HJ602: Constitutional amendment; right to early childhood education (first reference).

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 602

Offered January 9, 2013
Prefiled January 5, 2013
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia by adding in Article VIII a section numbered 12, relating to the right to early childhood education.
Patron-- Krupicka

Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, a majority of the members elected to each house agreeing, That the following amendment to the Constitution of Virginia be, and the same hereby is, proposed and referred to the General Assembly at its first regular session held after the next general election of members of the House of Delegates for its concurrence in conformity with the provisions of Section 1 of Article XII of the Constitution of Virginia, namely:

Amend the Constitution of Virginia by adding in Article VIII a section numbered 12 as follows:

ARTICLE VIII
EDUCATION

Section 12. Right to early childhood education.

To the end that every child in Virginia arrive in kindergarten and advance to the first grade with a strong foundation for success in school, the Board of Education shall develop Learning Readiness Quality Standards for State-supported early learning programs, subject to revision by the General Assembly, designed to support a child's readiness for kindergarten and the first grade. The General Assembly shall allocate funds to ensure that every Virginia family has the option to utilize a high quality early learning program that meets the Learning Readiness Quality Standards, available at a minimum to each child in the year in which said child reaches four years of age and offered through a qualified early learning program.