I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2003 

To amend the Every Student Succeeds Act to provide grants for highquality, local prekindergarten programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2017 

Mr. CASTRO of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Every Student Succeeds Act to provide grants 

for high-quality, local prekindergarten programs, 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 ‘‘Pre-K for USA Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. LOCAL PREKINDERGARTEN DEVELOPMENT 

6 GRANTS. 

7 Title IX of the Every Student Succeeds Act (Public 

8 Law 114–95; 129 Stat. 2124) is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 9212, in the section heading by 

2 striking ‘‘PRESCHOOL’’ and inserting ‘‘STATE

3 PRESCHOOL’’; and 

4 (2) by inserting after section 9212 the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 9212A. LOCAL PREKINDERGARTEN DEVELOPMENT 

7 GRANTS. 

8 ‘‘(a) PREKINDERGARTEN DEVELOPMENT GRANTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health 

10 and Human Services, jointly with the Secretary of 

11 Education (referred to in this section jointly as the 

12 ‘Secretaries’), shall award competitive grants to eli13 gible local entities to assist such entities in estab14 lishing high-quality prekindergarten programs. 

15 ‘‘(2) GRANT DURATION.—The Secretaries shall 

16 award grants under this section for a period of not 

17 more than 3 years. Such grants shall not be re18 newed. 

19 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—To be considered for a 

20 grant under this section, an eligible local entity shall 

21 submit an application to the Secretaries at such 

22 time, in such manner, and accompanied by such in23 formation as the Secretaries may reasonably require. 

24 ‘‘(4) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re2 ceive a grant under this section an eligible local 

3 entity shall contribute, for the activities for 

4 which the grant was awarded, non-Federal 

5 matching funds in an amount equal to not less 

6 than 20 percent of the amount of the grant. 

7 ‘‘(B) NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.—To satisfy 

8 the requirement of subparagraph (A) an eligible 

9 local entity may use— 

10 ‘‘(i) non-Federal resources in the form 

11 of State funding, local funding, or con12 tributions from philanthropy or other pri13 vate sources, or a combination of such re14 sources; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) in-kind contributions. 

16 ‘‘(C) FINANCIAL HARDSHIP WAIVER.—The 

17 Secretaries may waive the requirement of sub18 paragraph (A) or reduce the amount of match19 ing funds required under such subparagraph for 

20 an eligible local entity that has submitted an 

21 application for a grant under this section if the 

22 entity demonstrates, in the application, a need 

23 for such a waiver or reduction due to extreme 

24 financial hardship, as determined by the Secre25 taries. 


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1 ‘‘(5) DOUBLE-DIPPING PREVENTION.—The Sec2 retaries may not award a grant under this section to 

3 an eligible local entity for a fiscal year if the State 

4 in which the entity is located has applied for, or has 

5 been awarded, a grant under section 9212 for such 

6 fiscal year. 

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

8 ‘‘(1) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PRO9 GRAM.—The term ‘early childhood education pro10 gram’ has the meaning given the term in section 103 

11 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

12 1003). 

13 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE LOCAL ENTITY.—The term ‘eli14 gible local entity’ means— 

15 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency, including 

16 a charter school or a charter management orga17 nization that acts as a local educational agency, 

18 or an educational service agency in partnership 

19 with a local educational agency; 

20 ‘‘(B) an entity (including a Head Start 

21 program or licensed child care setting) that car22 ries out, administers, or supports an early 

23 childhood education program; or 

24 ‘‘(C) a consortium of entities described in 

25 subparagraph (A) or (B). 


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1 ‘‘(3) FULL-DAY.—The term ‘full-day’ means a 

2 day that is— 

3 ‘‘(A) equivalent to a full school day at the 

4 public elementary schools in the State; and 

5 ‘‘(B) not less than 5 hours. 

6 ‘‘(4) HIGH-QUALITY PREKINDERGARTEN PRO7 GRAM.—The term ‘high-quality prekindergarten pro8 gram’ means a prekindergarten program supported 

9 by an eligible local entity that includes, at a min10 imum, the following elements based on nationally 

11 recognized standards: 

12 ‘‘(A) Serves children who— 

13 ‘‘(i) are age 4 or children who are age 

14 3 or 4, by the eligibility determination date 

15 (including children who turn age 5 while 

16 attending the program); or 

17 ‘‘(ii) have attained the legal age for 

18 State-funded prekindergarten. 

19 ‘‘(B) Requires high staff qualifications, in20 cluding that teachers meet the requirements of 

21 one of the following clauses: 

22 ‘‘(i) The teacher has a bachelor’s de23 gree in early childhood education or a re24 lated field with coursework that demVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:23 Apr 14, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2003.IH H2003

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1 onstrates competence in early childhood 

2 education. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The teacher— 

4 ‘‘(I) has a bachelor’s degree in 

5 any field; 

6 ‘‘(II) has demonstrated knowl7 edge of early childhood education 

8 through passage of a State-approved 

9 assessment in early childhood edu10 cation; 

11 ‘‘(III) engages in ongoing profes12 sional development in early childhood 

13 education for not less than 2 years; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(IV) is enrolled in a State-ap16 proved educator preparation program 

17 in which the teacher receives ongoing 

18 training and support in early child19 hood education and is making 

20 progress toward the completion of the 

21 program in not more than 3 years. 

22 ‘‘(iii) The teacher has a bachelor’s de23 gree in any field with a credential, license, 

24 or endorsement that demonstrates com25 petence in early childhood education. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Maintains a maximum class size of 

2 20 children. 

3 ‘‘(D) Maintains a child to instructional 

4 staff ratio that does not exceed 10 to 1. 

5 ‘‘(E) Offers a full-day program. 

6 ‘‘(F) Provides developmentally appropriate 

7 learning environments and evidence-based cur8 ricula that are aligned with the State’s early 

9 learning and development standards. 

10 ‘‘(G) Offers instructional staff salaries 

11 comparable to kindergarten through grade 12 

12 teaching staff. 

13 ‘‘(H) Provides for ongoing monitoring and 

14 program evaluation to ensure continuous im15 provement. 

16 ‘‘(I) Offers accessible comprehensive serv17 ices for children that— 

18 ‘‘(i) include, at a minimum— 

19 ‘‘(I) screenings for vision, dental, 

20 health (including mental health), and 

21 development and referrals, and assist22 ance obtaining services, when appro23 priate; 

24 ‘‘(II) family engagement opportu25 nities (taking into account home lanVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:23 Apr 14, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2003.IH H2003

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1 guage), such as parent conferences 

2 (including parent input about their 

3 child’s development) and support serv4 ices, such as parent education and 

5 family literacy services; 

6 ‘‘(III) nutrition services, includ7 ing nutritious meals and snack op8 tions aligned with requirements set by 

9 the most recent Child and Adult Care 

10 Food Program guidelines promulgated 

11 by the Department of Agriculture as 

12 well as regular, age-appropriate, nu13 trition education for children and 

14 their families; 

15 ‘‘(IV) programs coordinated with 

16 local educational agencies and entities 

17 providing programs authorized under 

18 section 619 and part C of the Individ19 uals with Disabilities Education Act 

20 (20 U.S.C. 1419 and 1431 et seq.); 

21 ‘‘(V) physical activity programs 

22 aligned with evidence-based guide23 lines, such as those recommended by 

24 the Institute of Medicine, and that 


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1 take into account and accommodate 

2 children with disabilities; and 

3 ‘‘(VI) additional support services, 

4 as appropriate, based on the findings 

5 of a needs analysis; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) are provided on-site, to the max7 imum extent feasible. 

8 ‘‘(J) Provides high-quality professional de9 velopment for staff, including regular in-class 

10 observation for teachers and teacher assistants 

11 by individuals trained in observation and which 

12 may include evidence-based coaching. 

13 ‘‘(K) Meets the education performance 

14 standards in effect under section 641A(a)(1)(B) 

15 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 9836a(a)(1)(B)). 

17 ‘‘(L) Maintains evidence-based health and 

18 safety standards. 

19 ‘‘(5) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘local edu20 cational agency’ and ‘State’ have the meanings given 

21 the terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

22 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

23 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec25 tion— 


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1 ‘‘(1) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; and 

2 ‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary for each 

3 of fiscal years 2019 through 2027.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. CLERICAL AMENDMENT. 

5 The table of contents in section 2 of the Every Stu6 dent Succeeds Act (Public Law 114–95; 129 Stat. 1802) 

7 is amended by striking the item relating to section 9212 

8 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 9212. State preschool development grants. 

‘‘Sec. 9212A. Local prekindergarten development grants.’’. 

Æ 


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