House Bill 4383c1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 1998 CS/HB 4383
By the Committee on Children & Family Empowerment and
Representatives Roberts-Burke and Lacasa
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to school readiness; creating
3 s. 411.09, F.S.; creating the healthy
4 opportunity for school readiness voucher
5 program; providing legislative findings and
6 intent; providing for operation by the Florida
7 Partnership for Children First, Inc.; providing
8 eligibility requirements and program components
9 and funding; providing an effective date.
10
11 WHEREAS, the bridge to opportunity for every child must
12 be anchored in a healthy body and a healthy mind and must lead
13 to the child's readiness to learn in school, and
14 WHEREAS, it is widely acknowledged that entering school
15 ready to learn is crucial to a child's success both in school
16 and in life, and
17 WHEREAS, the state's system of public education could
18 better perform its mission of educating its K-12 students if
19 more students enter school healthy and ready to learn, and
20 WHEREAS, as emphasized by the Governor, the President
21 of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
22 Representatives, a child's health in both body and mind is
23 essential to the child's ability to learn, and
24 WHEREAS, we can make great strides to improve school
25 readiness by addressing child care, child health, and school
26 readiness education in one single, accountable continuum, NOW,
27 THEREFORE,
28
29 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
30
31
1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 1998 CS/HB 4383
602-127-98
1 Section 1. Effective July 1, 1999, section 411.09,
2 Florida Statutes, is created to read:
3 411.09 Healthy opportunity for school readiness
4 voucher program.--
5 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.--
6 (a) Current standards for measuring school readiness
7 are nonuniform and highly subjective. Measurements by these
8 standards indicate that approximately 36,000 or 20 percent of
9 Florida children were measured as not ready for school when
10 they entered kindergarten in the 1996-1997 school year.
11 (b) The Florida Partnership for Children First, Inc.,
12 is assigned the responsibility under s. 411.01 of providing
13 reliable school readiness instruments, which instruments shall
14 be administered under the oversight of the Children First
15 Coalitions.
16 (c) Under the current measurement system, the
17 statewide distribution of children measured as not ready for
18 school in kindergarten varies. Most districts, however, are in
19 the 10 to 25 percent range of children measured as not ready
20 for school in kindergarten.
21 (d) Numerous credible studies have demonstrated the
22 importance of school readiness to a child's success in school,
23 and the cost savings, particularly in terms of less dependence
24 on specialized services and greater lifelong opportunity,
25 achieved in enlarging the percentage of children who attain
26 school readiness before they enter school.
27 (e) A recent study of Florida's independent schools
28 indicates the possibility of the availability of roughly 3,000
29 to 5,000 kindergarten seats statewide, a very small number in
30 proportion to the number of Florida children measured as not
31 ready for school.
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 1998 CS/HB 4383
602-127-98
1 (f) The public K-12 school system could better perform
2 its mission of K-12 education if there were a higher
3 percentage of children entering the public K-12 school system
4 who were measured as ready for school.
5 (2) LEGISLATIVE INTENT.--Subject to the requirements
6 of this section and the availability of seats, it is the
7 intent of the Legislature to provide a program of enhancement
8 of healthy opportunity by increasing school readiness to the
9 maximum extent feasible before a child enters the public K-12
10 school system.
11 (3) HEALTHY OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM; ELIGIBILITY OF
12 CHILD.--The healthy opportunity for school readiness voucher
13 program is established and shall be available on a first-come,
14 first-served basis to children who are measured no later than
15 February of the year in which they will enter kindergarten as
16 not ready for school. Participation shall be entirely at the
17 option of the parent or guardian.
18 (4) HEALTHY OPPORTUNITY VOUCHERS.--For the purpose of
19 assisting children who are measured as not ready for school to
20 attain success in school by enhancing their opportunity for
21 school readiness:
22 (a) The Florida Partnership for Children First, Inc.,
23 shall operate the healthy opportunity for school readiness
24 voucher program with the following minimum components:
25 1. Each Children First Coalition, as part of the
26 children first plan, shall establish and maintain public and
27 private kindergarten program choice information to provide
28 information and assistance to parents or guardians of eligible
29 children who wish to enhance their child's opportunity for
30 school readiness by obtaining a voucher to pay for attendance
31 in a public or private kindergarten of the parent's choice
3
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 1998 CS/HB 4383
602-127-98
1 that has an available seat and agrees to accept the child.
2 Kindergartens wishing to participate in the program shall
3 submit information requested by the Children First Coalition
4 for purposes of informed parental choice, shall agree to the
5 goal of the child attaining school readiness, and shall agree
6 to administer the school readiness screening instruments.
7 2. All selections and all enrollment and
8 transportation arrangements shall be the parents' or
9 guardians' responsibility, but the Children First Coalition
10 shall provide full information, including information
11 regarding teacher credentials, and adequate guidance and
12 assistance to enable the parents or guardians to make a fully
13 informed choice and easily facilitated arrangements.
14 3. Upon authorization of the parent or guardian,
15 payment by the fiscal agent of the Children First Coalition
16 shall be made by voucher in the name of the parent or guardian
17 and shall be sent to the public or private kindergarten
18 selected, where the parent or guardian may endorse the payment
19 to secure the child's seat. Such payment shall be made in nine
20 to twelve equal monthly payments, per agreement, in an amount
21 not to exceed the total cost of tuition or the amount of the
22 FEFP for the local school district's kindergarten program,
23 whichever is less.
24 4. A private kindergarten participating in the program
25 must have been in operation for 12 months prior to applying
26 for participation and shall comply with s. 623.02 and all
27 other applicable law, including nondiscrimination in admission
28 policy.
29 5. The Children First Coalition shall provide for
30 followup measurement of the children who participate in the
31 program, to measure their school readiness after a year of
4
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 1998 CS/HB 4383
602-127-98
1 attending kindergarten and prior to entering first grade. The
2 coalition shall annually report to the Children First
3 Partnership, using objective data, the differences in school
4 readiness, if any, between comparable groups of children based
5 on whether or not they attended a kindergarten with tuition
6 paid by a healthy opportunity for school readiness voucher.
7 (b) The vouchers shall be funded from funds
8 appropriated through the Children First School Readiness Trust
9 Fund and shall be made available on a first-come, first-served
10 basis to children in children first plan programs.
11 Section 2. This act shall take effect only if
12 Committee Substitute for House Bills 683 and 2131, relating to
13 school readiness, and House Bill 4415, relating to children's
14 health, are adopted, or similar legislation having
15 substantially the same intent and purpose is adopted, in the
16 same legislative session or an extension thereof.
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
5