House subcommittee discusses prekindergarten oversight

The House Subcommittee on Academic and Career-Oriented Education met March 27 to discuss HB 117, a bill that would initiate a review of state oversight of early childhood education and care centers. 

Currently, such centers are jointly overseen by the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Health and Human Services Agency, and the Texas Workforce Commission. With three agencies each providing guidance for early childhood centers, rules can sometimes be difficult to implement or even contradictory. 

The bill's author, Rep. Alan Schoolcraft (R-McQueeney) explained that the bill does not aim to change state support for early childhood centers, but rather to make their oversight more efficient and consistent. Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin) thanked Schoolcraft for offering the bill, mentioning that he had similar ideas in previous sessions, but never quite found the right solution to the issue.

Several people testified in support of the bill, many of them from private childcare providers. They said that inconsistencies in state regulation make it hard to comply, to the detriment of the students. They also mentioned that only a handful of school districts have initiated public-private partnerships for early childhood education; many opted to start their own prekindergarten programs instead. Finally, the private providers complained that competition from public pre-K programs have cut into their market, mentioning more extensive regulations on private providers as an disadvantage.

The bill was left pending in committee and will be heard again at a future meeting.