Public education; early childhood care and education, funding formula calculations, etc.

Public education; early childhood care and education; funding formula calculations; Early Childhood Care and Education Fund established; report. Requires the Department of Education to (i) establish and maintain a funding formula for the provision of early childhood care and education services that establishes the minimum funding and number of slots per biennium for such providers based on a cost of quality rate per child, actual data from the prior year, unserved waitlists, and a multiplier based on enrollment and parent demand growth in prior biennia; (ii) make disbursements from the Early Childhood Care and Education Fund (the Fund), established in the bill, to support the provision of early childhood care and education services in accordance with the funding formula set forth in the bill; (iii) make certain funding calculations, in consultation with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, to be included in the funding formula, for the purpose of determining the number of slots to be added to support local or regional economic development efforts; and (iv) submit to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education a report on the status of the Fund, including the data used to calculate the minimum funding and number of slots per biennium established pursuant to the funding formula. The bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to submit to the Generally Assembly by November 1 of each year a report on Fund revenues, distributions, and balances.