2010-legislative-priorities : ELC of Manatee County

2010 Legislative Priorities

Fully Fund Early Learning Programs

• 856,634 children (age 0‐12) were living at or below 150% of the federal poverty

level in 2007, meeting eligibility requirements for school readiness services.

Only 247,349 children (less than 30%) received services in 2008‐09 due to

funding limitations.

• $37M in General Revenue must be reinstated to maintain services to the

children currently participating in school readiness.

• $38M is required to replace non‐recurring federal funding from the American

Recovery and Reinvestment Act utilized in 2009‐10 for the Voluntary

Prekindergarten Program.

• $28.6M must be added to address 2008‐09 and 2009‐10 deficits and maintain

services to the children currently participating in the Voluntary Pre‐

Kindergarten Program.

• $42.8M must be added to address anticipated growth in the Voluntary Pre‐

Kindergarten Program.

• Quality early learning services are critical components of economic

development, enabling families to work while their children are prepared to

enter school ready to learn, have fewer special education placements, read at

or above grade level by 3rd grade, graduate high school on time, and be

employed with higher earnings.

Authorize AWI as the Responsible State‐level Entity for All VPK Services

• Create a unified early care and education system with efficiencies in staffing,

infrastructure, and resources across the three state agencies.

• Support a seamless early care and education system that simplifies access for

parents.

• Establish one accountability system statewide that will ease confusion

regarding state approved standards and clearly defines entities responsible for

compliance issues.

Click here to download the 2010 Legislative Priorities PDF.