Amend CSHB 4 (house committee report) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
SECTION ____.  Subchapter E, Chapter 29, Education Code, is amended by adding Sections 29.15301 and 29.15302 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.15301.  OFFICE OF EARLY LEARNING. (a) The commissioner by rule shall establish the office of early learning as a division within the agency to:
(1)  provide oversight of prekindergarten programs and prekindergarten funding; and
(2)  assist school districts in developing local solutions and improving prekindergarten programs.
(b)  The office of early learning shall:
(1)  make recommendations to the agency regarding the improvement of prekindergarten programs;
(2)  create a process for school districts to form partnerships with child-care centers to provide prekindergarten programs and provide:
(A)  a model contract for a partnership with a child-care center; and
(B)  communications and outreach plans for promoting partnerships;
(3)  assist school districts in developing local strategies to promote early childhood development;
(4)  conduct outreach on the use of tuition-based prekindergarten programs, including a process districts may use to establish a tuition-based program;
(5)  make recommendations regarding the type of data needed from school districts to assess prekindergarten programs; and
(6)  publish approved assessment instruments that may be administered to students in prekindergarten programs.
Sec. 29.15302.  TEXAS EARLY LEARNING COUNCIL ADVISORY ROLE. The governor's Texas Early Learning Council shall act in an advisory role to the office of early learning and provide assistance when requested by the office.
SECTION ____.  Section 29.1534, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f)  On an annual basis each school district shall submit to the office of early learning a report that details the district's plan for promoting and increasing community awareness of prekindergarten programs in the district.
SECTION ____.  Subchapter E, Chapter 29, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 29.162 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.162.  MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM COORDINATION. The office of early learning, the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas Head Start State Collaboration Office, the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, the Health and Human Services Commission, and the Department of Family and Protective Services shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to coordinate early childhood learning programs, including prekindergarten programs, and to develop a comprehensive statewide early childhood education system.