RI S3147

Sets enrollment goal of no less than 70% of all children ages 3 and 4 in high-quality prekindergarten options through a mixed-delivery system including Head Start, local education agencies, licensed center-based childcare, and family childcare providers

Authorizes the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to promulgate rules and regulations for state-managed prekindergarten, with quality standards meeting or exceeding National Institute for Early Education Research recommendations or federal Head Start Performance Standards

Adds new legislative finding recognizing Head Start programs' decades of service and Rhode Island's state investment to sustain access, support competitive teacher salaries, and help programs meet the required 20% state/local funding match

Requires the Department of Human Services to sustain and expand the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood scholarship program for early childhood educators pursuing associate's or bachelor's degrees

Mandates that funding for both state prekindergarten and Head Start programs be regularly adjusted to ensure teacher wages and benefits are competitive with similarly qualified kindergarten teachers