House extends Upstart home-based kindergarten pilot for five years amid cost and eligibility debate

Representative Last, the House sponsor, moved to adopt the first substitute for Senate Bill 148, a five-year extension of the Upstart home-based kindergarten readiness pilot and related program changes. The substitute narrows the program's low-income definition (from the prior statutory 200% of poverty to 85% as drafted in the substitute) and clarifies that students who meet the low-income definition or have limited English proficiency will have priority if the program is oversubscribed.

The sponsor told colleagues the bill preserves an outside evaluation component and requires the state office of education to issue a new request for proposals at the end of the five-year pilot so other contractors can be considered. On the program's effectiveness, Representative Last said an independent evaluator reported that "the Upstart children showed significantly stronger growth rates on both tests," and described one test where Upstart students were twice as prepared and another where they were three times as prepared compared with a control group. "I the only way I can describe it is wildly successful," the sponsor said during floor debate.

Lawmakers pressed the sponsor on cost and program design. Representative Lisonbee said her family used Upstart and asked whether the substitute addressed cost controls; she cited prior figures of about $1,600 per student. Representative Last said some of the program's expense stems from providing Internet access and refurbished computers to at-risk families and from vendor staff who follow up with participating households; he said negotiations with providers and a telecom partner had driven some costs down. The sponsor said if the Legislature funds an additional $5 million recommended by the Education Appropriations Committee, the vendor estimates a per-student cost near $800.

Members also asked about overlap with a recently passed preschool bill. Representative Last said the key difference is that Upstart is a standalone home-based program; the legislature's earlier preschool measure was classroom-focused and the two could complement one another. Representative Johnny Anderson and others expressed concern the substitute's 30 percent low-income participation threshold (in prior versions) was too low; the substitute instead gives priority to low-income and limited English proficiency students rather than setting a fixed higher percentage.

Representative Last emphasized a pending federal partnership: the vendor has been awarded a federal contract to expand the model into rural districts, which the sponsor said could bring more than $11 million in federal funds and align the state pilot with that larger effort. After debate, the House adopted the substitute and, on final passage, recorded 52 yea votes and 21 nay votes. The bill will be returned to the Senate for further consideration.

What happens next: SB 148 returns to the Senate for concurrence or further action; the bill's funding depends in part on any additional appropriations the Legislature makes during the session.