Texas

In June 2022, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) announced a new child care apprenticeship program to address a workforce shortage in the industry. To build a pipeline of skilled teachers, the TWC was awarded three grants totaling $793,401 to create two new early childhood apprenticeship programs and expand one existing program. The grants expand the Camp Fire First Texas program in Tarrant County, create a new program at Dallas College, and create another new program at the Heart of Texas Workforce Development Board, Inc. in Waco. The apprenticeship programs train teachers while offering full-time and paid positions. The grants also assist apprentices who have completed the Registered Apprenticeship Program by transferring their completion certificate into college credit hours, putting them within three to five classes of earning an associate degree.

Sources:

Texas Workforce Commission. (n.d.). Child Care & Early Learning Services - Program Overview.

Texas Workforce Commission. (2022). TWC Awards Grants to Develop Child Care Apprenticeship Programs.

The Texas Education Agency’s Texas Student Data Systems hosts the states’ P-20 longitudinal data system, which includes early childhood data (e.g., public/private pre-K data, assessment results, and staff) since 2019 in addition to other raw and aggregate data from the Public Education Information Management System. The system functions as a central data warehouse and links collections of data across agencies, including data submitted to the reporting tool, the Early Childhood Data System. The system links demographic, program, and individual data spanning childhood education, K-12, higher education, and workforce. The individual data is deidentified with a unique identifier. Data is available internally for agencies and authorized users.

The Texas Student Data System has been in development since the early 2000s (S.B. 1 (2002-2003) ),but has included early childhood data only since 2019. The system is largely funded by federal grants and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.

Sources:
Texas Student Data System (n.d.). Infographic.
Texas Public Education Information Resource. (n.d.). TPEIR Home Page.
Texas Education Agency. (n.d.). Early Childhood Data Collection Requirements.
The State of Texas. (2003). Text of Conference Committee Report Senate Bill No. 1 (General Appropriations Act).

In 2009, in an initiative called "SA 2020," Mayor Julián Castro asked San Antonio residents to consider what they wanted their community to look like in 10 years. To consider where the city should put its resources to achieve their collective vision, Castro established the Brainpower Initiative Task Force, composed of business and community leaders and scholars. This task force recommended that the city fund high-quality prekindergarten for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

In 2012, 54% of San Antonio voters approved a referendum to fund Pre-K for SA through a one-eighth-cent sales tax. Annually, the tax raises $36 million for preschool funding each year.

Texas’s targeted public pre-K program serves 47% of the state's population of 4-year-olds. To be eligible, children must meet one of a short list of criteria meant to identify and support children experiencing risk factors. Public School Prekindergarten is administered by the Texas Education Administration’s Early Childhood Division and is offered in a combination of public and private settings. Additionally, the State’s House Bill 3, signed into law in June 2019, requires that “all prekindergarten programs offered to eligible four-year-old students be full-day, and meet the high-quality requirements adopted by the legislature in 2015” (TEA, 2022). Texas continued its expansion efforts by launching the Child Care Expansion Initiative in May 2022, which is run by the Texas Workforce Commission. The initiative helps programs open a new location, increase capacity by adding slots, or convert existing slots to infant slots.

Sources:
National Institute for Early Education Research. (2023). Texas.
Texas Education Agency. (n.d.). Prekindergarten Registration and Enrollment.
Texas Education Agency. (n.d.). Prekindergarten Program FAQ.