SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 14

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2004

INTRODUCED BY

Gay G. Kernan

FOR THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AND THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT BOARD TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF STATEWIDE PRE-KINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS.

     WHEREAS, the early years of a child's life are almost universally recognized as the optimum period of brain development in a child and, therefore, the optimum period for learning; and

     WHEREAS, research attributes substantial economic benefits to high-quality early care and education; and

     WHEREAS, many children in New Mexico enter kindergarten classes unprepared to begin learning the skills taught in kindergarten; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico offers a limited number of programs for the general population of four-year-old children to help prepare them for kindergarten; and

     WHEREAS, most of those programs, such as head start and child care, have income-based eligibility requirements, serve children of mixed ages and rely upon federal funding; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's recently implemented kindergarten plus pilot program has already shown encouraging results, with teachers reporting that children are generally exceeding expectations; and

     WHEREAS, beginning in January 2004, one of these programs will serve four-year-old children to help prepare them for kindergarten; and

     WHEREAS, approximately forty-three states and the District of Columbia fund pre-kindergarten programs, whether half-day or full-day, whether for specific or general populations; and

     WHEREAS, a primary motivation for many of these programs was the high number of children in the respective states identified as failing in the early grades, together with the prospect of their continued poor school performance and subsequent dependence on social programs during later years; and

     WHEREAS, those states that have implemented universal, state-supported pre-kindergarten programs for all four-year-olds have found them to be effective and successful, producing

dramatic gains in cognitive skills among poor children and minority children; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico will benefit from more widely available high-quality pre-kindergarten programs, in the short term through the enhanced recruitment and retention of parent employees whose children attend high-quality programs, and in the long term through a better-educated and more productive workforce;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the public education department, in collaboration with the child development board, be requested to study the programs currently offered by licensed preschools to four-year-old children and amend and align the standards of these programs as needed to ensure that the children served will be prepared for kindergarten; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the public education department, in collaboration with the child development board, be requested to study the feasibility of phasing in a state-funded voluntary statewide pre-kindergarten program to help prepare all four-year-old children for kindergarten, beginning with programs to serve four-year-old children most in need based upon indicators in the at-risk index; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study include a review of the methods and results of the kindergarten plus pilot program for possible implementation throughout the state; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the public education department and the child development board report their findings and recommendations to the legislative education study committee by November 2004; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of public education, to the chairperson of the child development board and to the director of the legislative education study committee for appropriate distribution.

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