II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1432 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve the loan forgiveness 

program for child care providers, including preschool teachers, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2005 

Mr. DEWINE (for himself and Mr. DODD) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve 

the loan forgiveness program for child care providers, 

including preschool teachers, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Paul Wellstone Early 

5 Educator Loan Forgiveness Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1)(A) The first 5 years of a child’s life are a 

9 time of momentous change. 
2 

•S 1432 IS

1 (B) Research shows that a child’s brain size 

2 doubles between birth and age 3. 

3 (2) New scientific research shows that the elec4 trical activity of the brain cells actually changes the 

5 physical structure of the brain, and that without a 

6 stimulating environment, a baby’s brain suffers. 

7 (3) Research also indicates that there is a con8 nection between the cognitive, social, emotional, and 

9 physical stimulation young children receive from 

10 their early childhood teachers and caregivers and 

11 success in learning, school readiness, and intellectual 

12 growth. There are important short- and long-term 

13 effects of that stimulation on cognition and social 

14 development. 

15 (4) High quality early childhood education cor16 relates with better language development, mathe17 matics abilities, and social skills. 

18 (5) 11,900,000 children younger than age 5 

19 spend part of their time with a child care provider 

20 other than a parent. By 2000, 64 percent of 3- to 

21 5-year-olds were enrolled in some type of preschool 

22 program. Demand for child care is growing as more 

23 mothers enter the workforce. 

24 (6) Good quality child care, in a healthy and 

25 safe environment, with trained, caring providers who 
3 

•S 1432 IS

1 provide age-appropriate, developmentally appro2 priate, and effective activities, helps children grow 

3 and thrive. Recent research shows that most child 

4 care needs significant improvement. 

5 (7) Good quality child care depends largely on 

6 the provider, yet providers of child care earn on av7 erage $8.47 per hour, or $17,610 per year. Such 

8 earnings cause high annual turnover, up to 31 per9 cent of the staff in some child care programs. High 

10 turnover affects the overall quality of a child care 

11 program and causes anxiety for children. 

12 (8) Children attending lower quality child care 

13 programs and child care programs with high staff 

14 turnover are less competent in language and social 

15 development than other children. 

16 (9) The quality of child care is primarily related 

17 to high staff-to-child ratios, staff education, profes18 sional development, and administrators’ prior experi19 ence. In addition, certain characteristics distinguish 

20 poor, mediocre, and good quality child care pro21 grams, the most important of which are teacher 

22 wages, education, and specialized training. 

23 (10) Each State requires kindergarten teachers 

24 to hold at least a bachelor’s degree and certificate in 

25 early childhood education. 20 States and the District 
4 

•S 1432 IS

1 of Columbia require teachers in State prekinder2 garten programs to satisfy those requirements, 

3 which programs in many States are delivered in 

4 child care programs, schools, and Head Start pro5 grams. 

6 SEC. 3. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR CHILD CARE PROVIDERS. 

7 Section 428K of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

8 (20 U.S.C. 1078–11) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 428K. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR CHILD CARE PRO10 VIDERS. 

11 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 

12 ‘‘(1) to bring more highly trained individuals 

13 into the early childhood education profession; and 

14 ‘‘(2) to keep more highly educated and trained 

15 early childhood educators in the early child care field 

16 for longer periods of time. 

17 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) CHILD CARE FACILITY.—The term ‘child 

19 care facility’ means a facility, including a home, 

20 that— 

21 ‘‘(A) provides child care services; and 

22 ‘‘(B) meets applicable State or local gov23 ernment licensing, certification, approval, or 

24 registration requirements. 
5 

•S 1432 IS

1 ‘‘(2) CHILD CARE SERVICES.—The term ‘child 

2 care services’ means activities and services provided 

3 for the education and care of children from birth 

4 until enrollment in kindergarten by an individual 

5 who has a degree in early childhood education or a 

6 closely related field, including a preschool teacher. 

7 ‘‘(3) DEGREE.—The term ‘degree’ means an as8 sociate or baccalaureate degree awarded by an insti9 tution of higher education. 

10 ‘‘(4) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION.—The 

11 term ‘early childhood education’ means education 

12 and development at the early childhood level, includ13 ing the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical 

14 education and development of a child. 

15 ‘‘(5) ELIGIBLE PRESCHOOL PROGRAM PRO16 VIDER.—The term ‘eligible preschool program pro17 vider’ means a preschool program provider serving 

18 children younger than the age of compulsory school 

19 attendance in the State that is— 

20 ‘‘(A) a public or private school; 

21 ‘‘(B) a provider that is supported, spon22 sored, supervised, or administered by a local 

23 educational agency; 
6 

•S 1432 IS

1 ‘‘(C) a Head Start agency designated 

2 under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et 

3 seq.); or 

4 ‘‘(D) a child care facility. 

5 ‘‘(6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

6 Notwithstanding section 102, the term ‘institution of 

7 higher education’ has the meaning given the term in 

8 section 101. 

9 ‘‘(7) PRESCHOOL TEACHER.—The term ‘pre10 school teacher’ means an individual— 

11 ‘‘(A) who is working toward or has re12 ceived at least an associate degree in early 

13 childhood education or who is working toward 

14 or who has already received a baccalaureate de15 gree in early childhood education; and 

16 ‘‘(B) who works for an eligible preschool 

17 program provider supporting the children’s cog18 nitive, social, emotional, and physical develop19 ment. 

20 ‘‘(c) LOAN FORGIVENESS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may carry 

22 out a program of assuming the obligation to repay, 

23 pursuant to subsection (d), a loan made, insured, or 

24 guaranteed under this part, part D (excluding loans 

25 made under sections 428B and 428C or comparable 
7 

•S 1432 IS

1 loans made under part D), or part E for any new 

2 borrower after the date of enactment of the Higher 

3 Education Amendments of 1998, who— 

4 ‘‘(A) receives a degree in early childhood 

5 education; 

6 ‘‘(B) obtains employment in a child care 

7 facility, such as employment as a preschool 

8 teacher; and 

9 ‘‘(C) has been employed full time, for the 

10 time period described in subsection (d), as a 

11 provider of child care services in a child care fa12 cility that serves low-income children. 

13 ‘‘(2) AWARD BASIS; PRIORITY.— 

14 ‘‘(A) AWARD BASIS.—Subject to subpara15 graph (B), loan repayment under this section 

16 shall be on a first-come, first-served basis and 

17 subject to the availability of appropriations. 

18 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give 

19 priority in providing loan repayment under this 

20 section for a fiscal year to student borrowers 

21 who received loan repayment under this section 

22 for the preceding fiscal year. 

23 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is author24 ized to prescribe such regulations as may be nec25 essary to carry out the provisions of this section. 
8 

•S 1432 IS

1 ‘‘(d) LOAN REPAYMENT.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

3 ‘‘(A) BACCALAUREATE DEGREE.—In the 

4 case of a new borrower who receives a bacca5 laureate degree in early childhood education, 

6 the Secretary shall assume the obligation to 

7 repay— 

8 ‘‘(i) after the second consecutive year 

9 of employment described in subparagraphs 

10 (B) and (C) of subsection (c)(1), 20 per11 cent of the total amount of all loans de12 scribed in subsection (c)(1) and made after 

13 the date of enactment of the Higher Edu14 cation Amendments of 1998, to such bor15 rower; 

16 ‘‘(ii) after the third consecutive year 

17 of such employment, 20 percent of the 

18 total amount of all such loans; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) after each of the fourth and 

20 fifth consecutive years of such employment, 

21 30 percent of the total amount of all such 

22 loans. 

23 ‘‘(B) ASSOCIATE DEGREE.—In the case of 

24 a new borrower who receives an associate de-
9 

•S 1432 IS

1 gree in early childhood education, the Secretary 

2 shall assume the obligation to repay— 

3 ‘‘(i) after the first year of employment 

4 described in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of 

5 subsection (c)(1), 20 percent of the total 

6 amount of all loans described in subsection 

7 (c)(1) and made after the date of enact8 ment of the Higher Education Amend9 ments of 1998, to such borrower; 

10 ‘‘(ii) after the second consecutive year 

11 of such employment, 20 percent of the 

12 total amount of all such loans; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) after each of the third and 

14 fourth consecutive years of such employ15 ment, 30 percent of the total amount of all 

16 such loans. 

17 ‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 

18 shall be construed to authorize the refunding of any 

19 repayment of a loan made, insured, or guaranteed 

20 under this part, part D, or part E. 

21 ‘‘(3) INTEREST.—If a portion of a loan is re22 paid by the Secretary under this section for any 

23 year, the proportionate amount of interest on such 

24 loan that accrues for such year shall be repaid by 

25 the Secretary. 
10 

•S 1432 IS

1 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case in which a 

2 student borrower who is not participating in loan re3 payment pursuant to this section returns to an insti4 tution of higher education after graduation from an 

5 institution of higher education for the purpose of ob6 taining a degree in early childhood education, the 

7 Secretary is authorized to assume the obligation to 

8 repay the total amount of loans described in sub9 section (c)(1) and incurred for a maximum of 2 aca10 demic years in returning to the institution of higher 

11 education for the purpose of obtaining the degree in 

12 early childhood education. Such loans shall only be 

13 repaid for borrowers who qualify for loan repayment 

14 pursuant to the provisions of this section, and shall 

15 be repaid in accordance with the provisions of para16 graph (1). 

17 ‘‘(5) INELIGIBILITY OF NATIONAL SERVICE

18 AWARD RECIPIENTS.—No student borrower may, for 

19 the same service, receive a benefit under both this 

20 section and subtitle D of title I of the National and 

21 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601 

22 et seq.). 

23 ‘‘(e) REPAYMENT TO ELIGIBLE LENDERS AND

24 HOLDERS.—The Secretary shall pay to each eligible lend25 er or holder for each fiscal year an amount equal to the 
11 

•S 1432 IS

1 aggregate amount of the lender’s or holder’s loans that 

2 are subject to repayment pursuant to this section for such 

3 year. 

4 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION FOR REPAYMENT.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible individual de6 siring loan repayment under this section shall sub7 mit a complete and accurate application to the Sec8 retary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

9 such information as the Secretary may require. 

10 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—An eligible individual may 

11 apply for loan repayment under this section after 

12 completing the applicable years of qualifying employ13 ment described in subsection (d)(1). The borrower 

14 shall receive forbearance while engaged in qualifying 

15 employment described in subsection (d)(1) unless the 

16 borrower is in deferment while so engaged. 

17 ‘‘(g) EVALUATION.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con19 duct, by grant or contract, an independent national 

20 evaluation of the impact of the program assisted 

21 under this section on the field of early childhood 

22 education. 

23 ‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—The grant or con24 tract described in paragraph (1) shall be awarded on 

25 a competitive basis. 
12 

•S 1432 IS

1 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—The evaluation described in 

2 this subsection shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) determine the number of individuals 

4 who applied and the number of individuals who 

5 were assisted by the program under this sec6 tion; 

7 ‘‘(B) determine the number of individuals 

8 who remain employed in an early childhood edu9 cation program as a result of participation in 

10 the program; 

11 ‘‘(C) identify the barriers to the effective12 ness of the program, including barriers related 

13 to the dissemination of information about the 

14 program; 

15 ‘‘(D) assess the cost-effectiveness of the 

16 program in improving the quality of— 

17 ‘‘(i) early childhood education; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) child care services; 

19 ‘‘(E) identify the reasons why participants 

20 in the program have chosen to take part in the 

21 program; 

22 ‘‘(F) identify the number of individuals 

23 participating in the program who received an 

24 associate degree and the number of such indi-
13 

•S 1432 IS

1 viduals who received a baccalaureate degree; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(G) identify the number of years each in4 dividual participated in the program. 

5 ‘‘(4) INTERIM AND FINAL EVALUATION RE6 PORTS.—The Secretary shall prepare and submit to 

7 the President and Congress such interim reports re8 garding the evaluation described in this subsection 

9 as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, and 

10 shall prepare and so submit a final report regarding 

11 the evaluation by not later than January 1, 2009. 

12 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

14 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, and such sums as may 

15 be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

Æ