I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3500 

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 

JULY 28, 2005 

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 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM. 

7 Title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

8 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.) is amended by add9 ing at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘PART E—PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS 

2 ‘‘SEC. 5701. FINDINGS. 

3 ‘‘The 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 childhood 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: 
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1 ‘‘(1) PREKINDERGARTEN.—The term ‘pre2 kindergarten’ means a program serving children who 

3 are 3, 4, or 5 years of age 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 VIDER.—The term ‘eligible prekindergarten provider’ 

9 includes a child care program, Head Start agency, 

10 or school that— 

11 ‘‘(A) has met applicable State licensing re12 quirements and has obtained accreditation by a 

13 national accrediting body with demonstrated ex14 perience in accrediting child care, prekinder15 garten programs, or schools; or 

16 ‘‘(B) agrees to obtain such accreditation 

17 not later than 3 years after receipt of a grant 

18 under 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 may provide 

25 grants to a State with an approved application under sub-
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1 section (b) to allow such State to establish or expand pre2 kindergarten early learning programs by eligible pre3 kindergarten providers and local educational agencies in 

4 partnership with early childhood programs, organizations, 

5 or agencies that serve prekindergarten school children. 

6 ‘‘(b) STATE APPLICATION.— 

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

8 State agency to administer, including the receipt and 

9 administration of funds and the evaluation of the 

10 program, the State-funded prekindergarten program 

11 funded under this part. 

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

13 agency shall submit an application to the Secretary 

14 that includes— 

15 ‘‘(A) an assurance that the State will pro16 vide non-Federal matching funds equal to not 

17 less than 20 percent of the award; and 

18 ‘‘(B) a description of— 

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

20 expand or enhance existing efforts across 

21 the State in providing access to high-qual22 ity prekindergarten programs; 

23 ‘‘(ii) how the State will collaborate 

24 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 to 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 through the grant to estab5 lish, enhance, or expand prekindergarten programs for 

6 children, ages 3 through 5, who are not enrolled in kinder7 garten, including— 

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 USE OF FUNDS.—An agency or 

5 eligible prekindergarten provider that receives a grant 

6 award under this part may use funds received through the 

7 grant to pay for transporting students to and from a pre8 kindergarten program. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 5706. REPORTING. 

10 ‘‘(a) LOCAL REPORTS.—Each local educational agen11 cy or eligible prekindergarten provider that receives a 

12 grant award under this part shall submit an annual report 

13 to the designated State agency that reviews the effective14 ness of the prekindergarten program established with 

15 funds provided under this part on— 

16 ‘‘(1) number and ages of children served, in17 cluding information (disaggregated by family in18 come, race, disability, native language); 

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

20 number of months; 

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

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

23 private funds used to operate a program. 
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1 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 

2 submit an annual report to the Congress that evaluates 

3 the prekindergarten programs established under this part. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 5707. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

6 this part $2,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, 

7 $4,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2007, $5,000,000,000 for 

8 fiscal year 2008, $8,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, and 

9 $10,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2010.’’. 

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