grants are in addition to
and intended to supplement other State grants for related
purposes. Effective July 1, 1997.
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LRB9004777THpk
1 AN ACT to amend the School Code by adding Article 14D.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Article
5 14D as follows:
6 (105 ILCS 5/Art. 14D heading new)
7 ARTICLE 14D. EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
8 (105 ILCS 5/14D-1 new)
9 Sec. 14D-1. Short title. This Article may be cited as
10 the Early Childhood Education Collaboration Law.
11 (105 ILCS 5/14D-5 new)
12 Sec. 14D-5. Findings and Declarations.
13 (a) Research about brain development emphasizes the
14 critical importance of stimulation and learning during the
15 first years of life.
16 (b) A growing body of research also shows that good
17 preschools can give at-risk children an immediate,
18 significant boost and better prepare them for school.
19 Children who participated in State pre-kindergarten are at or
20 above average in reading, math and language skills in third
21 grade.
22 (c) As more Illinois parents work and more children are
23 cared for outside the home as parents move from public
24 assistance to work, families depend on early childhood
25 programs to help teach young children the basic skills to
26 succeed in school.
27 (d) Continuity and transition between programs enable
28 children to maintain gains made in quality early childhood
29 programs.
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1 (e) For every dollar spent on comprehensive and
2 intensive preschool programs for at-risk children, society
3 saves up to $6 in long-term costs for welfare, special and
4 remedial education, juvenile justice, and prisons.
5 (105 ILCS 5/14D-10 new)
6 Sec. 14D-10. Early Childhood Education Collaboration.
7 (a) The Early Childhood Education Collaboration (called
8 "Collaboration") is hereby created in order to provide
9 continuity and a continuum of early childhood education
10 opportunities in community settings to prepare children for
11 school, from birth through 5 years of age. Participation in
12 any program offered by the Collaboration shall be voluntary
13 for any school district or early childhood program or for any
14 family. For purposes of this Article, "school district" also
15 means a regional office of education or educational entity
16 established to combine educational resources of 2 or more
17 school districts.
18 (b) Any school district may apply for a Collaboration
19 grant from the State Board of Education (called "State
20 Board"), in addition to any other grant from the State Board
21 for pre-kindergarten for children at risk of academic
22 failure, the Model Early Childhood Parental Training Program,
23 or child development programs for children from birth to 3
24 years of age and their families, for the purpose of:
25 (1) Subcontracting with one or more not-for-profit
26 or proprietary child care centers licensed under the
27 Child Care Act of 1969, Head Start programs, and child
28 care home networks to include early childhood education
29 within such programs through the utilization of early
30 childhood specialists and educational materials. For
31 purposes of this Article, "child care home network" means
32 a group of child care homes licensed under the Child Care
33 Act of 1969 that agree to be coordinated by and receive
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1 on-site supervision or consultation, or both, from a
2 network agency, which may be a school or school district,
3 a child care center, a Head Start program, a Child Care
4 Resource and Referral agency, a child care home provider
5 association, or a not-for-profit agency;
6 (2) Employing and making available early childhood
7 specialists on a rotating basis to supervise or consult
8 with staff on-site or to directly teach young children in
9 not-for-profit or proprietary child care centers or in
10 child care homes licensed under the Child Care Act of
11 1969 or in child care home networks as defined in
12 paragraph (1) of this subsection;
13 (3) Subcontracting with not-for-profit agencies to
14 create family resource centers and other learning
15 opportunities within the community for parents and their
16 young children;
17 (4) Subcontracting with community colleges,
18 universities, and Child Care Resource and Referral
19 agencies to expand or create early education training
20 opportunities for child care staff, family child care
21 providers, and parents; and
22 (5) Developing and implementing early childhood
23 education councils or community planning bodies to
24 coordinate services for young children within a
25 community, as long as those coordination or planning
26 bodies include representatives of all sectors in the
27 community that are involved in early education and child
28 care.
29 (c) Funds from the Collaboration are intended to
30 supplement that portion of an early childhood program that is
31 attributed to early childhood education staff and educational
32 materials. Early childhood education specialists funded
33 under this Act shall supplement and not replace any staff
34 required under the Child Care Act of 1969.
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1 (105 ILCS 5/14D-15 new)
2 Sec. 14D-15. Administration.
3 (a) The State Board shall administer the Early Childhood
4 Education Collaboration. The State Board, in cooperation
5 with the Department of Human Services and the Early Childhood
6 Education Advisory Board to the State Board, shall create
7 rules and regulations for the Collaboration and an
8 application procedure for Collaboration grants to be awarded
9 beginning in fiscal year 1998. Grant applications may be
10 tailored to meet the specific needs of a community, but shall
11 include the signature of at least one agency that has agreed
12 to join the Collaboration in a commitment to improve or
13 expand early childhood education services in conjunction with
14 the school district.
15 (b) By November 1, 1997, the State Board shall
16 promulgate rules and regulations for the Collaboration and
17 incorporate those rules and regulations in applications for
18 grants awarded on or after January 1, 1998 for fiscal year
19 1998. Those rules and regulations shall include, but are not
20 limited to:
21 (1) Simplified procedures for combining
22 Collaboration funds with federal, State and local funds
23 that may be available to community agencies and programs
24 involved in a Collaboration;
25 (2) Educational requirements for early childhood
26 specialists funded through Collaboration grants to teach,
27 supervise, or consult on early childhood education in a
28 variety of community settings; and
29 (3) Policies for charging parent fees for
30 Collaboration programs offered pursuant to this Article,
31 where appropriate.
32 (c) By February 1, 1998, the State Board shall
33 promulgate additional rules and regulations for the
34 Collaboration as well as to streamline the application and
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1 reporting processes for all early childhood education
2 programs funded by the State Board. Those additional rules
3 and regulations shall include, but not be limited to:
4 (1) Uniform application, data collection, and
5 reporting requirements for all early childhood education
6 programs funded by the State Board, including reporting
7 to the applicant school district where funds have been
8 subcontracted for early childhood education programs; and
9 (2) Procedures for measuring performance and
10 outcomes of all early childhood education programs funded
11 by the State Board.
12 (d) The State Board may target initial Collaboration
13 grants to serve children at risk of academic failure or to
14 school districts where elementary school students are
15 performing below the State average in reading, writing, and
16 arithmetic comprehension. Collaboration grants under this
17 Article shall not replace any existing collaborations funded
18 by the State Board as of the effective date of this
19 amendatory Act of 1997.
20 (e) The Collaboration is intended to serve as many young
21 children as possible within the limits of annual
22 appropriations, but this Article does not guarantee every
23 family an entitlement to early childhood education.
24 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July
25 1, 1997.