ND Senate Approves $6M Early Childhood Education Measure
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Senate passed a $6 million measure Wednesday that is aimed at educating some of the state's youngest residents.
Senators voted 33-14 to set the state money aside to expand early childhood education for the 2016-2017 school year. The funding is expected to cover about half the cost of pre-kindergarten education for about 6,000 children, or about $1,000 per student. About $1,500 would be available per child from low-income households.
The legislation now goes to the House.
Tim Flakoll, chairman of the Senate Education Committee and the bill's prime sponsor, said participation in the early childhood education would be voluntary.
"Children will only go if their parents wish them to go," the Fargo Republican said.
The funding would be dispersed to early childhood education providers at public and private schools. But the money wouldn't be available until July 2016 to give school districts time to develop programs, Flakoll said.
Separate legislation that would have created pre-kindergarten programs in only public schools — at a cost of about $26 million annually — was scrapped by senators on Wednesday.
Just 36 percent of North Dakota's 3- and 4-year-olds are currently enrolled in an early childhood care or education program, making the state the fifth-lowest in the nation when it comes to such programs, according to the state Department of Public Instruction.
North Dakota is one of only 10 states that does not provide any state support for general early childhood education programs, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research.
The Legislature two years ago allowed school districts to use local tax revenue to start their own early childhood education programs. State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler, who spoke in support of the legislation last month, said only some school districts began operating approved early childhood education programs in the 2013-2014 school year. She said 21 of the state's 53 counties still lack early childhood education programs.
Senate Minority Leader Mac Schneider, a Grand Forks Democrat, called the funding a good start in helping to establish early childhood education programs across the state.
"For years, North Dakota has been lagging behind other states ... when it comes to providing access to early childhood education for our youngest and cutest and most adorable residents," he said.
(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)