Posted: | January 15, 2021 10:27 AM |
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From: | Representative Isabella V. Fitzgerald and Rep. Stephen Kinsey |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Full Day Kindergarten |
Educating children in a positive, structured environment where they can begin to learn at an early age enhances their cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. All children deserve to have these benefits so they will have the best chance at succeeding as they grow older. With this in mind, my legislation would implement full-day kindergarten as a formal component of basic education. Under this bill, the board of school directors in each school district would be required to establish and maintain a full-time kindergarten program for children between the ages of three and five years of age by the 2022-2023 school year. This legislation would also require the Department of Education—with the assistance of a newly created Full-Day Kindergarten Implementation Advisory Committee—to develop a state plan for full-day kindergarten, advise school districts on how to implement a full-day kindergarten program, and provide technical assistance and other resources to school districts. Every child deserves the opportunity to achieve their dreams no matter their circumstances. Please join me in supporting full-day kindergarten in Pennsylvania as a means of giving children the advantage of being able to begin learning at an earlier age. |
Introduced as HB689