I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2561

To provide grants to States to establish, expand, or enhance prekindergarten 

programs for children who are not yet enrolled in kindergarten. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 23, 2003

Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To provide grants to States to establish, expand, or enhance 

prekindergarten programs for children who are not yet 

enrolled in kindergarten.

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 ‘‘Prekindergarten Ac5 cess Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM. 

7 Title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

8 Act of 1965 is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 
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1 ‘‘PART E—PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS 

2 ‘‘SEC. 5701. FINDINGS. 

3 ‘‘Congress finds the following: 

4 ‘‘(1) Countless studies have shown what every 

5 parent already knows: High-quality preschool edu6 cation programs work. They prepare children to 

7 learn when they go to school, and the programs in8 crease the success of students throughout their lives. 

9 ‘‘(2) Children who get a high-quality prekinder10 garten education are less likely to repeat a grade 

11 level and have less need for special education in12 struction than those with no prekindergarten experi13 ence. 

14 ‘‘(3) Prekindergarten programs make a signifi15 cant difference in the lives of children from low-in16 come families. A recent study found that children in 

17 high-quality child care programs had better thinking 

18 and attention skills, better mathematics and pre19 reading skills, and fewer behavioral problems. 

20 ‘‘(4) In a study following children to age 21 

21 who received high-quality early children education, 

22 such children were more likely to have enrolled in 

23 college, been employed, and delayed parenthood. 

24 ‘‘SEC. 5702. DEFINITIONS. 

25 ‘‘For purposes of this part, the following definitions 

26 shall apply: 
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1 ‘‘(1) PREKINDERGARTEN.—The term ‘pre2 kindergarten’ means a program serving children 

3 ages 3, 4, and 5 years old that supports children’s 

4 cognitive, social, emotional, and physical develop5 ment and helps prepare children for the transition to 

6 kindergarten. 

7 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PREKINDERGARTEN PRO8 VIDERS.—The term ‘eligible prekindergarten pro9 viders’ includes child care programs, Head Start 

10 agencies, and schools that—

11 ‘‘(A) have met applicable State licensing 

12 requirements and have obtained accreditation 

13 by a national accrediting body with dem14 onstrated experience in accrediting child care, 

15 prekindergarten programs, or schools; or 

16 ‘‘(B) agree to obtain such accreditation not 

17 later than 3 years after receipt of a grant under 

18 this part. 

19 ‘‘(3) PREKINDERGARTEN TEACHER.—The term 

20 ‘prekindergarten teacher’ means an individual who 

21 has or is working toward a bachelor of arts degree 

22 in early childhood development. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 5703. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to 

25 provide grants to a State with an approved application 
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1 under subsection (b) to allow such State to establish or 

2 expand prekindergarten early learning programs by eligi3 ble prekindergarten providers and local educational agen4 cies in partnership with early childhood programs, organi5 zations, or agencies that serve prekindergarten school chil6 dren. 

7 ‘‘(b) STATE APPLICATION.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The State shall designate a 

9 State agency to administer, including the receipt and 

10 administration of funds and the evaluation of the 

11 program, the State-funded prekindergarten program 

12 funded under this part. 

13 ‘‘(2) STATE APPLICATION.—The appropriate 

14 agency shall submit an application to the Secretary 

15 that includes—

16 ‘‘(A) an assurance that the State will pro17 vide non-Federal matching funds equal to not 

18 less than 20 percent of the award; and 

19 ‘‘(B) a description of—

20 ‘‘(i) how grant funds will be used to 

21 expand or enhance existing efforts across 

22 the State in providing access to high qual23 ity prekindergarten programs; 

24 ‘‘(ii) how the State will collaborate 

25 with local child care agencies and councils, 
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1 including local child care resource and re2 ferral agencies; 

3 ‘‘(iii) how grant funds will be used to 

4 supplement and not supplant existing Fed5 eral, State, local and private funds used 

6 for prekindergarten programs; 

7 ‘‘(iv) how the State will ensure that 

8 grant funds are provided to a range of 

9 types of eligible prekindergarten providers; 

10 ‘‘(v) how the State will help eligible 

11 prekindergarten providers attract and re12 tain qualified prekindergarten teachers; 

13 ‘‘(vi) how the State will identify the 

14 eligible children and eligible prekinder15 garten providers; and 

16 ‘‘(vii) how the State will give priority 

17 to full-time prekindergarten programs, in18 cluding the expansion of existing part-time 

19 programs into full-time programs.

20 ‘‘SEC. 5704. LOCAL APPLICATIONS. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency or eli22 gible prekindergarten provider, as the case may be, that 

23 desires to receive a grant under this part shall submit an 

24 application to the State agency designated under section 
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1 5703(b) at such time, in such manner, and containing 

2 such information as such agency may reasonably require. 

3 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE.—If the State prekindergarten 

4 program is not operated through the local educational 

5 agency, then the State shall award subgrants to eligible 

6 prekindergarten providers that currently administer pre7 kindergarten programs at the local level. 

8 ‘‘(c) CONTENT.—An application referred to in sub9 section (a), at a minimum, shall—

10 ‘‘(1) demonstrate a need for the establishment, 

11 enhancement, or expansion of a prekindergarten pro12 gram; 

13 ‘‘(2) describe how the local educational agency 

14 or eligible prekindergarten provider collaborates with 

15 local early childhood councils and agencies; 

16 ‘‘(3) provide an assurance that each individual 

17 hired is qualified to teach children at the prekinder18 garten level;

19 ‘‘(4) provide an assurance that the ratio of 

20 teachers or child development specialists to children 

21 shall not exceed 1–10; 

22 ‘‘(5) provide a description of how funds will be 

23 used to coordinate with and enhance, but not dupli24 cate or supplant, early childhood programs serving 

25 eligible children that exist in the community; 
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1 ‘‘(6) describe how the agency or eligible pre2 kindergarten provider will use a collaborative process 

3 with organizations and members of the community 

4 that have an interest and experience in early child5 hood development and education to establish, ex6 pand, or enhance prekindergarten programs; 

7 ‘‘(7) describe how the program will meet the di8 verse needs of children, ages 3 through 5, in the 

9 community who are not enrolled in kindergarten, in10 cluding children with disabilities or whose native lan11 guage is other than English; 

12 ‘‘(8) describe how the agency or eligible pre13 kindergarten provider will collaborate with local 

14 schools to ensure a smooth transition for partici15 pating students from early childhood education to 

16 kindergarten and early elementary education; 

17 ‘‘(9) describe the results the programs are in18 tended to achieve, and what tools will be used to 

19 measure the progress in attaining those results; and 

20 ‘‘(10) provide an assurance that none of the 

21 funds received under this part may be used for the 

22 construction or renovation of existing or new facili23 ties (except for minor remodeling needed to accom24 plish the purposes of this part). 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 5705. USES OF FUNDS. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An agency or eligible prekinder3 garten provider that receives a grant award under this 

4 part shall use funds received to establish, enhance, or ex5 pand prekindergarten programs for children, ages 3 

6 through 5, who are not enrolled in kindergarten, includ7 ing—

8 ‘‘(1) providing a program that focuses on the 

9 developmental needs of participating children, in10 cluding their social, cognitive, physical, and lan11 guage-development needs, and using research-based 

12 approaches that build on competencies that lead to 

13 school success, particularly in language and literacy 

14 development and in reading; 

15 ‘‘(2) paying the costs of purchasing educational 

16 equipment, including educational materials, nec17 essary to provide a high quality program; 

18 ‘‘(3) pursuing accreditation by a national ac19 creditation body with demonstrated experience in ac20 creditation of prekindergarten programs, to be ob21 tained not later than 3 years after the date of re22 ceipt of funds under this part; 

23 ‘‘(4) helping prekindergarten teachers pursue 

24 and attain the credential and degree requirements 

25 established by the State and provide a stipend for 
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1 attaining educational or professional development; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(5) meeting the needs of working parents. 

4 ‘‘(b) PERMISSIBLE USES OF FUNDS.—A prekinder5 garten program established under this part may use funds 

6 received under this part to pay for transporting students 

7 to and from a prekindergarten program. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 5706. REPORTING. 

9 ‘‘(a) LOCAL REPORTS.—Each local educational agen10 cy or eligible prekindergarten provider that receives a 

11 grant award under this part shall submit an annual report 

12 to the designated State agency that reviews the effective13 ness of the prekindergarten program established with 

14 funds provided under this part on—

15 ‘‘(1) number and ages of children served, in16 cluding information (disaggregated by family in17 come, race, disability, native language); 

18 ‘‘(2) number of hours of service per day and 

19 number of months; 

20 ‘‘(3) number of prekindergarten teachers; and 

21 ‘‘(4) other sources of Federal, State, local, and 

22 private funds used to operate a program. 

23 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 

24 submit an annual report to Congress that evaluates the 

25 prekindergarten programs established under this part. 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 5707. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this part $2,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2003, 

4 $4,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, $5,000,000,000 for 

5 fiscal year 2005, $8,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, and 

6 $10,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.’’.

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