The Horizons Act, a bill which proposes injecting $300 million into early childhood education over the next two years, was heard by the Senate Standing Committee on Families and Children. The bill's sponsor Senator Danny Carroll emphasized the necessity of supporting a diverse and robust network of early childhood education centers.
"Early childhood education is looked at as an afterthought," said Carroll. "We think of it as a service that we have so our parents can go to work or run errands and we have done our children a great disservice by taking this approach. The terms 'childcare', 'daycare' - that's meaningless. That's babysitting."
Carroll, who co-chaired the Early Childhood Education Task Force in 2023, repeatedly drew comparisons to the role of education in the care of children under the age of five and how it builds into a K-12 education; however, the Horizons Act does not aim to wrap early childcare education within the Education Cabinet, proposing instead to establish two new divisions within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services dedicated to Early Childhood Education. The act would also create several funds to support both existing and new early childhood education providers.
Andrew McNeill, President of the conservative policy organization KYFREE, called the bill “problematic”, criticizing the use of public funds to support private businesses.
"Framing this as an investment in early childhood education without real educational requirements muddles the topics," said McNeill, "and I'm afraid it misleads many Kentuckians."
Alongside the establishment of funds and the new Cabinet divisions, the Horizons Act also would create a new associate degree within KCTCS: the Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education Entrepreneurship program.
