II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 294 

To enhance early care and education. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2011 

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

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

A BILL 

To enhance early care and education. 

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 ‘‘Foundations for Suc5 cess Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The United States ranks 17th in reading, 

9 31st in mathematics, 23rd in science, and 18th in 

10 overall secondary education out of 36 developed na11 tions, according to the Organization for Economic 

12 Co-operation and Development (OECD). 


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1 (2) According to data compiled by the OECD, 

2 in 2008 the United States had a child poverty rate 

3 of 20.6 percent, which is the 4th highest child pov4 erty rate of the 30 OECD countries that are ranked 

5 in this category. 

6 (3) Research conducted by the UNICEF 

7 Innocenti Research Centre supports a direct link be8 tween accessible, affordable child care and a de9 crease in child poverty. 

10 (4) According to the National Center for Chil11 dren in Poverty— 

12 (A) at age 4, children who live below the 

13 poverty line are 18 months below normal learn14 ing achievement for their age group, by age 10 

15 that gap is still present, and for children living 

16 in the poorest families, the gap is even larger; 

17 and 

18 (B) by the time children from middle-in19 come families with well-educated parents are in 

20 3rd grade, these children know about 12,000 

21 words, while 3rd grade children from low-in22 come families, with undereducated parents who 

23 don’t talk to them as much, have vocabularies 

of around 4,000 words, 1 24 ⁄3 as many words as 

25 their middle-income peers. 


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1 (5) According to the National Association of 

2 Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies— 

3 (A) since 2000, the cost of child care has 

4 increased twice as fast as the median income of 

5 families with children; 

6 (B) in 40 States, the average annual cost 

7 for center-based care for an infant was higher 

8 than the cost of 1 year of tuition and related 

9 fees at a 4-year public institution of higher edu10 cation; and 

11 (C) the average annual cost of center12 based care for a 4-year old is 40 percent of the 

13 income of a 2-parent family living at the pov14 erty level ($18,310), while the average cost for 

15 center-based care is almost 25 percent of in16 come for families living at 200 percent of the 

17 poverty level ($36,620). 

18 (6) The Department of Health and Human 

19 Services estimates that only 17 percent of eligible 

20 children receive fee assistance for child care expenses 

21 through the Child Care and Development Block 

22 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.). 

23 (7) According to pre[k]now, a campaign of the 

24 Pew Center on the States,— 


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1 (A) only 13 States and the District of Co2 lumbia require school districts to offer full-day 

3 kindergarten; 

4 (B) only 3 States currently make pre5 kindergarten available to all 4-year olds, and 

6 State-funded prekindergarten programs cur7 rently serve 3.7 percent of 3-year olds; and 

8 (C) Head Start programs serve less than 

9 half of the children who are eligible for early 

10 care and education under the Head Start pro11 gram. 

12 (8) According to RESULTS Educational Fund, 

13 Early Head Start serves less than 3 percent of chil14 dren who are eligible for early care and education 

15 under the Early Head Start program. 

16 (9) According to the National Association of 

17 Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies, each day, 

18 more than 11,000,000 children under the age of 5 

19 spend time outside the care of their parents in early 

20 learning settings that vary greatly in terms of qual21 ity. 

22 (10) The National Economic Development and 

23 Law Center reports that— 


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1 (A) child care breakdowns lead to employee 

2 absences that cost businesses in the United 

3 States $3,000,000,000 annually; 

4 (B) in the United States, 58 percent of 

5 women with children under the age of 6 partici6 pate in the labor force; 

7 (C) 29 percent of employed parents experi8 enced some kind of child care breakdown in the 

9 past 3 months, and such child care breakdowns 

10 were associated with absenteeism, tardiness, 

11 and reduced concentration at work; and 

12 (D) a 1996 General Accounting Office 

13 (GAO) report indicates that a lack of adequate 

14 child care affects the ability of clients of job 

15 training programs to complete job training suc16 cessfully. 

17 (11) A 2010 study conducted by the Education 

18 International ECE Task Force reports that— 

19 (A) in 2006, the total Federal expenditure 

20 on child care for children ages 0 through 5 was 

21 $20,400,000,000, which amounted to 0.2 per22 cent of GDP; 

23 (B) Federal funding is largely targeted at 

24 children with disabilities and children from low25 income families; 


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1 (C) the Federal Government underwrites 

2 25 percent of the costs of child care, State and 

3 local government underwrites 15 percent of the 

4 costs of child care, and parents pay the remain5 ing 60 percent of child care costs; 

6 (D) on average, low-income families pay 18 

7 percent of their total family income for each 

8 child who is enrolled in child care; and 

9 (E) although low-income families can ben10 efit from free subsidies through the Child Care 

11 and Development Fund, many low-income fami12 lies make use of informal, unregulated arrange13 ments for child care. 

14 (12) After adjusting for inflation, in recent 

15 years, State funding for early care and education 

16 programs has declined in 24 of the 38 States that 

17 have such programs. 

18 (13) The average annual cost per child of Head 

19 Start or similar programs is $7,028, and the average 

20 cost of a high quality comprehensive, full-day, full21 year, early child care and education program is 

22 $13,009, while the average cost per year to house a 

23 prisoner is $22,650. 

24 (14) Based on the work of James J. Heckman, 

25 the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor 


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1 of Economics at the University of Chicago and direc2 tor of the Economics Research Center and the Cen3 ter for Social Program Evaluation at the Harris 

4 School for Public Policy— 

5 (A) investments in early care and edu6 cation promote schooling, reduce crime, foster 

7 workforce productivity, promote health through 

8 several channels, and reduce teenage pregnancy; 

9 (B) the rate of return for investing in early 

10 childhood programs is in the range of 6 to 10 

11 percent; 

12 (C) districts can anticipate savings from 

13 decreased grade retention and special education 

14 placements, improved graduation rates, and 

15 greater success in institutions of higher edu16 cation and adulthood; 

17 (D) remedial programs cost more to 

18 produce the same level of skill attainment as 

19 early care and education programs; 

20 (E) of those students retained at the same 

21 grade level more than once, 80 percent dropped 

22 out of school, and of those retained at the same 

23 grade level in both elementary and middle 

24 school, 94 percent dropped out of school; 


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1 (F) school dropouts are 8 times more likely 

2 to be incarcerated, 82 percent of incarcerated 

3 individuals are high school dropouts, and the 

4 United States has the highest prison population 

5 in the world (748 incarcerated individuals per 

6 100,000 people) (International Center for Pris7 on Studies at King’s College London); 

8 (G) family environments of young children 

9 are major predictors of cognitive and 

10 socioemotional abilities, as well as a variety of 

11 outcomes, such as crime and health; 

12 (H) family environments in the United 

13 States have deteriorated over the past 40 years; 

14 (I) a greater proportion of children are 

15 being born into disadvantaged families, includ16 ing minorities and immigrant groups; and 

17 (J) disadvantaged families are least likely 

18 to have the economic and social resources to 

19 provide the early developmental experience that 

20 every child needs as a basic opportunity for fu21 ture success in school, higher education, career, 

22 and life. 

23 (15) It is the Government’s moral, ethical, and 

24 fiscal responsibility to offer the option to parents of 

25 a high quality early care and education program for 


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1 their young children that promotes self-development, 

2 academic achievement, and active engagement in 

3 learning for all children. 

4 (16) Providing children with universal access to 

5 early care and education programs shall— 

6 (A) promote continuity of care; 

7 (B) support whole-child development, par8 ent employment, and economic development; 

9 (C) strengthen program alignment and ac10 countability; and 

11 (D) improve coordination across all State 

12 and Federal services that provide for the cog13 nitive, physical, social, and emotional needs of 

14 the child. 

15 SEC. 3. PURPOSE AND MODEL. 

16 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

17 grants, on a competitive basis, to States to enable such 

18 States to establish a State Early Care and Education Sys19 tem, which will provide all children in the State, ages 6 

20 weeks to kindergarten, with access to a full-time, high 

21 quality, developmentally appropriate, early care and edu22 cation program in order to— 

23 (1) support the needs of working families in the 

24 United States, and those families unable to afford 

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1 grams that provide comprehensive child and family2 focused services designed to foster the cognitive, 

3 physical, social, and emotional needs of children; and 

4 (2) ensure that all children are prepared to 

5 enter kindergarten ready to learn and reach their 

6 maximum potential. 

7 (b) MODEL FOR NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The 10 States that are 

9 awarded grants under section 4(a)(1) shall serve as 

10 a model for national implementation, demonstrating 

11 the development of successful, evidence-based, state12 wide, universal access, Early Care and Education 

13 Systems. 

14 (2) LONG TERM GOAL.—The long term goal is 

15 for every State to receive the information and fund16 ing needed to redesign early care and education pro17 grams serving children from birth through age 6 

18 into a comprehensive and viable statewide system 

19 that provides universal access to high quality early 

20 care and education programs. 

21 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM. 

22 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

23 (1) PHASE 1.—The Secretary of Education, in 

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1 partment of Health and Human Services, (referred 

2 to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretaries’’) shall award a 

3 grant to 10 States, through a competitive grant 

4 process, to enable each State to establish and sup5 port an Early Care and Education System, which 

6 shall— 

7 (A) provide all State residents with the op8 portunity to enroll children, ages 6 weeks to 

9 kindergarten, in an early care and education 

10 program on a full time basis; 

11 (B) provide access to an early care and 

12 education program that gives each child an op13 portunity to develop physical, social, and emo14 tional skills; and 

15 (C) improve school readiness by contrib16 uting to the cognitive development, character 

17 skills, and physical development of each child. 

18 (2) PHASE 2.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall, 

20 beginning 3 years after the date of enactment 

21 of this Act, award grants to additional States 

22 through the same process, for the same pur23 pose, and with the same specifications as the 

24 grants described in paragraph (1). 


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1 (B) GRANTS PER YEAR.—The Secretaries 

2 shall determine the number of States that will 

3 be eligible to receive a grant under this para4 graph for each year, and the Secretaries shall 

5 continue to make grants available under this 

6 paragraph until each State has had an oppor7 tunity to receive grant funding under this Act. 

8 (b) DURATION.—A grant awarded under this Act 

9 shall be for a period of 10 years. 

10 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

12 under this Act, a State shall submit an application to the 

13 Secretaries at such time, in such manner, and containing 

14 such information as the Secretaries may require. 

15 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—At a minimum, 

16 the application described in subsection (a) shall include 

17 the following: 

18 (1) An assurance that the State has an active 

19 State Early Childhood Advisory Council, which 

20 shall— 

21 (A) serve as the designated entity in ac22 cordance with section 7(a); or 

23 (B) advise, and coordinate with, the des24 ignated entity described in section 7(a). 


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1 (2) A reflection of any active partnerships with, 

2 or resource commitments from, other agencies or en3 tities that are necessary to deliver the programs and 

4 services outlined in the application. 

5 (3) An assurance that the State has in law, or 

6 will have in law within 1 year of receiving notice of 

7 a grant award under this Act, a requirement that 

8 each school district in the State offer full-day and 

9 full-week kindergarten. 

10 (4) Demonstration of a functioning P20 data 

11 system that will include data on children from birth 

12 through kindergarten, who are participating in the 

13 State Early Care and Education System, for the 

14 purpose of creating a longitudinal data system for 

15 individual participant tracking. 

16 (5) An identification of the designated entity 

17 that shall be responsible for program development, 

18 implementation, and oversight. 

19 (6) A list of annual program goals for each year 

20 of the 10-year grant period, and a timeline that il21 lustrates the projected milestones each year for 

22 reaching such program goals, with an emphasis on 

23 the first 3 years. 


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1 (7) An assurance that the State will submit an2 nual summary reports that shall include any changes 

3 to the timeline described in paragraph (6). 

4 (8) A grant program budget that includes— 

5 (A) an annual budget for each year of the 

6 grant program, which shall include a detailed 

7 narrative of funding received from all sources, 

8 including Federal, State, and local contribu9 tions, and an explanation of how this money 

10 will be leveraged within the grant program; 

11 (B) by year 6, a consolidation of all fund12 ing streams; and 

13 (C) by year 8, a funding plan for program 

14 sustainability, specifically outlining how State 

15 and local contributions, as well as a determined 

16 amount of Federal funding, will be used to sus17 tain the State Early Care and Education Sys18 tem. 

19 (9) Strategies for acquiring any additional data 

20 needed to develop an accurate budget, representative 

21 of total child participation in all early care and edu22 cation programs provided by the State. 

23 (10) An outreach plan for increasing awareness 

24 of, and enrollment in, the State Early Care and 

25 Education System. 


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1 (11) A transportation plan, including an assess2 ment of existing transportation providers and projec3 tions for additional transportation providers and ve4 hicles that meet Federal and State safety standards 

5 for the transportation of infants and toddlers. 

6 (12) Cost estimates for the improvement, re7 pair, or expansion of program space and for the cre8 ation of additional program space. 

9 (13) Estimates of the start-up costs of devel10 oping new early care and education programs that 

11 meet the needs of a population that has, for a vari12 ety of documented reasons, no early care and edu13 cation options in their community. 

14 (14) A plan for the continuation of services for 

15 children transitioning from receiving services under 

16 Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

17 Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.) to receiving services 

18 under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities 

19 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) such that 

20 there is no elimination of service, delay, or 

21 ‘‘dropped’’ services due to lack of funding or lack of 

22 capacity for service providers. 

23 (15) State child care licensing standards that 

24 address, at a minimum,— 


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1 (A) specific staff to child ratios for each 

2 age group or level within the program; 

3 (B) the prevention and control of infec4 tious diseases; 

5 (C) building and physical premises safety; 

6 and 

7 (D) health and safety training for teaching 

8 staff as mandated by State child care licensing 

9 agencies. 

10 (16) For the purpose of estimating enrollment 

11 and conducting a needs assessment, information re12 garding the following data: 

13 (A) The number of children, by geographic 

14 location or district, age 6 weeks through 5 

15 years (including children who miss the cut-off 

16 date for public school enrollment in kinder17 garten due to birth date) who are, as of the 

18 time of the application, participating in— 

19 (i) early childhood development pro20 grams through assistance provided under 

21 the Child Care and Development Block 

22 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et 

23 seq.); 

24 (ii) early childhood development pro25 grams through assistance provided under 


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1 the State temporary assistance for needy 

2 families program funded under part A of 

3 title IV of the Social Security Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 

5 (iii) State-supported early childhood 

6 development programs; 

7 (iv) Part C or Part B of the Individ8 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

9 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.); 

10 (v) early childhood development pro11 grams that receive funding from title I of 

12 the Elementary and Secondary Education 

13 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.); 

14 (vi) tribal early childhood development 

15 programs; and 

16 (vii) early childhood development pro17 grams located in public school facilities. 

18 (B) The number of early care and edu19 cation programs, and the number of children, 

20 disaggregated by age and geographic designa21 tion or district, who are enrolled, at the time of 

22 the application, in— 

23 (i) private school early childhood pro24 grams; 


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1 (ii) nonprofit early childhood pro2 grams; 

3 (iii) for-profit early childhood pro4 grams; 

5 (iv) Head Start and Early Head Start 

6 programs; and 

7 (v) unlicensed early care and edu8 cation programs provided for children that 

9 are not related to the provider. 

10 (C) A list of home visitation programs, 

11 such as the Maternal, Infant, and Early Child12 hood Home Visiting Grant Program, includ13 ing— 

14 (i) the program goals of each such 

15 program; and 

16 (ii) the number of families, and the 

17 number of children, disaggregated by age, 

18 who are, at the time of the application— 

19 (I) participating in each home 

20 visitation program; and 

21 (II) on the waiting list for each 

22 home visitation program. 

23 (D) Staff educational credentials, as de24 scribed in paragraphs (2) and (10) of section 

25 9(c). 


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1 (17) A transition plan to ensure that kinder2 garten programs have access to the student records 

3 and assessments, from prior enrollment in the State 

4 Early Care and Education System, of incoming stu5 dents. 

6 (18) A description of parent outreach strategies 

7 that kindergarten programs use, at the time of the 

8 application, to encourage engagement of parents. 

9 (19) A plan for a statewide entrance assess10 ment of each child entering kindergarten, which 

11 shall be implemented no later than 1 year from the 

12 date of receiving notification of a grant awarded 

13 under this Act. 

14 (20) A description of parent education pro15 grams for parents of young children, existing at the 

16 time of the application, and information regarding 

17 the outcomes and success of such programs. 

18 (21) A requirement that all licensed early care 

19 and education programs undergo annual inspections 

20 by an entity designated by the State to conduct such 

21 inspections. 

22 (22) A description of a statewide Quality Rat23 ing and Improvement System, as described in sec24 tion 9. 


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1 (23) A financial statement that includes an as2 sessment of resources existing at the time of the ap3 plication, including Federal, State, local, and private 

4 funds that are spent on existing early care and edu5 cation programs. 

6 (24) A plan for leveraging Federal, State, and 

7 local tax revenue from child care, preschool, and 

8 health and nutrition programs, as well as private 

9 funds to carry out activities described in this Act. 

10 The plan shall include— 

11 (A) a method, during year 6 of the grant 

12 period, for beginning to convert distinct Fed13 eral, State, and local funding streams for a 

14 range of early child care and education pro15 grams into permanent funding streams for the 

16 State Early Care and Education System prior 

17 to the expiration of the grant; 

18 (B) a description of the amount that will 

19 be generated through existing Federal, State, 

20 and local funding; and 

21 (C) a description of additional Federal 

22 funding that the State will need to ensure sus23 tainability of the Early Care and Education 

24 System upon completion of the 10-year grant 

25 period. 


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1 (25) If a State intends to use a sliding scale 

2 mechanism to raise additional revenue, as described 

3 in section 10(c), the State shall submit a detailed 

4 description of the sliding scale mechanism, includ5 ing— 

6 (A) the estimated amount of revenue that 

7 the State expects to generate, or the percentage 

8 of costs of the Early Care and Education Sys9 tem that the revenue will cover; and 

10 (B) the structure of the sliding scale, in11 cluding— 

12 (i) whether the State will require a 

13 parent or legal guardian to contribute 

14 based on— 

15 (I) a percentage of a parent or 

16 legal guardian’s income; 

17 (II) a different predetermined 

18 amount; or 

19 (III) an alternative mechanism 

20 for calculation; 

21 (ii) if the sliding scale is structured as 

22 described in clause (i)(I), the percentage 

23 amounts; 

24 (iii) demonstrated accommodations for 

25 families earning below a set amount; 


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1 (iv) any cap on the amount of con2 tribution; and 

3 (v) any designated exemptions from 

4 contribution. 

5 (26) Statewide Early Learning Standards for 

6 children ages 6 weeks to kindergarten that are 

7 aligned with Head Start and Early Head Start child 

8 outcome standards in all developmental domains, in9 cluding learning standards related to— 

10 (A) literacy; 

11 (B) language; 

12 (C) problem solving; 

13 (D) social development; 

14 (E) emotional development; and 

15 (F) physical development. 

16 (c) INCORPORATION OF DATA AND RECOMMENDA17 TIONS.—Each application submitted under this section 

18 shall incorporate data and recommendations provided 

19 by— 

20 (1) the National Center on Child Care Subsidy 

21 and Administration and Accountability; 

22 (2) the National Center on Child Care Quality 

23 Improvement Systems; 


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1 (3) the National Center on Child Care Profes2 sional Development System and Workforce Initia3 tives; 

4 (4) National Health and Safety Performance 

5 Standards, Guidelines for Early Care and Education 

6 Programs; 

7 (5) Preventing Childhood Obesity in Early Care 

8 and Education Programs; 

9 (6) Caring for Our Children Standards; 

10 (7) the Quality Rating and Improvement Sys11 tem Resource Guide and Cost Estimate Model; and 

12 (8) the Early Childhood Professional Develop13 ment Systems Toolkit. 

14 SEC. 6. AWARDING OF GRANTS. 

15 In awarding grants under this Act, the Secretaries 

16 shall select States that represent a geographic sampling, 

17 and shall include a balance of States with rural and urban 

18 populations. 

19 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES. 

20 (a) DESIGNATED ENTITY.—A State that receives a 

21 grant under this Act shall designate an entity to be re22 sponsible for controlling and directing the development, 

23 funding, implementation, and monitoring of the State 

24 Early Care and Education System. Designated entities 

25 may include the following: 


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1 (1) The State Department of Education. 

2 (2) An established State Department of Early 

3 Childhood Education. 

4 (3) The State Department of Health or the 

5 State Department of Human Services. 

6 (4) An active State Early Childhood Advisory 

7 Council. 

8 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that receives a grant 

9 under this Act shall use the grant funds to pay the costs 

10 for the start-up and implementation of a State Early Care 

11 and Education System, with an emphasis on supporting 

12 participating programs in increasing their ratings accord13 ing to the statewide Quality Rating and Improvement Sys14 tem, as described in section 9, such that the continuous 

15 improvement of program quality occurs. A State that re16 ceives a grant under this Act may use grant funds for 

17 the following activities: 

18 (1) To pay facility expenses, including building, 

19 leasing, or renting space, or remodeling facilities to 

20 accommodate infants, toddlers, and other preschool 

21 age children. Such facilities may be in public 

22 schools, charter schools, or State or federally funded 

23 program spaces. 

24 (2) To pay administrative expenses, including 

25 administrator and teaching staff salaries. 


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1 (3) To develop and implement Statewide Early 

2 Learning Standards, as described in section 

3 5(b)(26), for the early care and education of chil4 dren ages 6 weeks through kindergarten. 

5 (4) To develop, implement, and assess cur6 riculum. 

7 (5) To provide equipment and materials that 

8 promote the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional 

9 development of children. 

10 (6) For professional development, including the 

11 provision of scholarship and grant opportunities to 

12 assist early care and education teaching staff to 

13 meet qualification standards established by the 

14 State. 

15 (7) To coordinate with local health care pro16 viders for the provision of comprehensive services, 

17 including health, nutrition, diagnostic screenings, 

18 and counseling. 

19 (8) To support infrastructure for longitudinal 

20 data collection and analysis. 

21 SEC. 8. EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 

22 (a) PARENTAL CHOICE OF EARLY CARE AND EDU23 CATION PROGRAMS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Parents may enroll children 

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1 ates as part of the State Early Care and Education 

2 System established under section 4(a), or in an inde3 pendent early care and education program that oper4 ates outside the scope of the State Early Care and 

5 Education System established under section 4(a). 

6 (2) TUITION PAYMENTS.—Parents shall be re7 sponsible for paying any tuition for enrollment in an 

8 independent early care and education program that 

9 operates outside the scope of the State Early Care 

10 and Education System established under section 

11 4(a). 

12 (3) MINIMUM HOURS.—A State that receives a 

13 grant under this Act must set minimum hours, 

14 which may depend upon the age of a child, that a 

15 child who is enrolled in an early care and education 

16 program operating under the State Early Care and 

17 Education System will be required to participate in 

18 such program. 

19 (b) PARTICIPATION OF EARLY CARE AND EDU20 CATION PROGRAMS IN THE STATE EARLY CARE AND

21 EDUCATION SYSTEM.— 

22 (1) OPTION TO PARTICIPATE.—Each early care 

23 and education program, which meets the require24 ments described in paragraph (2), in a State that reVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:57 Feb 07, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S294.IS S294

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1 ceives a grant under this Act, may choose to operate 

2 under the State Early Care and Education System. 

3 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION.—In 

4 order to operate under the State Early Care and 

5 Education System, an early care and education pro6 gram shall— 

7 (A) meet the State criteria for a good risk 

8 program; and 

9 (B) have a record of continuous operation 

10 for not less than 5 years. 

11 (c) INDEPENDENT EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION

12 PROGRAMS.—Each State that receives a grant under this 

13 Act shall require each independent child care and edu14 cation provider of an independent early care and education 

15 program that operates outside the scope of the State Early 

16 Care and Education System established under section 4(a) 

17 to meet the same State child care licensing standards, as 

18 described in section (5)(b)(15), as programs funded under 

19 the grant in order to receive State accreditation and to 

20 ensure consistency in program quality. The State shall 

21 designate an entity which shall be responsible for pro22 viding accreditation to independent early care and edu23 cation programs. 

24 (d) EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS OPER25 ATING UNDER THE STATE EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION


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1 SYSTEM.—Each early care and education program, which 

2 provides child care and education as part of the State 

3 Early Care and Education System established under sec4 tion 4(a), shall— 

5 (1) be aligned with the statewide Early Learn6 ing Standards described in section (5)(b)(26); 

7 (2) incorporate evidence-based teaching and 

8 learning practices that— 

9 (A) emphasize integrated learning struc10 tures; 

11 (B) create positive school climates led by 

12 effective teaching staff; and 

13 (C) establish high expectations and individ14 ualized achievement opportunities for each 

15 child; 

16 (3) provide required services for children with 

17 disabilities; 

18 (4) provide English language instruction for 

19 English language learners; 

20 (5) provide, or operate in partnership with com21 munity-based health organizations for the purpose of 

22 making a referral for— 

23 (A) annual vision screenings; 

24 (B) annual dental screenings; 

25 (C) annual hearing screenings; 


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1 (D) other health care screenings; 

2 (E) immunizations, as needed; 

3 (F) mental health services, as needed; and 

4 (G) ongoing promotion of proper nutrition; 

5 and 

6 (6) provide, or partner with community-based 

7 organizations to provide, family support services, in8 cluding— 

9 (A) access to parenting classes; 

10 (B) access to classes in child development; 

11 (C) educational classes, such as GED at12 tainment, and vocational training programs; 

13 (D) job placement programs; 

14 (E) alcohol and substance abuse treatment 

15 programs; and 

16 (F) programs to help improve literacy and 

17 English language competence. 

18 SEC. 9. STATEWIDE QUALITY RATING AND IMPROVEMENT 

19 SYSTEM. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each designated entity shall de21 velop a Quality Rating and Improvement System for early 

22 care and education programs for children ages 6 weeks 

23 through kindergarten. 

24 (b) RATING.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the statewide 

2 Quality Rating and Improvement System, each State 

3 that receives a grant under this Act shall designate 

4 an entity to assign a rating to each early care and 

5 education program in such State, including such 

6 programs that are part of the State Early Care and 

7 Education System and such programs that operate 

8 independently. 

9 (2) BASIS OF RATING.—The rating described in 

10 paragraph (1) shall be based on an assessment of 

11 each early care and education program in such 

12 State, and such assessment shall incorporate the ap13 plicable components and standards of the Quality 

14 Rating and Improvement System described in sub15 section (c). 

16 (c) COMPONENTS OF THE QUALITY RATING AND IM17 PROVEMENT SYSTEM.—The statewide Quality Rating and 

18 Improvement System developed under subsection (a) shall 

19 include— 

20 (1) standards regarding the granting and re21 newal of licenses for the operation of early care and 

22 education programs; 

23 (2) standards regarding the educational quali24 fications for teaching staff and program administra25 tors of early care and education programs; 


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1 (3) ongoing professional development require2 ments for teaching staff and administrators; 

3 (4) standards to determine the relevancy of cur4 riculum selected by each early care and education 

5 program to the established Statewide Early Learn6 ing Standards described in section (5)(b)(26); 

7 (5) classroom environmental checklists, which 

8 shall be used to determine the quality of the learning 

9 environment of each early care and education pro10 gram; 

11 (6) a goal of national accreditation for pro12 grams, in order to reach the highest rating, in ac13 cordance with subsection (b); 

14 (7) parent communication strategies, including 

15 parent outreach efforts for enrollment purposes; 

16 (8) ongoing assessments of individual children, 

17 to be used in setting instructional goals specific to 

18 each child and monitoring the progress of each child 

19 in order to raise the quality of early care and edu20 cation programs in the State; 

21 (9) partnerships with community colleges, insti22 tutions of higher education, or other entities ap23 proved by the State, that result in the provision of— 


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1 (A) on-going, relevant, research-based pro2 fessional development for teaching staff in a va3 riety of early care and education settings; 

4 (B) infant and toddler specialists to ad5 dress the unique challenges of providing group 

6 care for infants and toddlers; 

7 (C) specialists who work with children with 

8 special needs, that will— 

9 (i) support each early care and edu10 cation program in providing high quality, 

11 appropriate services for children that need 

12 adaptive services and educational support; 

13 and 

14 (ii) provide information to the parents 

15 of such children; 

16 (D) mental health professionals who spe17 cialize in working with young children, who will 

18 support teaching staff in early care and edu19 cation settings in providing services to children 

20 with mental health needs and their families; 

21 and 

22 (E) innovative use of technology to deliver 

23 professional development in early care and edu24 cation program rooms to support teaching staff 

25 in real time; and 


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1 (10) the development and implementation of a 

2 career plan for early care and education teaching 

3 staff that will ensure— 

4 (A) support to assist each early care and 

5 education non-lead teacher in receiving— 

6 (i) a Child Development Associate cre7 dential; or 

8 (ii) an Associate in the Arts Degree in 

9 Child Development, or Child Development 

10 Technology, or an equivalent degree; and 

11 (B) support to assist each lead teacher in 

12 receiving a bachelor’s degree in child develop13 ment, early childhood education, early childhood 

14 special education, or an equivalent degree in the 

15 field; 

16 (C) within 4 years of the start of each 

17 early care and education program that operates 

18 within the State Early Care and Education Sys19 tem, each lead teacher in such program will 

20 have, at a minimum, a Child Development As21 sociate credential; 

22 (D) within 4 years of implementation of 

23 the first early care and education program that 

24 operates within the State Early Care and Edu25 cation System, a minimum of 50 percent of 


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1 non-lead teachers, across all programs within 

2 the State Early Care and Education System 

3 will have an Associate Degree in Early Child4 hood Education, or a related field; 

5 (E) within 8 years of implementation of 

6 the first early care and education program that 

7 operates within the State Early Care and Edu8 cation System, 100 percent of lead teachers, 

9 and 50 percent of program directors, across all 

10 programs within the State Early Care and Edu11 cation System, will have a bachelor’s degree in 

12 child development, early childhood education, or 

13 a related field determined by the designated en14 tity; and 

15 (F) within 8 years of implementation of 

16 the first early care and education program that 

17 operates within the State Early Care and Edu18 cation System, at least 75 percent of non-lead 

19 teachers working with children, across all pro20 grams within the State Early Care and Edu21 cation System, will have, at a minimum, a Child 

22 Development Associate credential. 

23 SEC. 10. FUNDING. 

24 (a) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Each designated 

25 entity shall provide an assurance that grant funding proVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:57 Feb 07, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S294.IS S294

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1 vided under this Act will be used to supplement, and not 

2 supplant, Federal, State, and local funds otherwise avail3 able to support early learning programs and services. 

4 (b) CONSOLIDATION OF FUNDING STREAMS.—Each 

5 State receiving a grant under this Act shall leverage exist6 ing Federal, State, and local funds, used for early care 

7 and education programs, and shall consolidate such funds 

8 into 1 general funding stream for the State Early Care 

9 and Education System prior to the end of the 10-year 

10 grant period. 

11 (c) SLIDING SCALE.—Each State receiving a grant 

12 under this Act may adopt a sliding scale mechanism, 

13 which may allow for a specified amount of family contribu14 tion (which must be based on family income, wealth, or 

15 some combination of family income and wealth) to support 

16 funding and sustainability of the State Early Care and 

17 Education System. 

18 (d) SUSTAINABILITY.—Grant funding provided under 

19 this Act shall provide for implementation and initial sus20 tainability support over the 10-year grant period. Each 

21 State that receives a grant under this Act shall dem22 onstrate future sustainability of the Early Care and Edu23 cation System before the final year of the initial 10-year 

24 grant period. After 10 years, if the State Early Care and 

25 Education System has a record of demonstrated success, 


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1 the Secretaries shall continue to support the program with 

2 funds appropriated under this Act, without fiscal year lim3 itations. The amount of such funding shall be determined 

4 1 year prior to the expiration of the 10-year grant period 

5 and shall be determined based on factors established by 

6 the Secretaries. 

7 (e) MODEL.—Each State receiving a grant under this 

8 Act shall appropriately manage, and make publicly avail9 able, data related to the State Early Care and Education 

10 System in order to serve as a model for— 

11 (1) implementing a State Early Care and Edu12 cation System; and 

13 (2) effectively and efficiently leveraging the use 

14 of resources. 

15 SEC. 11. EVALUATION AND REPORTING. 

16 (a) EVALUATION OF THE STATE EARLY CARE AND

17 EDUCATION SYSTEM.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each designated entity shall 

19 design and implement a method for evaluating the 

20 State Early Care and Education System. 

21 (2) COMPONENTS OF EVALUATION.—The pro22 gram evaluation required under subsection (a) shall 

23 include a variety of assessment tools designed to 

24 measure, in quantitative and qualitative terms, 


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1 progress in reaching the outcomes and goals estab2 lished by the designated entity, including— 

3 (A) improvements in outcomes for children 

4 that are consistent with the Statewide Early 

5 Learning Standards described in section 

6 5(b)(26); 

7 (B) improvements in teaching staff quali8 fications and knowledge; 

9 (C) improvements in compensation for 

10 teaching staff; 

11 (D) improvements in the number of chil12 dren served, including increases in the number 

13 of children served, disaggregated by— 

14 (i) age (with a special emphasis on in15 fants and toddlers); 

16 (ii) family income; 

17 (iii) English language learners; and 

18 (iv) disabilities or other special needs; 

19 (E) increase in the number of programs 

20 meeting the standards of the Quality Rating 

21 and Improvement System described in section 

22 9; 

23 (F) cost-benefit data, including expendi24 tures and cost-saving benefits, as demonstrated 

25 by such information as— 


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1 (i) reduction in grade retention, spe2 cial education referrals, supplemental edu3 cational services, incidences of school sus4 pension or expulsion, and middle school 

5 and high school dropout rates; and 

6 (ii) increases in attendance, retention 

7 of teaching staff, enrollment in institutions 

8 of higher education, and student academic 

9 performance; 

10 (G) increase in the number of children 

11 identified with a potential developmental delay 

12 prior to school entry that received follow-up 

13 services within 3 months of identification; 

14 (H) increase in the number of infant and 

15 toddler specialists providing training and on-site 

16 mentoring to teaching staff; 

17 (I) increase in the number of mental 

18 health specialists providing training and ongo19 ing mentoring to teaching staff, administration, 

20 and parents of young children; 

21 (J) increase in the number of health spe22 cialists or nutritionists providing training and 

23 ongoing mentoring to teaching staff; and 

24 (K) measurable changes in staffing pat25 terns among early care and education programs 


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1 that indicate age appropriate staff to child ra2 tios, established by the State, in all age levels. 

3 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 (1) REPORTS TO THE SECRETARIES.—Each 

5 State that is awarded a grant under this Act shall 

6 prepare and submit an annual report to the Secre7 taries, which shall include the information described 

8 in subsection (a). 

9 (2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Beginning in the 

10 8th year of program implementation, the Secretaries 

11 shall prepare and submit a biannual report to Con12 gress, which shall include a cost-benefit analysis of 

13 the grant program and evidence of effective prac14 tices. 

15 (c) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATA.—The data from the 

16 evaluation required under subsection (a) shall be made 

17 publicly available for the purpose of informing other 

18 States about the most efficient and effective means for 

19 providing statewide universal access to high quality early 

20 care and education to children ages 6 weeks to kinder21 garten. 

22 (d) DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND DEPARTMENT

23 OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEASUREMENTS.— 

24 Each State that is awarded a grant under this Act shall 


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1 agree to participate in any assessments that the Secre2 taries may administer to grant recipients. 

3 (e) CENTER FOR EVALUATION SUPPORT, ANALYSIS, 

4 AND REPORTING.—The Secretaries shall develop and im5 plement a Center for Evaluation Support, Analysis, and 

6 Reporting for the purpose of storing and reporting data 

7 on effective and efficient early care and education pro8 grams. 

9 SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) FULL TIME.—The term ‘‘full time’’— 

12 (A) means, at a minimum, 8 hours per day 

13 of early care and education programs, with ar14 rangements for additional care before and after 

15 the established hours; 

16 (B) means, at a minimum, 5 days per 

17 week of early care and education programs; and 

18 (C) includes year round provision of early 

19 care and education programs, specifically, 

20 throughout the summer regardless of whether 

21 State elementary schools are providing such 

22 programs, and such summer hours shall be con23 sistent with regular early care and education 

24 program hours. 


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1 (2) GOOD RISK PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘good 

2 risk program’’ means an early care and education 

3 program that has demonstrated sustainability and 

4 continuity. 

5 (3) LEAD TEACHER.—The term ‘‘lead teacher’’ 

6 means the program room educator who is primarily 

7 responsible for designing and instructing participant 

8 learning activities and assessments and ensuring 

9 they are aligned to performance measures and 

10 standards. 

11 (4) NON-LEAD TEACHER.—The term ‘‘non-lead 

12 teacher’’ means staff responsible for supporting the 

13 lead teacher, such as paraprofessionals and teaching 

14 aides. 

15 (5) TEACHING STAFF.—The term ‘‘teaching 

16 staff’’ means lead teachers and non-lead teachers. 

17 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

19 this Act such sums as may be necessary beginning for fis20 cal year 2012. 

Æ 


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