Education advocacy group unveils legislative agenda for 2024. Here's what's in it

Amy Russo, Providence Journal
Updated ·2 min read

A coalition of Rhode Island education organizations unveiled their annual legislative and budget agenda on Thursday, seeking to strengthen child care and early education.

RIght from the Start, composed of eight organizations and led by advocacy group Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, divided its priorities into three areas: early care and education, health and development, and family economic security.

A full accounting of the agenda is available online. Here are some highlights.

Early care and education

  • Expand the state's Child Care Assistance Program, particularly its benefits for child care staff, which are set to dry up in July 2024. The yearlong pilot subsidizes child care costs for early childhood educators and care staff.

  • Continue wage supplements and retention bonuses for skilled educators.

  • Strengthen Head Start and Early Head Start, both of which help children in low-income families with preschool and child-development services.

More: What does McKee's budget offer education? Here's a breakdown, from pre-K classrooms to vaping

Health and development

  • Consistent Medicaid coverage for children under 6 years old – as dozen other states and Washington, D.C. already provide – and better mental health treatment for children and their mothers.

  • End early intervention waiting lists. A statewide list was launched in 2022. As of 2022, RIght from the Start reported 400 special needs children on the list.

  • Prevent upcoming rate cuts to the Rhode Island Department of Health's First Connections program, which offers home visits to new parents including first time caregivers that may need help learning how to care for their newborns.

  • Establish an Early Childhood IDEA task force. This refers to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires states to identify young children with disabilities and developmental delays, and promptly offer assistance. The task force, according to RIght from the Start, would "ensure all children from birth to kindergarten entry receive high-quality Early Childhood IDEA services."

Family economic security

  • Expand paid family leave to 12 weeks, boost wage replacement to 90% to benefit low-income families, provide increased benefits for children in deep poverty and hike the state's earned income tax credit to 30% of the federal credit. That would put Rhode Island on par with Connecticut and Massachusetts.

What are lawmakers saying?

Both House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate Majority Leader Ryan Pearson delivered messages of support for the agenda.

"Please keep telling us what’s going on in the early childhood field … please continue to advocate," Shekarchi said during Thursday's announcement at the State House. "This is so critically important for the future of our state."

More: McKee announces $81M in federal funds for new learning centers around state. What we know.

Gov. Dan McKee primarily reflected on actions his administration had already taken, such as putting funding for 35 new pre-K classrooms in his new budget and creating his Learn365RI initiative to significantly increase out-of-school learning time.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Here's how education advocates want to strengthen child care in RI