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Who cares
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Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
1 Multi-sponsor
History
- Referred to education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Relates to the expenditure of pre-kindergarten program grant funds
In Assembly Committee · Education · Sponsor Suzi Oppenheimer
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:A9900
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to the expenditure of pre-kindergarten program grant funds
Purpose or general idea of bill
The Universal Pre-kindergarten Program (UPK) is a state-funded program which provides education-based, high quality pre-kindergarten to four year old children. UPK programs operate for a minimum of 2 1/2, hours per day for five days a week during the school year. This legislation would provide school districts with great- er flexibility in the use of their unexpended UPK grants to maximize the number of children who are served.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 would permit a school district which is eligible to receive a UPK grant but unable to fill all of their funded slots the ability to utilize unexpended grant money to create full-day slots and support the cost of transporting pre-k students. Section 2 would revise the Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirement.
Justification
Early education programs provide a strong foundation for children, especially at-risk children. Research has shown that children who are enrolled in high quality pre-kindergarten programs are less likely to require special education services, repeat grades or drop out of school. Full implementation of UPK is the goal but it has not yet been realized.
The NY State Education Department reports that uncertainty about fund- ing, insufficient per-pupil allocations, parents' interest in full-day program and the lack of transportation for pre-k programs are barriers to full enrollment. This legislation would allow schools districts flex- ibility to tailor and more fully utilize their UPK grants.
Prior legislative history
New bill
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.