Virginia Secretary of Education (Education Secretariat)

Overview:

The Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education is a statewide body established by the Virginia General Assembly in 2023 (via House Bill 1423/Senate Bill 1404). The Commission is composed of Virginia legislators and representatives from business, economic development, local government, school divisions, parents, and early care and education programs. Its primary mission is to provide recommendations for and track progress on the financing and quality of Virginia’s comprehensive birth-to-five early childhood care and education (ECCE) system.

Mission and Duties:

• Expand access to and improve the quality of child care statewide.
• Analyze existing and potential new financing opportunities, with a focus on data-driven outcomes.
• Retain, grow, and strengthen the quality of the ECCE workforce.
• Gather and study information and data to accomplish its purposes.
• Analyze data on current and projected availability, quality, cost, and affordability of ECCE services; determine needs and priorities; and develop funding recommendations focused on family choice, access, affordability, and quality.
• Annually report on specific expenditures, outcomes, and impact, including children served, demographics, child-level assessments, classroom-level assessment data, educator turnover and retention, and parental employment.
• Support the development of an integrated early childhood longitudinal data process to capture and link access, quality, and educator data with child outcomes, and facilitate the integration of this data with other longitudinal data systems.
• Monitor and support ongoing research and evaluation conducted by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), University of Virginia (UVA), Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF), and other relevant higher education or research institutes to continuously improve ECCE quality.

Programs and Activities:

• The Commission meets at least four times annually, with meetings open to the public.
• Reports and recommendations are submitted to the Governor and the General Assembly by October 1 each year.
• Public comment is accepted both orally at meetings and in writing via email.

Service Area and Eligibility:

• The Commission’s work impacts all Virginia residents, including those in Louisa County and surrounding regions, by shaping statewide early childhood care and education policy and funding.
• There are no direct eligibility requirements for individuals, as the Commission operates at the policy and systems level, but its recommendations and oversight affect access and quality of early childhood services for families across the Commonwealth.

Governance:

• Membership includes non-legislative representatives (parents, educators, business leaders, local officials) and members of the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate, as well as ex officio members from relevant state agencies.

Public Engagement:

• Commission meetings are open to the public, and recordings are posted online after each meeting.
• Written public comment is accepted and monitored on a daily basis.

For more information about meetings, reports, and public participation, visit the Commission’s section on the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation website.