House Bill 1340: Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Program

February 9, 2022August 16, 2022 Bill Tracker

House Bill 1340 would create the Family Engagement Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Program, which would provide “home-based instruction and services” to at least 1,000 preschool-age children throughout the state. Families would participate in the program on a voluntary basis, and all instruction and services would be delivered in the home of each child. The pilot program would be considered a component of the Early Learning Collaborative Act of 2013.

The Family Engagement Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Program, as described in HB 1340, is designed to “improve a child’s transition into elementary education” by providing basic reading, math, and science content to preschool-age children in their homes. The program would be aligned to state and national standards for early learning, and would include “a parental engagement and involvement component” in multiple languages. The program would provide a computer and/or internet service to families, as needed, and would include an evaluation component to measure academic growth for participating students.

There are some questions about the Family Engagement Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Program that are not answered in HB 1340. To start, it is unclear how participating preschool children would be selected for the program. HB 1340 calls for the program to provide instruction to at least 1,000 children, but does not list eligibility qualifications or note how participation would be determined in the event that interest in the programs exceeds the 1,000-child cap. Additionally, while HB 1340 calls for the program to be administered by a 501(c)(3) organization, it does not explain how such an organization would be selected, or the standards by which such an organization would be held accountable. These questions will likely have to be answered—likely necessitating amendments to HB 1340—before the bill moves much further.

On January 31, HB 1340 passed the Senate Education Committee. It is now awaiting action on the House floor.

Updates:
2/9/22 Update:
On February 9, the House passed HB 1340. It will now be transmitted to the Senate.

3/3/22 Update:
The Senate declined to take action on HB 1340 by the March 1 deadline, causing this bill to die in committee.