BILL NUMBER: S6328
SPONSOR: MARTINEZ
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to the allocation of
prekindergarten funding to prioritize students eligible for free or
reduced-price lunch and multilingual learners
 
PURPOSE:
This bill sets the allocation for 4-year-old prekindergarten slots at
$17,500 and requires that priority for the available slots from this
funding go to families that are eligible for free or reduced price lunch
or are emergent multilingual language learners.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill sets the per-pupil rate for 4-year old prekinder-
garten funding for school districts at $17,500 per eligible pupil for
the 2025-26 school year. The total allocation for each school district
shall not be more than what the district received in the 2024-25 school
year, unless there is an additional appropriation. If the funding allo-
cation does not meet the needs of all students at $17,500 per 4-year-old
pre-k student, then the district must prioritize these slots to go to
families that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch or are emergent
multilingual language learners.
Section 2 changes the method of selection for how school districts
assign pre-k slots to eligible families by requiring that priority be
given to students from families that qualify for free or reduced-price
lunch or are emergent multilingual language learners.
Section 3 includes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, some school districts only receive $5,400 per pupil per year
in state funding under the "universal" pre-kindergarten program. While
some school districts opt to provide Pre-K in-house, a vast majority
contract with community-based Pre-K providers. The $5,400 allocation
that some school districts pay to community-based providers is not near-
ly enough to meet basic costs for providers and to comply with strict
staffing requirements (student/teacher ratios). While there are some
competitive Pre-K expansion grants which pay a higher per-pupil amount,
this level of funding is still not enough to meet the basic requirements
of the program including required staff, facility requirements, insur-
ance, instructional costs and administrative costs.
Because of the limited funding available in the current Pre-K system,
many school districts have a higher need for Pre-K slots than what fund-
ing allows. This leads many districts to utilize a lottery system to
fill the limited Pre-K slots available. Unfortunately, this often
results in families that have already secured Pre-K from private provid-
ers in the community taking free Pre-K slots, while other families, who
are unable to pay for private Pre-K are shut out from access to any
Pre-K program.
Current Pre-K funding is woefully inadequate and has resulted in the
closure of community-based programs. This bill sets a per-pupil
reimbursement rate at a level that is sustainable for community-based
providers and school districts. Instead of awarding funding to higher-
wealth families who already have access to high quality Pre-K programs,
state funds should be prioritized for those families that do not have
the access or resources to access Pre-K services in their communities.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None additional to the state, unless additional funds are appropriated
for the program.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

Statutes affected:
S6328: 3602-e education law, 3602-e(10) education law