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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 485

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide

grants for parents as teachers programs.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1993

Mr. WHEAT (for himself, Mr. CALLAHAN, and Mr. GEPHARDT) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

of 1965 to provide grants for parents as teachers 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. PARENTS AS TEACHERS PROGRAMS.

4 Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education

5 Act of 1965 is amended by inserting at the end the follow6 ing new part:

7 ‘‘Part G—Parents as Teachers

8 ‘‘SEC. 4701. SHORT TITLE.

9 ‘‘This part may be cited as the ‘Parents as Teachers:

10 the Family Involvement in Education Act of 1993’.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 4702. FINDINGS.

2 ‘‘The Congress finds—

3 ‘‘(1) increased parental involvement in the edu4 cation of their children appears to be the key to

5 long-term gains for youngsters;

6 ‘‘(2) providing seed money is an appropriate

7 role for the Federal Government to play in edu8 cation;

9 ‘‘(3) children participating in the parents as

10 teachers program in Missouri are found to have in11 creased cognitive or intellectual skills, language abil12 ity, social skills and other predictors of school

13 success;

14 ‘‘(4) most early childhood programs begin at

15 age 3 or 4 when remediation may already be nec16 essary; and

17 ‘‘(5) many children receive no health screening

18 between birth and the time they enter school, thus

19 such children miss the opportunity of having devel20 opmental delays detected early.

21 ‘‘SEC. 4703. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

22 ‘‘It is the purpose of this part to encourage States

23 to develop and expand parent and early childhood edu24 cation programs in an effort to—
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1 ‘‘(1) increase parents’ knowledge of and con2 fidence in child-rearing activities, such as teaching

3 and nurturing their young children;

4 ‘‘(2) strengthen partnerships between parents

5 and schools; and

6 ‘‘(3) enhance the developmental progress of

7 participating children.

8 ‘‘SEC. 4704. DEFINITIONS.

9 ‘‘For the purposes of this part—

10 ‘‘(1) the term ‘developmental screening’ means

11 the process of measuring the progress of children to

12 determine if there are problems or potential prob13 lems or advanced abilities in the areas of under14 standing and use of language, perception through

15 sight, perception through hearing, motor develop16 ment and hand-eye coordination, health, and phys17 ical development;

18 ‘‘(2) the term ‘eligible family’ means any parent

19 with one or more children between birth and 3 years

20 of age, or any parent expecting a child;

21 ‘‘(3) the term ‘lead agency’ means the office or

22 agency in a State designated by the Governor to ad23 minister the parents as teachers program authorized

24 by this part;
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1 ‘‘(4) the term ‘parent education’ includes par2 ent support activities, the provision of resource ma3 terials on child development and parent-child learn4 ing activities, private and group educational guid5 ance, individual and group learning experiences for

6 the parent and child, and other activities that enable

7 the parent to improve learning in the home;

8 ‘‘(5) the term ‘parent educator’ means a person

9 hired by the lead agency of a State or designated by

10 local entities who administers group meetings, home

11 visits and developmental screening for eligible fami12 lies, and is trained by the Parents As Teachers Na13 tional Center established under section 4708; and

14 ‘‘(6) the term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary

15 of Education.

16 ‘‘SEC. 4705. PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

18 ‘‘(1) The Secretary is authorized to make

19 grants to States to pay the Federal share of the cost

20 of establishing, expanding, and operating parents as

21 teachers programs.

22 ‘‘(2) In awarding grants under paragraph (1),

23 the Secretary shall give special consideration to ap24 plicants whose programs primarily serve hard-to25 serve populations, including—
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1 ‘‘(A) teenaged parents,

2 ‘‘(B) illiterate parents,

3 ‘‘(C) economically disadvantaged parents,

4 ‘‘(D) offenders and their families,

5 ‘‘(E) unemployed parents,

6 ‘‘(F) learning disabled parents, and

7 ‘‘(G) non-English speaking parents.

8 ‘‘(3) In determining the amount of a grant

9 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall take into

10 consideration the size of the population to be served,

11 the size of the area to be served, and the financial

12 resources of such population and area.

13 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE.—Any State operating a parents

14 as teachers program which is associated with the Parents

15 As Teachers National Center located in St. Louis, Mis16 souri, shall be eligible to receive a grant under this part.

17 ‘‘SEC. 4706. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Each State receiving a grant

19 under section 4705(a) shall conduct a parents as teachers

20 program which—

21 ‘‘(A) establishes and operates parent education

22 programs including programs of developmental

23 screening of children; and

24 ‘‘(B) designates a lead State agency which

25 shall—
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1 ‘‘(i) hire parent educators who have had

2 supervised experience in the care and education

3 of children;

4 ‘‘(ii) establish the number of group meet5 ings and home visits required to be provided

6 each year for each participating family, with a

7 minimum of 4 group meetings and 8 home vis8 its for each participating family;

9 ‘‘(iii) be responsible for administering the

10 periodic screening of participating children’s

11 educational, hearing and visual development,

12 using the Denver Developmental Test, Zimmer13 man Preschool Language Scale, or other ap14 proved screening instruments; and

15 ‘‘(iv) develop recruitment and retention

16 programs for hard-to-reach populations.

17 ‘‘(2) Grants awarded section 4705(a) shall only be

18 used for parents as teachers programs which serve families

19 during the period of time beginning with the last 3 months

20 of a mother’s pregnancy and ending when a child attains

21 the age of 3.

22 ‘‘SEC. 4707. PARENTS AS TEACHERS NATIONAL CENTER.

23 ‘‘The Secretary shall establish a Parents As Teachers

24 National Center to disseminate information to, and pro-
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1 vide technical and training assistance to, States establish2 ing and operating parents as teachers programs.

3 ‘‘SEC. 4708. EVALUATIONS.

4 ‘‘The Secretary shall complete an evaluation of the

5 State parents as teachers programs within 4 years from

6 the date of enactment of this part.

7 ‘‘SEC. 4709. APPLICATION.

8 ‘‘Each State desiring a grant under section 4705(a)

9 shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time,

10 in such manner and accompanied by such information as

11 the Secretary may reasonably require. Each such applica12 tion shall describe the activities and services for which as13 sistance is sought.

14 ‘‘SEC. 4710. PAYMENTS AND FEDERAL SHARE.

15 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS.—The Secretary shall pay to each

16 State having an application approved under section 4709

17 the Federal share of the cost of the activities described

18 in the application.

19 ‘‘(b) FEDERAL SHARE.—(1) The Federal share—

20 ‘‘(A) for the first year for which a State re21 ceives assistance under this part shall be 100 per22 cent;

23 ‘‘(B) for the second such year shall be 100 per24 cent;
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1 ‘‘(C) for the third such year shall be 75 per2 cent;

3 ‘‘(D) for the fourth such year shall be 50 per4 cent; and

5 ‘‘(E) for the fifth such year 25 percent.

6 ‘‘(2) The non-Federal share of payments under this

7 part may be in cash or in kind fairly evaluated, including

8 planned equipment or services.

9 ‘‘SEC. 4711. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated

11 $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1993, 1994, 1995,

12 1996, and 1997 to carry out this Act.’’.

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