Provides early childhood education and care tuition subsidies for native Hawaiian children.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that recent neuroscience research has proven that the early years of a child are the most crucial in a child’s cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development. Eighty-five per cent of a child’s development occurs in the child's earliest development, ages zero through five years old. Future academic success is dependent upon this early period of development. It has been affirmed that there are tremendous opportunities for preventative work with children and families, as well as the predictable, costly consequences of not taking advantage of these opportunities.

The legislature further finds that quality early learning supports aspects of early development activities provided by parents and caregivers in a variety of settings, including child care centers, family child care, and care in the homes of families and friends. Quality early learning is crucial to ensuring that every young child has a good beginning and will not lose the potential with which the child was born.

Hawaii’s Good Beginnings Alliance reports that not only does early childhood education and care reduce academic achievement gaps experienced in grades K-12, it also minimizes future social costs and improves current workforce productivity.

The native Hawaiian population is considered a young population. Native Hawaiian children represent over one-third of the State’s population of ages zero through five years (more than 26,054 children out of 78,163 children in the State). It is estimated that only twenty-three per cent of all three and four year olds attend preschool. That number is even higher for native Hawaiian children.

Many parents need financial assistance to pay for the full cost of quality early childhood education and care.

The purpose of this Act is to provide early childhood education and care tuition subsidies for native Hawaiian children.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $          , or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2005-2006, and the sum of $          , or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007, to increase the number of child care subsidies for native Hawaiian children.

SECTION 3. The sums appropriated shall be expended by the office of Hawaiian affairs for the purposes of this Act.