It is often said about early care and education that when brain researchers, economists, and the business community agree, it is time to act. During this 2018 General Assembly Session, our legislators are taking that to heart. House and Senate members have the opportunity to amend the governor’s budget by making their own additions or deletions. The good news is many members are interested in early learning. Most of the amendments stem from the recommendations included in the December 2017 Joint Legislative Audit and Reveiw Commission (JLARC) study, Improving Virginia’s Early Childhood Development Programs. That study included several proposals  Voices deemed “no brainers” for the legislature. You can review Voices’ thoughts on those proposals here.

We wanted to call your attention to four budget amendment proposals Voices supports. Some of the language could be further revised to build on existing systems.

Garrett, 340 #2h – Increase funding for home visiting

Provides $600,000 each year from the general fund to expand voluntary home visiting programs implemented by Early Impact Virginia.

**This item was included in the JLARC report and on Voices’ list of “no brainer” recommendations that are impactful and easy to implement.**

Peace, 136 #26h – VPI classroom observations

Provides $250,000 each year from the general fund and requires the Department of Education to conduct classroom observations and develop appropriate assessments to determine the quality of all Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) classrooms.

**This item was included in the JLARC report and on Voices’ list of “no brainer” recommendations that are impactful and easy to implement.**

Peace, 136 #25h – Quality improvement plan for VPI

Provides $50,000 the first year from the general fund and requires the Department of Education to develop a plan of action to ensure the VPI program is effective and beneficial.

**Reviewing the elements of what makes a quality VPI program is essential; however, this plan could be strengthened by reviewing best practices for public-private partnerships and family engagement. The plan should also include a review of the evaluation of VPI+ and the mixed-delivery grants.**

Carr, 136 #5h/Norment, 136 #2s – Increase the VPI per pupil amount to $6,500

This amendment provides $4.3 million each year to the Virginia Preschool Initiative for the state’s share of increasing the per pupil amount from the current $6,150 that is reflected in the introduced biennial budget, to $6,500.

**Increasing the per pupil amount will help provide resources to school divisions for quality improvement and could incentivize school divisions to serve more children.***

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