HB 2395 Oklahoma House · 2025 Regular Session

Education; Schools Reform Act of 2025; effective date.

HB 2395 expands Oklahoma's early childhood education programs to include three-year-olds, requiring school districts to offer certified teacher-led half-day or full-day programs for children aged 3-5. It sets standards for developmentally appropriate learning (not academic focus), mandates teacher certification, and ensures free access for eligible children in districts with available capacity. The bill also establishes funding rules for State Aid calculations based on program enrollment and requires coordination with Head Start programs. This directly affects school districts, early childhood educators, and families with 3-5 year olds seeking preschool access.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 3, 2025 Last action Feb 24, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Proposed Policy Committee Substitute 1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill was amended by the Policy Committee to expand early childhood education programs to include three-year-old children, update the official title and description, and modify statutory references. The changes clarify that districts must offer programs to children aged three to five, establish specific standards for half-day and full-day programs, and update teacher certification requirements.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded from focusing on four-year-olds to explicitly including three-year-olds in early childhood education programs.

ELIGIBILITY

Early childhood education programs are now explicitly available to children aged three to five years, expanding eligibility beyond the previous focus on four-year-olds.

REQUIREMENT

New standards require programs to include both half-day (2.5 hours) and full-day (6 hours) options, with certified early childhood education teachers present for the full length of the school day.

Teacher certification requirements were updated to allow individuals with a Child Development Associate degree and five years of Head Start experience to be certified for teaching children four years and younger.

DEFINITION

The term 'prekindergarten' is now defined to mean early childhood education for purposes of the title.

TECHNICAL

The bill title was changed from 'Schools Reform Act of 2025' to 'Proposed Policy Committee Substitute' to reflect the committee amendment process.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Recommendation to the full committee; Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Appropriations and Budget Education Subcommittee

lower

Feb 17, 2025

Committee

Referred to Appropriations and Budget Education Subcommittee

lower

Feb 17, 2025

Committee

Referred to Appropriations and Budget

lower

Feb 3, 2025

Introduced

First Reading

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors