II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1673 

To help States develop and improve the qualifications and training of their 

early childhood educator workforce. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 7, 2013 

Mr. FRANKEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To help States develop and improve the qualifications and 

training of their early childhood educator workforce. 

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 ‘‘Early Childhood Care 

5 and Education Workforce Improvement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to help States build their 

8 capacity to train, credential, fairly compensate, and retain 

9 a highly qualified early childhood care and education 

10 workforce. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1673 IS

1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means a child— 

4 (A) who is age 5 or younger; or 

5 (B) who has not yet entered kindergarten. 

6 (2) EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION

7 PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘early childhood care and 

8 education program’’ means— 

9 (A) any program or provider, regardless of 

10 setting or funding source, that provides early 

11 care and education for children, including any 

12 program operated by a child care center or in 

13 a family child care home; 

14 (B) any preschool program funded by the 

15 Federal Government, a State, or a local edu16 cational agency; or 

17 (C) an Early Head Start program or Head 

18 Start program. 

19 (3) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR.—The term 

20 ‘‘early childhood educator’’ means an individual who 

21 works in an early childhood care and education pro22 gram that is State-licensed or State-regulated and 

23 who is— 

24 (A) a center-based or family child care pro25 vider; 

26 (B) an infant or toddler specialist; 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1673 IS

1 (C) an early intervention specialist or early 

2 childhood special educator; 

3 (D) a Head Start or Early Head Start 

4 teacher or teacher assistant; 

5 (E) a preschool teacher, other teacher, or 

6 teacher assistant; or 

7 (F) a provider of training or technical as8 sistance. 

9 (4) EARLY HEAD START.—The term ‘‘Early 

10 Head Start’’ means an Early Head Start program 

11 supported under section 645A of the Head Start Act 

12 (42 U.S.C. 9840). 

13 (5) EARLY LEARNING GUIDELINES.—The term 

14 ‘‘early learning guidelines’’ means a set of standards 

15 or guidelines that— 

16 (A) describe what all children should know 

17 and be able to do; 

18 (B) are appropriate for each age group 

19 (such as infants, toddlers, and preschoolers), 

20 for English learners, and for children with dis21 abilities or developmental delays; 

22 (C) cover all areas of child development 

23 and early learning related to the essential do24 mains of school readiness, including cognitive, 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1673 IS

1 social, emotional, and physical development, 

2 and approaches to learning; and 

3 (D) are universally designed and develop4 mentally, culturally, and linguistically appro5 priate. 

6 (6) HEAD START.—The term ‘‘Head Start’’ 

7 means the Head Start program supported under the 

8 Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.). 

9 (7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

10 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

11 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

12 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

13 (8) QUALITY RATING AND IMPROVEMENT SYS14 TEM.—The term quality rating and improvement 

15 system means a tiered quality rating system for 

16 early childhood care and education programs, which 

17 shall— 

18 (A) contain multiple quality rating levels 

19 that build on each other, leading to nationally 

20 recognized standards of program quality; 

21 (B) appropriately assess the quality of 

22 early childhood care and education programs in 

23 the State; 

24 (C) build on licensing standards and other 

25 State regulatory standards for such programs; 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1673 IS

1 (D) be designed to improve the quality of 

2 different types of early childhood care and edu3 cation programs; 

4 (E) describe the quality of early childhood 

5 care and education programs; 

6 (F) build the capacity of State early child7 hood care and education programs and commu8 nities to promote parents’ and families’ under9 standing of the State’s early childhood care and 

10 education programs and the ratings of the pro11 grams in which the child is enrolled; and 

12 (G) provide financial incentives and other 

13 supports to early childhood care and education 

14 programs to achieve and sustain higher levels of 

15 quality. 

16 (9) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

17 means the Secretary of Education and the Secretary 

18 of Health and Human Services. 

19 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

20 the several States of the United States, the District 

21 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

22 United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 

23 Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

24 Mariana Islands. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1673 IS

1 SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

2 From the amounts made available under section 11, 

3 the Secretaries, in accordance with the interagency agree4 ment described in section 10, are authorized to award 

5 grants, on a competitive basis, to States having applica6 tions approved under section 5, to enable such States to 

7 implement and administer the activities and initiatives de8 scribed in section 6. 

9 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each State desiring a grant under 

11 this Act shall submit an application to the Secretaries at 

12 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such in13 formation as the Secretaries may reasonably require. 

14 (b) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted under 

15 subsection (a) shall include the following: 

16 (1) A demonstration of an existing comprehen17 sive early childhood educator professional develop18 ment system in the State, or a plan for developing 

19 such a system that— 

20 (A) is developed in collaboration with— 

21 (i) the State Advisory Council on 

22 Early Childhood Education and Care des23 ignated or established under section 

24 642B(b)(1)(A) of the Head Start Act (42 

25 U.S.C. 9837a(b)(1)(A)), where applicable; 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1673 IS

1 (ii) an administrator of a State lead 

2 agency (as described in section 658D of 

3 the Child Care and Development Block 

4 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858b)); 

5 (iii) the State Director of Head Start 

6 Collaboration appointed or designated 

7 under section 642B(a)(3)(A) of the Head 

8 Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837b(a)(3)(A)); 

9 (iv) the State educational agency (as 

10 defined in section 9101 of the Elementary 

11 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

12 U.S.C. 7801)); 

13 (v) institutions of higher education 

14 that award a degree in early childhood 

15 education; and 

16 (vi) early childhood education profes17 sional organizations; 

18 (B) uses available early childhood care and 

19 education workforce data, such as the percent20 age of the early childhood educators who hold 

21 a license or certificate in early childhood care 

22 and education, in order to assess and provide 

23 resources for the State’s early childhood care 

24 and education workforce needs; and 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1673 IS

1 (C) coordinates with the State higher edu2 cation agency (as defined in section 103 of the 

3 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

4 1003)), institution of higher education accred5 iting agencies or associations, 2- and 4-year in6 stitutions of higher education that award a de7 gree in early childhood education, and other or8 ganizations or agencies with expertise in early 

9 childhood educator preparation that provide the 

10 formal education and training necessary to— 

11 (i) encourage the establishment or ex12 pansion of credit-bearing opportunities 

13 that recognize prior learning and expertise; 

14 (ii) make higher education in early 

15 childhood education more accessible for 

16 working adult learners by offering postsec17 ondary education courses at accessible 

18 times and locations and providing support 

19 to adult learners, especially adult learners 

20 who are low-income individuals or dual lan21 guage learners; 

22 (iii) develop articulation agreements 

23 between 2- and 4-year public and private 

24 institutions of higher education; and 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1673 IS

1 (iv) expand the number of degree pro2 grams in early childhood education that 

3 meet nationally recognized standards for 

4 the preparation of early childhood edu5 cators. 

6 (2) A description of how the State will— 

7 (A) adopt professional standards and com8 petencies for early childhood educators based on 

9 nationally recognized standards for professional 

10 preparation of early childhood educators; 

11 (B) develop career pathways and link op12 portunities to career pathways for early child13 hood educators, toward continuous and incre14 mental improvement of the early childhood edu15 cator workforce; 

16 (C) target funds to the highest need areas, 

17 which shall be determined based on— 

18 (i) the level of access to high-quality, 

19 affordable early childhood care and edu20 cation programs; 

21 (ii) the percentage of children living in 

22 poverty; and 

23 (iii) the percentage of early childhood 

24 educators with degrees and other creden25 tials in early childhood education; 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 1673 IS

1 (D) engage rural communities in partici2 pating in early childhood educator workforce 

3 improvement activities and how the State will 

4 provide technical assistance in rural commu5 nities to address unique barriers to the imple6 mentation of early childhood educator workforce 

7 programs; and 

8 (E) establish or enhance compensation and 

9 retention initiatives that reward and help retain 

10 early childhood educators who achieve a degree 

11 in early childhood education to work in a non12 school early childhood education program, and 

13 to the extent feasible, have parity of compensa14 tion with public school elementary teachers in 

15 the same geographic area. 

16 SEC. 6. STATE USE OF FUNDS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a grant 

18 under this Act shall ensure that grant funds will be used 

19 to support services for early childhood educators and early 

20 childhood care and education programs across all early 

21 childhood age groups, such as infants, toddlers, and pre22 schoolers. 

23 (b) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—A State that receives 

24 a grant under this Act shall use not more than 5 percent 

25 of the grant funds for the administration and provision 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 1673 IS

1 of technical assistance needed to carry out the initiatives 

2 and activities described in subsections (c), (d), and (e), 

3 collectively. 

4 (c) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a 

6 grant under this Act shall use grant funds to carry 

7 out the following: 

8 (A) Providing scholarships for tuition, fees 

9 and materials, and support, including college 

10 counseling, paid substitutes, and release time, 

11 to early childhood educators or individuals who 

12 are preparing to be early childhood educators to 

13 enable such individuals to earn— 

14 (i) a child development associate cre15 dential; or 

16 (ii) an associate or baccalaureate de17 gree in early childhood education, or a 

18 closely related field (as determined by the 

19 Secretary). 

20 (B) In a State with a quality rating and 

21 improvement system, enhancing and expanding 

22 coaching, mentoring, and other professional de23 velopment to help early childhood care and edu24 cation programs improve at least 1 level on the 

25 State’s quality rating and improvement system. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 1673 IS

1 (C) Providing ongoing professional devel2 opment opportunities for early childhood edu3 cators that relate to— 

4 (i) the specialized knowledge and 

5 skills of early childhood educators for 

6 working with different ages and levels of 

7 development of children (including infants, 

8 toddlers, and preschoolers); 

9 (ii) the State’s early learning guide10 lines; 

11 (iii) high-quality teacher-child inter12 actions; 

13 (iv) cultural competence for working 

14 with a diversity of children and families; 

15 (v) dual language learners; 

16 (vi) children with disabilities, as de17 scribed in parts B and C of the Individuals 

18 with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

19 1411 et seq. and 1431 et seq.); and 

20 (vii) engaging and partnering with 

21 parents and families. 

22 (D) Encouraging cross-sector training op23 portunities for teachers and staff working in 

24 Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, early 

25 intervention programs, infant and early childVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:49 Nov 08, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1673.IS S1673

smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
13 

•S 1673 IS

1 hood mental health programs, home visiting 

2 programs, and State-funded prekindergarten 

3 and preschool programs that receive funds 

4 under title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

5 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et 

6 seq.), where applicable. 

7 (E) Expanding the number of early child8 hood educators who are trained to work with in9 fants and toddlers. 

10 (2) PRIORITY.—In using grant funds received 

11 under this Act, a State shall give priority to using 

12 such funds to carry out the activities described 

13 under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1). 

14 (d) PERMISSIBLE USES OF FUNDS.—A State that re15 ceives a grant under this Act may use grant funds to— 

16 (1) support directors of early childhood care 

17 and education programs in the areas of program 

18 management and leadership, adult learning to sup19 port staff development, and child development; and 

20 (2) expand the number of early childhood edu21 cators who have experience in providing professional 

22 development, coaching, mentoring, or consultation to 

23 early childhood educators about working with in24 fants, toddlers, and their families. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
14 

•S 1673 IS

1 (e) REPORTS.—A State that receives a grant under 

2 this Act shall submit an annual report to the Secretaries 

3 at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor4 mation as the Secretaries may require, including, at a 

5 minimum, the following: 

6 (1) In the case of a State that has a quality 

7 rating and improvement system, any evidence of an 

8 increase in the number of early childhood care and 

9 education programs participating in the State’s qual10 ity rating and improvement system, that— 

11 (A) have improved at least 1 level on the 

12 State’s quality rating and improvement system; 

13 and 

14 (B) received coaching, mentoring, scholar15 ships for postsecondary education, or other 

16 technical assistance related to professional 

17 knowledge and skills to improve quality as de18 scribed under subsection (c)(1). 

19 (2) The number of scholarships provided by the 

20 State, as described under subsection (c)(1)(A), 

21 disaggregated by— 

22 (A) whether the scholarships support the 

23 pursuit of— 

24 (i) a child development associate cre25 dential; 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
15 

•S 1673 IS

1 (ii) an associate degree in early child2 hood education, or a closely related field 

3 (as determined by the Secretary); or 

4 (iii) a baccalaureate degree in early 

5 childhood education, or a closely related 

6 field (as determined by the Secretary); 

7 (B) the race, gender, annual income, and 

8 native language of the individual receiving such 

9 scholarship; 

10 (C) in the case of a scholarship recipient 

11 who is, at the time the scholarship is awarded, 

12 working as an early childhood educator— 

13 (i) the age of the children with whom 

14 the early childhood educator works; 

15 (ii) the type of early childhood care 

16 and education program setting in which 

17 the early childhood educator works, and 

18 the percentage of children in such program 

19 setting who are— 

20 (I) eligible for Early Head Start 

21 or Head Start; or 

22 (II) receiving child care services 

23 for which financial assistance is pro24 vided in accordance with the Child 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
16 

•S 1673 IS

1 Care and Development Block Grant of 

2 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); and 

3 (iii) the number of years that the 

4 early childhood educator has worked in the 

5 field of early childhood education prior to 

6 receiving such scholarship; and 

7 (D) the number of scholarship recipients 

8 who are working in the field of early childhood 

9 education 2 years after receiving a credential or 

10 degree described in subsection (c)(1)(A), wheth11 er such recipient is— 

12 (i) working in the same early child13 hood care and education program; 

14 (ii) in a different early childhood care 

15 and education program; or 

16 (iii) in the same role or in a different 

17 role within the field of early childhood edu18 cation. 

19 (3) Data describing the professional develop20 ment activities offered to early childhood educators, 

21 including information about such activities relating 

22 to the categories described in clauses (i) through 

23 (vii) of subsection (c)(1)(C), as appropriate. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
17 

•S 1673 IS

1 (4) Data describing the cross-sector training 

2 opportunities provided, as described in subsection 

3 (c)(1)(D), including— 

4 (A) the primary role of professionals who 

5 participated in a cross-sector training; 

6 (B) the primary setting in which such pro7 fessionals work; 

8 (C) the topic of the training; and 

9 (D) the sources of funding for the training. 

10 (5) If applicable, evidence of an increase in the 

11 number of early childhood educators working with— 

12 (A) infants and toddlers; 

13 (B) children with developmental delays or 

14 disabilities; and 

15 (C) dual language learners. 

16 (6) Data describing any increase in early child17 hood care and education programs in the State. 

18 SEC. 7. MATCHING FUNDS REQUIREMENT. 

19 (a) AMOUNT OF MATCHING FUNDS.—A State that 

20 receives a grant under this Act shall contribute to the ac21 tivities assisted under such grant by providing matching 

22 funds from non-Federal sources in an amount as follows: 

23 (1) For the first year of the grant award, an 

24 amount equal to not less than 20 percent of the 

25 amount of the grant. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
18 

•S 1673 IS

1 (2) For the second year of the grant award, an 

2 amount equal to not less than 30 percent of the 

3 amount of the grant. 

4 (3) For the third year of the grant award, an 

5 amount equal to not less than 40 percent of the 

6 amount of the grant. 

7 (4) For the fourth and fifth years of the grant 

8 award, an amount equal to not less than 50 percent 

9 of the amount of the grant. 

10 (b) MATCHING FUNDS REQUIREMENT.—The match11 ing funds requirement under subsection (a) may be met 

12 by contributions that are— 

13 (1) in cash or in kind; and 

14 (2) from any private source or State or local 

15 funds. 

16 SEC. 8. SUPPLEMENT AND NOT SUPPLANT. 

17 Grant funds provided under this Act shall supple18 ment, and not supplant, other Federal, State, and local 

19 funds that are available for early childhood workforce im20 provement programs. States receiving grant funds under 

21 this Act may provide additional funds, other than funds 

22 received under this Act, to enhance the early childhood 

23 provider quality initiatives and activities that are sup24 ported by such grant funds. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
19 

•S 1673 IS

1 SEC. 9. MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT. 

2 A State that receives funds under this Act for a fiscal 

3 year shall maintain the fiscal effort provided by the State 

4 for the activities supported by the funds under this Act 

5 at a level equal to or greater than the level of such fiscal 

6 effort for the preceding fiscal year. 

7 SEC. 10. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT. 

8 The Secretary of Education and the Secretary of 

9 Health and Human Services shall jointly develop policies 

10 for, and administer activities under, this Act in accordance 

11 with such terms as the Secretaries shall set forth in an 

12 interagency agreement. Such interagency agreement, at a 

13 minimum, shall include a description of the respective 

14 roles and responsibilities of the Secretaries in carrying out 

15 this Act. 

16 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

18 this Act such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 

19 2014 through 2019. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS