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Introduction
In 1999, the Florida Legislature enacted Florida Statute 411.01, the School Readiness Act (Act) which created Coalitions statewide. The intent of this legislation was to provide an avenue for each county to adopt and maintain a coordinated system of School Readiness programs to help ensure that every child is school ready upon entrance into kindergarten. The Act was amended in 2005 to modify the current structure of statewide Coalitions.
Each Coalition is legislatively responsible for developing a comprehensive service delivery plan for administering the School Readiness and Voluntary Prekindergarten Programs. Early Learning Coalitions are not-for-profit corporations, designed to fulfill the intent of this legislation at the local level. The governing boards consist of 18 to 35 members of the local community. Coalitions are legislatively charged to provide unified leadership, support, and guidance to ensure that the children in their service area have the opportunity to reap the benefits of developmentally appropriate and research-based early education and care programs; help parents achieve and/or maintain self sufficiency; involve parents as their child’s first teacher; emphasize success in school through prevention/intervention; enhance children’s educational readiness, support family education, and include health screenings and referrals.
The unified goal of the Early Learning Coalitions is to increase the quality and availability of early education opportunities for every child in their service area while maximizing efficiency, accountability and effectiveness.
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