Bill > S264

This bill aims to establish a high-quality pre-kindergarten (pre-K) education grant program in Massachusetts. The key provisions include: 1. The Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), in consultation with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), will develop and administer the grant program to support high-quality pre-K programs for children aged 2 years and 9 months to the age of kindergarten eligibility in the district. 2. Eligible grantees include individual school districts and collaborations of multiple districts, with partnerships with licensed community-based early learning programs. 3. The grant program will have specific requirements, such as a child-to-instructor ratio of no more than 10 to 1, full-day programs, class sizes of no more than 20 students, and inclusion of children with disabilities, among other standards. 4. Grants will be awarded based on readiness (having an EEC-approved plan for preschool expansion) and need (percentage of high-need students in the district). 5. Grant recipients must establish a local governing council to implement and oversee the plan, and provide quarterly reports to the EEC. 6. The Board of Early Education and Care will promulgate regulations to implement the program, including guidelines for the local governing councils and evaluation criteria. The goal of this bill is to invest in a high-quality, mixed-delivery early education system to reduce the achievement gap and improve third-grade reading scores in Massachusetts.