A Florida House Education panel advanced legislation Tuesday that would allow children in jeopardy of not grasping performance standards in the state’s Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program to re-enroll for an additional year.
The VPK program was established in 2004 and is available to 4-year-olds. It remains one of the state’s most widely used and broadly popular educational choice programs, serving nearly 160,000 students.
Rep. Jason Fischer, R-Jacksonville, who sponsors HB 951, clarified that the bill does not require parents to retain students in Pre-K if assessments suggest they might not be ready for kindergarten. It just gives them the option.
Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, called it “one of the most important bills we will hear this year when it comes to early childhood education.”
“If you are successful in the early grades and you learn to read, then you will be successful the rest of your educational career and into life,” she said.
Harrell added giving the parents the opportunity to decide if their child should stay in VPK another year is crucial.
“Getting those skills in place before they go into kindergarten will help them the rest of their educational career,” she said. “In the long run, it is going to save us all money.”
Bill Bunkley, president of the Florida Ethics and Religion Liberty Commission and Shan Goff, Florida policy director for ExcelinED, waived in support of the bill. Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, has filed similar legislation in the Senate.
