2005: Early Childhood Education

One of the under-discussed subjects in the legislative arena involves early childhood education, including pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and elementary-level programs. ;nbsp;Perhaps by necessity, perhaps by choice, the focus of most education-related legislative debates involves the big picture issues, such as taxation and commitment of financial resources to fund schools. ;nbsp;Seldom has the Legislature devoted substantial periods of time to such critical issues as child development and the youngest of our at-risk students. ;nbsp;There have been attempts to bring the relevant issues to the forefront of the public agenda, but most are thwarted by cost factors and other pressing legislative issues.

There have been several attempts to alter the kindergarten enrollment age and/or the deadline to enroll students into kindergarten programs, most recently in 2004 by Senator Elaine Stuhr.¹ ;nbsp;There have been failed attempts to create spending and/or levy exclusions in order to encourage schools to move toward offering full-day kindergarten programs, most recently, for instance, by Senator Gwen Howard in 2005.²;nbsp;The three most recent chairs of the Legislature's Education Committee, Senators Ron Withem, Ardyce Bohlke, and Ron Raikes, placed early childhood education issues at the forefront or near the forefront of their own legislative agendas at one time or another. ;nbsp;All met limited success in promoting such agendas.

In 2002, Senator Raikes introduced a bill for a formal study on kindergarten readiness. ;nbsp;LB 1169 would have required the Department of Education to conduct the study, which would have included:

1. Characteristics for incoming kindergartners that are beneficial for success in kindergarten;
   
   
2. An estimate of the number and distribution of kindergartners in Nebraska possessing such characteristics; and
   
   
3. The number, location, and traits of early childhood education programs that may help children acquire such characteristics.³

The Education Committee advanced the bill on a unanimous vote, but the measure never advanced any further.⁴ ;nbsp;Senator Raikes had filed an appropriation ("A") bill providing for a relatively nominal amount of $25,000 over a two-year period to pay for the study.⁵;nbsp;The Department of Education would have been authorized to contract with an outside consultant to help conduct the study.

The State Board of Education, along with the staff of the Department of Education, was not dissuaded from the mission set forth in LB 1169. ;nbsp;The State Board established its own task force in 2004 to initiate a study, which coincided with its overall objective toward implementation of an essential education policy. ;nbsp;The Nebraska Early Childhood Policy Study would ultimately outline five recommendations, including:

1. Implement statewide full day/every day kindergarten;
   
   
2. Expand the Nebraska Early Childhood Grant Program to increase availability of collaborative community based pre-kindergarten for all 3- and 4-year-olds;
   
   
3. Establish expectations for supporting best practices, which encompass class size and active learning environments in kindergarten through third grade;
   
   
4. Ensure access to high quality early childhood education and care services for all children birth to age three whose families would choose to access such services; and
   
   
5. Establish a system for exchanging information with families about the development and learning of young children from birth through age eight.⁶

The study was conducted by department staff but also included representatives from groups involved in or interested in early childhood education.

Prior to 2005, the Nebraska school finance formula acknowledged the cost of educating kindergarten and grade school children in relation to the cost of educating students in higher grade levels. ;nbsp;The policy statement, essentially, was that it costs progressively more to educate students as they move up through grade levels. ;nbsp;In calculating adjusted formula students for each local system, for instance, the formula gives less weight to early grade levels and more weight to higher grade levels.

The weighting factors were established under LB 1059 (1990) and remained unchanged until 2005. ;nbsp;In 1997, the Legislature passed LB 806, which, in part, added several demographic factors, including limited English proficiency and poverty.⁷;nbsp;But there had never been a specific factor related to early childhood education in the computation of state aid, until 2005.

The 2005 Session marked a real breakthrough on the issue of early childhood education, perhaps not in a monumental manner but certainly a noteworthy manner. ;nbsp;The session witnessed the introduction of four separate early childhood education bills, including:

LB 228 (Howard) Proposed to allow districts to exceed the levy limit by the amounts levied to implement full-day kindergarten programs for poverty students and to pay for special building and sinking funds for the construction, expansion, or alteration of buildings to provide the programs for these students.⁸

LB 350 (Bourne) Proposed to allow districts to exceed the levy limit by the amounts levied to implement pre-kindergarten programs for poverty students and to pay for special building and sinking funds for the construction, expansion, or alteration of buildings to provide programs for these students. ;nbsp;Authorized certain districts ;nbsp;to exceed their spending limit by a specific amount if the district projects a greater than fifteen student increase in pre-kindergarten poverty students.⁹

LB 595 (Kruse) Proposed to change the factors used to compute adjusted formula students in the state aid formula. ;nbsp;Increased the weighting factors for full-day kindergarten, limited English proficiency, and poverty. ;nbsp;Allowed districts to exceed the spending lid in 2006-07 for changes in the formula student count due to increased weighting for full-day kindergarten, LEP, and the poverty factors.¹⁰

LB 577 (Raikes) Proposed the inclusion of early childhood education programs within the state aid formula.¹¹

Omaha-area lawmakers introduced the first three measures, while Senator Raikes of Lincoln offered the fourth measure, LB 577 (2005).

The Education Committee received public comment on the four bills within a two-day period, January 31 to February 1, 2005. ;nbsp;Naturally, the measure with seemingly the best chance of advancement was LB 577 for the simple reason that the sponsor was the chair of the committee, although both Senators Bourne and Howard also served as members of the committee. ;nbsp;The public hearing for LB 577 was very well attended with supporting testimony from such schools and organizations as: ;nbsp;Voices For Children in Nebraska, University of Nebraska, State Board of Education, Nebraska Department of Education, Crete Public Schools, Lexington Public Schools, Nebraska Association for the Education of Young Children, Inc., Westside Community Schools, Omaha Public Schools, Kearney Public Schools, Lincoln Public Schools, Nebraska State Education Association, Grand Island Public Schools, Nebraska Association of Elementary School Principals, and the Nebraska Council of School Administrators.¹²;nbsp;Many of those testifying also recognized the merits of the other early childhood bills.

Katie Mathews, an elementary principal representing Kearney Public Schools and elementary principals statewide, testified that the availability of early childhood programs varies among communities, and students in some areas are underserved or not served at all. ;nbsp;Even within her school district, a large Class III system, the availability of programs depends upon a number of factors. ;nbsp;"[O]nly two of our nine elementary schools have full-day kindergarten and that is because of space, for one, and the other is we have a spending limit that does not permit us to hire the additional seven teachers that are needed," she said.¹³

Richard Eisenhauer, Superintendent at Lexington Public Schools, stressed the growing need for state assistance in the area of early childhood education. ;nbsp;"Many Nebraska schools are experiencing increasingly diverse enrollments and this fact underlies my urgency for legislation to make pre-kindergarten experiences more widely available in their state," he said.¹⁴;nbsp;Lexington, another large Class III system, had 65% of its enrollment in 2005 classified as poverty level, 17% classified as special education, and 22% English language learners (ELL). ;nbsp;Eisenhauer urged the committee to advance legislation to assist school districts with the financial costs of providing early childhood programs and to low income and other at-risk students.

As introduced, LB 577 sought to provide increased funding for the existing Early Childhood Education Grant Program sufficient to serve an additional one-third of the un-served at-risk children eligible to attend kindergarten. ;nbsp;The increased appropriations would occur in 2005-06 and the following two years.¹⁵;nbsp;The genesis of the grant program was established in 1990 and ran within two separate yet partially intertwined veins of legislative effort.

The first occurred in 1990 with the passage of LB 567, chiefly sponsored by Senator Ron Withem of Papillion. ;nbsp;LB 567 was a monumental piece of legislation and would serve as a cornerstone for future legislative initiatives concerning early childhood education. ;nbsp;Senator Withem, then chair of the Education Committee, incorporated legislative findings that:

1. Early childhood and parent education programs can assist children in achieving their potential as citizens, workers, and human beings;
   
   
2. Early childhood education has been proven to be a sound public investment of funds not only in assuring productive, taxpaying workers in the economy but also in avoidance of increasingly expensive social costs for those who drop out as productive members of society;
   
   
3. The key ingredient in an effective early childhood education program is a strong family education component because the role of the parent is of critical importance;
   
   
4. While all children can benefit from quality, developmentally appropriate early childhood education experiences, such experiences are especially important for at-risk infants and children; and
   
   
5. Current early childhood education programs serve only a fraction of Nebraska's children and the quality of current programs varies widely.¹⁶

The legislation also provided intent "to encourage the provision of high-quality early childhood education programs for infants and young children."¹⁷

LB 567 (1990) established the Early Childhood Education Pilot Project Program under the auspices of the Department of Education. ;nbsp;Under this program, the State Board of Education would establish guidelines and criteria for pilot projects, and request proposals from school districts and cooperatives. ;nbsp;The board was authorized to approve four such proposals and award up to $100,000 per year for each project for a period of three years.¹⁸ ;nbsp;Senator Withem was able to secure an appropriation of over $700,000 over a two-year timeframe to get the program started.¹⁹

In 2001, Senator Ron Raikes, in his first year as chair of the Education Committee, successfully sought passage of LB 759 to take the pilot program to the next level. ;nbsp;He did not wish to turn away from those pilot programs already commenced and active, but he wanted to somehow expand the availability of funds for other early childhood programs. ;nbsp;The legislation affectively eliminated the pilot project and replaced it with an Early Childhood Education Grant Program, once again under the auspices of the Department of Education.²⁰

Under the new grant program, previously selected pilot projects would be eligible for continuation grants if the programs adhere to the requirements of the legislation. ;nbsp;The State Board would be authorized to grant funds to new projects brought forward by school districts, cooperatives, and ESUs. ;nbsp;The Legislature had appropriated $560,000 of general funds in 2000-01 for pilot program grants. ;nbsp;LB 759 did not require any additional funding for early childhood education program grants since Governor Johanns had included an additional $1 million in 2001-02 and $2 million in 2002-03 for early childhood education projects in his budget recommendation.²¹

The second vein of legislative initiative involved the passage of federal legislation and the conforming state legislation that followed. ;nbsp;In 1990, Congress established the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act in response to the need for quality child care.²² ;nbsp;The Child Care and Development Block Grant program was designed to support families by increasing the availability, affordability, and quality of child care in the United States. ;nbsp;The federal legislation required each state to develop a plan for utilization of the allotted funds. ;nbsp;In 1991, the Nebraska Legislature met this obligation through the passage of the Quality of Child Care Act (LB 836), which was introduced by Senator Don Wesely of Lincoln.²³

The plan implemented by the Nebraska Legislature in 1991 was to distribute the bulk of the federal funds toward vouchers to parents who could not otherwise afford child care services, consistent with the intent of the federal program. ;nbsp;The remainder of the funds was used for quality enhancement efforts by various state agencies and the Early Childhood Training Center. ;nbsp;The Training Center was established in 1990 under LB 567 and provides support and training to staff working with children and their families.²⁴;nbsp;The Training Center is housed at Educational Service Unit #3 in Omaha.

In 2005, Senator Raikes sought to further enhance the existing grant program to reach more children in need of early childhood educational services, particularly at risk children. ;nbsp;During the public hearing for LB 577, Senator Raikes said that existing programs served about 1,300 children in 2003-04 by 28 public schools and ESUs. ;nbsp;Approximately 800 of those children were four year olds, who would attend kindergarten in the following year. ;nbsp;He quoted statistics from the Department of Education that there were about 4,500 at-risk children currently un-served in early childhood programs. ;nbsp;The problem, as one might expect, came down to money. ;nbsp;The price tag of LB 577, as introduced, had a projected fiscal impact of about $9.5 million for 2005-06, $15.8 million for 2006-07, $23.1 million for 2007-08, and $18.9 million for 2008-09 and thereafter.²⁵;nbsp;The prospects for such a proposal were not particularly good in a legislative session that had such weighty issues as a $145.8 million final settlement on the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Settlement Fund lawsuit, among other fiscal matters.

Nevertheless, on March 11, 2005, Senator DiAnna Schimek designated LB 577 as her personal priority bill for the session.²⁶ ;nbsp;This was a vital step if the legislation was to have any hope at all. ;nbsp;The next step was to develop a revised version of the legislation in order to be fiscally feasible. ;nbsp;The subject matter of the legislation was such that almost no one could argue against it, but the cost, on the other hand, was a potential stumbling block. ;nbsp;Accordingly, Senator Raikes went to work to find a viable solution, something that could fly in an otherwise tight fiscal-minded session. ;nbsp;Finally, on May 10, 2005, the 76th day of the 90-day session, the Education Committee advanced a proposal they hoped would have a chance.²⁷

The proposal advanced from committee, and ultimately passed by the Legislature, would recognize early childhood education within the state aid formula, provide a limited spending lid exclusion, and prioritize the distribution of grant funds under the existing grant program. ;nbsp;In a separate yet related move, Senator Raikes would eventually find success in amending the biennium budget bill (LB 425) to include funding for the Early Childhood Education Grant Program.

Under LB 577, as passed, the state aid formula was amended to include a weighting factor for early childhood education programs and to include the membership of children enrolled in an early childhood grant funded program in the calculation of state aid. ;nbsp;However, the membership of those who will be eligible to attend kindergarten in the following year is included so long as the program has received an early childhood grant through the Early Childhood Education Grant Program for three years.

In essence, LB 577 provided a mechanism for school districts to include the students enrolled in an early childhood education program incorporated within the state aid calculations. ;nbsp;The State had a vested interest in the formation and maintenance of these programs, so schools would need to comply with certain standards before qualifying for additional aid under the formula.

The early childhood education students would be included as adjusted formula students for determining a district's formula need in the first two years, but would be subtracted from adjusted formula students for the first two years for the purpose of determining average formula cost per student in each cost grouping.²⁸ ;nbsp;This sounds complicated, but the reason was to allow funding to be provided based upon K-12 students until the expenditures for early childhood education students are reflected in the calculation of state aid. ;nbsp;School districts that receive additional state aid attributed to the early childhood program would be authorized to exceed their applicable allowable growth rate (spending limitation) in an amount equal to the number of adjusted formula students in the early childhood program times the cost group cost per student.²⁹

LB 577 also established a system to prioritize the issuance of grants under the Early Childhood Education Grant Program. ;nbsp;The first priority would be for continuation grants to programs that received grants in the prior year. ;nbsp;The second priority would be for new grants and expansion grants for programs that will serve at-risk children who will be eligible to attend kindergarten the following school year. ;nbsp;The third priority would be for new grants, expansion grants, and continuation grants for programs serving children younger than those who will be eligible to attend kindergarten the following school year.³⁰

Through the passage of LB 577, Senator Raikes had achieved something few would have attempted. ;nbsp;Owing perhaps to the well-accepted purpose of the measure (i.e., to help children at risk), the Legislature was willing to effectively write a blank check in order to push LB 577 through the legislative process. ;nbsp;The measure would increase necessary appropriations for state aid to education beginning in 2007-08. ;nbsp;This had the effect of binding the Legislature to this obligation in the out years, the next biennium and the biennium after that. ;nbsp;The measure produced what might be called a conveyer belt effect on the formula, since it encouraged school entities to apply for grants with the notion that the students who participated in those programs would eventually be counted in the state aid formula.

Table 172. ;nbsp;Estimated State Aid Increase under LB 577 (2005)

(In dollars)

Source: ;nbsp;Nebraska Legislative Fiscal Office, Fiscal Impact Statement, LB 577 (2005), prepared by Sandy Sostad, Nebraska Legislature, 99th Leg., 1st Sess., 2005, June 1, 2005, 1.

Note: ;nbsp;During Select File, LB 577 was amended to provide that early childhood programs that have operated for three years and have been approved as meeting the same guidelines as early childhood programs receiving state grants may also have their four year olds integrated into the state aid formula. ;nbsp;Therefore, the fiscal impact would be greater beginning in 2008-09 by between $500,000 to $1 million.

Senator Raikes sweetened the deal for public education during the biennium budget debate. ;nbsp;On May 11, 2005, he successfully amended the mainline budget bill (LB 425) to increase funding for special education funding, one of the major issues in the 2005 Session. ;nbsp;Senator Raikes' amendment increased special education funding by 5% for 2005-06 and 3% in 2006-07.³¹;nbsp;At the start of the session, both the executive branch and the Appropriations Committee sought a zero percent growth in special education funding, which would have maintained funding at the 2004-05 appropriation of $161.1 million for both 2005-06 and 2006-07. ;nbsp;With the adoption of the Raikes amendment, special education funding would grow by $21.2 million over the next two years.

The same amendment to LB 425 also incorporated a provision to increase overall funding for the Early Childhood Education Grant Program. ;nbsp;The Raikes amendment provided an additional $1.7 million in grant funding in each of the next two years.³²;nbsp;Prior to the adoption of the Raikes amendment, the mainline budget bill provided approximately $2 million in each year of the biennium for early childhood education project grants. ;nbsp;The Raikes amendment substantially increased the appropriation to $3,680,471 for each of the next two years.

LB 577 was passed by the Legislature on June 3, 2005 by a solid 42-0 vote.³³;nbsp;Senator Raikes and those who supported the legislation achieved an unlikely objective to pursue new funding for a program in an otherwise conservative legislative session. ;nbsp;LB 577 also renewed hope that the Legislature would take a greater role in promoting the merits of early childhood education.

Governor Heineman did not immediately sign the measure into law. ;nbsp;He had concerns about the long-range impact it would have on appropriations for state aid to education. ;nbsp;He also knew that it represented a fairly open-ended fiscal scenario for future years. ;nbsp;Ultimately, however, he did sign the bill into law, in part, with the hope that other funding sources would become available from foundations and other private donations to boost the overall commitment to early childhood education programs.

Governor Heineman, for the most part, agreed with the decisions of the Legislature concerning LB 425, the mainline budget bill. ;nbsp;He returned the legislation on May 24, 2005 with a few line-item vetoes, one of which related to the additional funding for grants under the Early Childhood Education Grant Program. ;nbsp;In a letter to the Legislature, Governor Heineman explained:

I have vetoed $88,850 for both FY 2005-06 and FY 2006-07 of the $1,777,000 General Fund increase each year to the Department of Education for Early Childhood programs, which were specifically designated for agency operations. ;nbsp;This budget still provides for a shift of $104,859 in funding for this program from aid to operations. ;nbsp;The department is fully capable of administering additional grants to new Early Childhood programs without additional administrative resources.³⁴

The veto action was not contested by the Legislature. ;nbsp;Notwithstanding the Governor's line-item veto, an additional $1,688,150 would be applied toward the grant program for both 2005-06 and 2006-07.