Public education; early childhood care and education; funding formula calculations; report. Requires the Department of Education to establish and maintain a funding formula for the provision of early childhood care and education services based on cost of quality rate per child, actual data from the prior year, unserved waitlists, and a multiplier based on enrollment and parent demand growth in prior biennia. The bill requires the funding formula to include an estimate of the number of slots to be added to support local or regional economic development efforts and public-private partnerships focused on increasing the supply of child care services, giving priority to localities or regions identified as child care deserts, as determined by the Department pursuant to the requirements set forth in the bill. The bill also contains several provisions relating to the use and appropriation of funds as applicable to the funding formula, including (i) providing that the funding formula shall not obligate the General Assembly to a specific appropriation, (ii) requiring the funding formula to be used to provide information to guide the General Assembly in making decisions about the proportion of parental demand to be addressed and level of appropriation required to address such demand, and (iii) providing that the annual overall funding available for slots shall be subject to appropriation as determined by the General Assembly. Finally, the bill requires the Department to submit to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education a report on the data used to calculate the minimum funding and number of slots for the funding formula in accordance with the provisions of the bill.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 22.1-289.03