I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4042 

To provide grants for high-quality prekindergarten programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2015 

Mr. CASTRO of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To provide grants for high-quality prekindergarten programs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pre-K for USA Act.’’ 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress makes the following findings: 

7 (1) The United States ranks 25th in early 

8 learning enrollment with fewer than 3 out of 10 

9 four-year-olds enrolled in high-quality prekinder10 garten programs. 

11 (2) Studies show that children with access to 

12 high-quality prekindergarten programs are less likely 


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1 to repeat a grade or drop out of high school, and 

2 more likely to succeed in their careers. 

3 (3) Every public dollar spent on high-quality 

4 prekindergarten programs returns $7 through a re5 duced need for spending on other services such as 

6 remedial education, grade repetition, and special 

7 education. 

8 (4) Children who attended prekindergarten are 

9 less likely to develop drug problems, commit a fel10 ony, and go to prison, and are half as likely to be 

11 arrested. 

12 (5) Children who attended prekindergarten usu13 ally have higher grade point averages and are more 

14 likely to attend a four-year college. 

15 (6) About 40 percent of school districts do not 

16 offer prekindergarten programs. 

17 (7) Over half of school districts that have pre18 kindergarten programs offer only part-day pro19 grams. 

20 (8) Texas missed out on up to $118.48 million 

21 in Federal funding to expand prekindergarten pro22 grams. 

23 (9) Reports showed that in 2011 the Texas leg24 islature cut approximately $5.4 billion in education 

25 funding and eliminated the $200 million in grants it 


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1 offered to schools to expand prekindergarten pro2 grams from half-day to full-day. 

3 (10) In response to the State of Texas’ edu4 cation funding cuts, certain local governments took 

5 it upon themselves to fund full-day prekindergarten 

6 programs. 

7 (11) For these reasons, certain localities, in8 cluding local governments and local educational 

9 agencies would benefit from direct application pre10 kindergarten Federal program funding. 

11 SEC. 3. PREKINDERGARTEN DEVELOPMENT GRANTS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education, in 

13 consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 

14 Services, shall award competitive grants to States, local 

15 educational agencies, or other local government entities 

16 that wish to increase their capacity and build the infra17 structure within the State to offer high-quality prekinder18 garten programs. 

19 (b) GRANT DURATION.—The Secretary shall award 

20 grants under this Act for a period of not more than 3 

21 years. Such grants shall not be renewed. 

22 (c) APPLICATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Governor, or chief execu24 tive officer of a State, a local educational agency, or 

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1 ceive a grant under this Act shall submit an applica2 tion to the Secretary of Education at such time, in 

3 such manner, and accompanied by such information 

4 as the Secretary may reasonably require. 

5 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF STATE APPLICATION.— 

6 In developing an application for a grant under this 

7 Act, a State shall consult with the State Advisory 

8 Council on Early Childhood Education and Care and 

9 incorporate their recommendations, where applicable. 

10 (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

12 grant under this Act, a State, local educational 

13 agency, or other local government entity shall con14 tribute for the activities for which the grant was 

15 awarded non-Federal matching funds in an amount 

16 equal to not less than 20 percent of the amount of 

17 the grant. 

18 (2) NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.—To satisfy the re19 quirement of paragraph (1), a State, local edu20 cational agency, or other local government entity 

21 may use— 

22 (A) non-Federal resources in the form of 

23 State funding, local funding, or contributions 

24 from philanthropy or other private sources, or 

25 a combination of such resources; or 


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1 (B) in-kind contributions. 

2 (3) FINANCIAL HARDSHIP WAIVER.—The Sec3 retary may waive paragraph (1) or reduce the 

4 amount of matching funds required under that para5 graph for a State, local educational agency, or other 

6 local government entity that has submitted an appli7 cation for a grant under this subsection if the State, 

8 local educational agency, or other local government 

9 entity demonstrates, in the application, a need for 

10 such a waiver or reduction due to extreme financial 

11 hardship, as determined by the Secretary. 

12 (e) SUBGRANTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State, local educational 

14 agency, or other local government entity awarded a 

15 grant under this subtitle may use the grant funds to 

16 award subgrants to eligible local entities, to carry 

17 out the activities under the grant. 

18 (2) SUBGRANTEES.—An eligible local entity 

19 awarded a subgrant under paragraph (1) shall com20 ply with the requirements of this Act relating to 

21 grantees, as appropriate. 

22 (f) DOUBLE-DIPPING PREVENTION.—The Secretary 

23 may not award a subgrant to a local educational agency 

24 or other local government entity under subsection (e) for 


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1 a program in a fiscal year if the State, agency, or entity 

2 received funding for the program in such fiscal year. 

3 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec5 tion— 

6 (1) $750,000,000 for fiscal year 2016; and 

7 (2) such sums as may be necessary for each of 

8 fiscal years 2017 through 2025. 

9 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) ELIGIBLE LOCAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligi12 ble local entity’’ means— 

13 (A) a local educational agency, including a 

14 charter school or a charter management organi15 zation that acts as a local educational agency, 

16 or an educational service agency in partnership 

17 with a local educational agency; 

18 (B) an entity (including a Head Start pro19 gram or licensed child care setting) that carries 

20 out, administers, or supports an early childhood 

21 education program; or 

22 (C) a consortium of entities described 

23 under subparagraph (A) or (B). 

24 (2) FULL-DAY.—The term ‘‘full-day’’ means a 

25 day that is— 


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1 (A) equivalent to a full school day at the 

2 public elementary schools in the State; and 

3 (B) not less than 5 hours. 

4 (3) HIGH-QUALITY PREKINDERGARTEN PRO5 GRAM.—The term ‘‘high-quality prekindergarten 

6 program’’ means a prekindergarten program sup7 ported by an eligible local entity that includes, at a 

8 minimum, the following elements based on nationally 

9 recognized standards: 

10 (A) Serves children who— 

11 (i) are age 4 or children who are age 

12 3 or 4, by the eligibility determination date 

13 (including children who turn age 5 while 

14 attending the program); or 

15 (ii) have attained the legal age for 

16 State-funded prekindergarten. 

17 (B) Requires high staff qualifications, in18 cluding that teachers meet the requirements of 

19 1 of the following clauses: 

20 (i) The teacher has a bachelor’s de21 gree in early childhood education or a re22 lated field with coursework that dem23 onstrates competence in early childhood 

24 education; 

25 (ii) The teacher— 


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1 (I) has a bachelor’s degree in any 

2 field; 

3 (II) has demonstrated knowledge 

4 of early childhood education through 

5 passage of a State-approved assess6 ment in early childhood education; 

7 (III) engages in ongoing profes8 sional development in early childhood 

9 education for not less than 2 years; 

10 and 

11 (IV) is enrolled in a State-ap12 proved educator preparation program 

13 in which the teacher receives ongoing 

14 training and support in early child15 hood education and is making 

16 progress toward the completion of the 

17 program in not more than 3 years; or 

18 (iii) The teacher has a bachelor’s de19 gree in any field with a credential, license, 

20 or endorsement that demonstrates com21 petence in early childhood education. 

22 (C) Maintains a maximum class size of 20 

23 children. 

24 (D) Maintains a child to instructional staff 

25 ratio that does not exceed 10 to 1. 


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1 (E) Offers a full-day program. 

2 (F) Provides developmentally appropriate 

3 learning environments and evidence-based cur4 ricula that are aligned with the State’s early 

5 learning and development standards. 

6 (G) Offers instructional staff salaries com7 parable to kindergarten through grade 12 

8 teaching staff. 

9 (H) Provides for ongoing monitoring and 

10 program evaluation to ensure continuous im11 provement. 

12 (I) Offers accessible comprehensive services 

13 for children that— 

14 (i) include, at a minimum— 

15 (I) screenings for vision, dental, 

16 health (including mental health), and 

17 development and referrals, and assist18 ance obtaining services, when appro19 priate; 

20 (II) family engagement opportu21 nities (taking into account home lan22 guage), such as parent conferences 

23 (including parent input about their 

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1 ices, such as parent education and 

2 family literacy services; 

3 (III) nutrition services, including 

4 nutritious meals and snack options 

5 aligned with requirements set by the 

6 most recent Child and Adult Care 

7 Food Program guidelines promulgated 

8 by the Department of Agriculture as 

9 well as regular, age-appropriate, nu10 trition education for children and 

11 their families; 

12 (IV) programs coordinated with 

13 local educational agencies and entities 

14 providing programs authorized under 

15 section 619 and part C of the Individ16 uals with Disabilities Education Act 

17 (20 U.S.C. 1419 and 1431 et seq.); 

18 (V) physical activity programs 

19 aligned with evidence-based guide20 lines, such as those recommended by 

21 the Institute of Medicine, and that 

22 take into account and accommodate 

23 children with disabilities; and 


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1 (VI) additional support services, 

2 as appropriate, based on the findings 

3 of a needs analysis; and 

4 (ii) are provided on-site, to the max5 imum extent feasible. 

6 (J) Provides high-quality professional de7 velopment for staff, including regular in-class 

8 observation for teachers and teacher assistants 

9 by individuals trained in observation and which 

10 may include evidence-based coaching. 

11 (K) Meets the education performance 

12 standards in effect under section 641A(a)(1)(B) 

13 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 9836a(a)(1)(B)). 

15 (L) Maintains evidence-based health and 

16 safety standards. 

17 (4) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘local edu18 cational agency’’ and ‘‘State’’ have the meanings 

19 given the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary 

20 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

21 7801). 

22 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of Education. 

Æ 


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