"AN ACT EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. "

After the last section, add the following and renumber sections and internal references accordingly:

"Sec. 501. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2014) (a) For the fiscal years ending June 30, 2015, to June 30, 2024, inclusive, the Office of Early Childhood, in consultation with the Department of Education, shall design and administer the Connecticut Smart Start competitive grant program to reimburse local and regional boards of education for capital and operating expenses related to establishing or expanding a preschool program under the jurisdiction of the board of education for the town. A local or regional board of education may submit an application to the office, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, and may receive (1) a grant for capital expenses in an amount not to exceed seventy-five thousand dollars per classroom for costs related to the renovation of an existing public school to accommodate the establishment or expansion of a preschool program, and (2) an annual grant for operating expenses (A) in an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars per child served by such grant, or (B) in an amount not to exceed seventy-five thousand dollars for each preschool classroom, provided no town shall receive a total annual grant for operating expenses greater than three hundred thousand dollars. Each local or regional board of education that establishes or expands a preschool program under this section shall be eligible to receive an annual grant for operating expenses for a period of five years, provided such preschool program meets standards established by the Commissioner of Early Childhood. Such local or regional board of education may submit an application for renewal of such grant to the office.

(b) On and after July 1, 2014, local and regional boards of education, individually or cooperatively, pursuant to section 10-158a of the general statutes, may apply, at such time and in such manner as the commissioner prescribes, to the office for a capital grant and an operating grant for the purposes described in subsection (a) of this section. To be eligible to receive such grants under this section, an applicant board of education shall (1) demonstrate that it has a need for establishing or expanding a preschool program using information requested by the commissioner on a form prescribed by the commissioner, such as data collected from the preschool experience survey, described in section 502 of this act, (2) submit a plan for the expenditure of grant funds received under this section that outlines how such board of education will use such funds to establish or expand a preschool program, including the amount that such board will contribute to the operation of such preschool program, and (3) submit a letter of support for establishing or expanding a preschool program by the local or regional school readiness council, described in section 10-16r of the general statutes, if any, for the school district. The commissioner shall give priority to boards of education (A) that demonstrate the greatest need for the establishment or expansion of a preschool program, and (B) whose plan allocates at least sixty per cent of the spaces in such preschool program to children who are members of families that are at or below seventy-five per cent of the state median income, or fifty per cent of the spaces in such preschool program to children who are eligible for free and reduced price lunches. The commissioner, in reviewing applications submitted under this subsection, shall also take into consideration (i) whether an applicant board of education (I) currently offers a full-day kindergarten program, (II) will be cooperating and coordinating with other governmental and community programs to provide services during periods when the preschool program is not in session, or (III) will collaborate with other boards of education, as part of a cooperative arrangement pursuant to section 10-158a of the general statutes, to offer a regional preschool program, and (ii) current community capacity for preschool programs and current opportunities for preschool for children in the community.

(c) A preschool program created or expanded under this section shall (1) contain a classroom with an individual who holds certification pursuant to section 10-145b of the general statutes with an endorsement in early childhood education or early childhood special education and is an employee of the board of education providing a preschool program under this section, (2) maintain a classroom size and teacher-child ratio that is in compliance with standards established by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, (3) obtain accreditation, as described in section 10-16p of the general statutes, not later than three years after the creation or expansion of the preschool program, and (4) be located in a public school or in a space maintained by an early care and education and child development program provider, pursuant to an agreement between a board of education and such early care and education and child development program provider.

(d) Each local or regional board of education receiving a grant under this section shall submit an annual report, on a form and in a manner prescribed by the commissioner, to the Office of Early Childhood regarding the status and operation of the preschool program.

(e) A local or regional board of education receiving grant funds under this section may implement a sliding fee scale for the cost of services provided to children enrolled in such preschool program.

Sec. 502. (NEW) (Effective from passage) On or before March 1, 2015, the Commissioner of Early Childhood, in consultation with the Department of Education, shall develop a preschool experience survey that may be included in kindergarten registration materials provided by local and regional boards of education to parents or guardians of children enrolling in kindergarten pursuant to section 10-184 of the general statutes. The board shall use such survey to collect information regarding (1) whether the child enrolling in kindergarten has participated in a preschool program, and (2) (A) if such child has participated in a preschool program, the nature, length and setting of such preschool program, or (B) if the child has not participated in a preschool program, the reasons why such child did not participate in a preschool program, including, but not limited to, financial difficulty, lack of transportation, parental choice regarding enrollment, limitations related to the hours of operation of available preschool programs and any other barriers to participation in a preschool program.

Sec. 503. Subsection (c) of section 10-10a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2014):

(c) [On or before July 1, 2013, the department shall expand the] The state-wide public school information system [as follows] shall:

(1) Track and report data relating to student, teacher and school and district performance growth and make such information available to local and regional boards of education for use in evaluating educational performance and growth of teachers and students enrolled in public schools in the state. Such information shall be collected or calculated based on information received from local and regional boards of education and other relevant sources. Such information shall include, but not be limited to:

(A) In addition to performance on state-wide mastery examinations pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, data relating to students shall include, but not be limited to, (i) the primary language spoken at the home of a student, (ii) student transcripts, (iii) student attendance and student mobility, [and] (iv) reliable, valid assessments of a student's readiness to enter public school at the kindergarten level, and (v) data collected, if any, from the preschool experience survey, described in section 502 of this act;

(B) Data relating to teachers shall include, but not be limited to, (i) teacher credentials, such as master's degrees, teacher preparation programs completed and certification levels and endorsement areas, (ii) teacher assessments, such as whether a teacher is deemed highly qualified pursuant to the No Child Left Behind Act, P. L. 107-110, or deemed to meet such other designations as may be established by federal law or regulations for the purposes of tracking the equitable distribution of instructional staff, (iii) the presence of substitute teachers in a teacher's classroom, (iv) class size, (v) numbers relating to absenteeism in a teacher's classroom, and (vi) the presence of a teacher's aide. The department shall assign a unique teacher identifier to each teacher prior to collecting such data in the public school information system;

(C) Data relating to schools and districts shall include, but not be limited to, (i) school population, (ii) annual student graduation rates, (iii) annual teacher retention rates, (iv) school disciplinary records, such as data relating to suspensions, expulsions and other disciplinary actions, (v) the percentage of students whose primary language is not English, (vi) the number of and professional credentials of support personnel, and (vii) information relating to instructional technology, such as access to computers.

(2) Collect data relating to student enrollment in and graduation from institutions of higher education for any student who had been assigned a unique student identifier pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, provided such data is available.

(3) Develop means for access to and data sharing with the data systems of public institutions of higher education in the state.

Sec. 504. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) The Office of Early Childhood shall develop and implement an early childhood information system. Such early childhood information system shall facilitate and encourage the sharing of data between and among early childhood service providers by tracking (1) the health, safety and school readiness of all young children receiving early care and education services from (A) any local or regional board of education, including children enrolled in a preschool program under the Connecticut Smart Start competitive grant program, pursuant to section 501 of this act, (B) school readiness program, as defined in section 10-16p of the general statutes, as amended by this act, or (C) any program receiving public funding, in a manner similar to the system described in section 10-10a of the general statutes, (2) the characteristics of the existing and potential workforce serving such children, (3) the characteristics of such programs serving such children, and (4) data collected, if any, from the preschool experience survey, described in section 502 of this act.

(b) Any local or regional board of education, school readiness program, or any child day care center as described in subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 19a-77 of the general statutes and licensed by the Department of Public Health or the Office of Early Childhood, shall ensure that all children and all staff in a school under the jurisdiction of such board, program or center are entered into the early childhood information system. "