I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2528 

To direct the Secretary of Education to award grants to States to pay 

the Federal share of carrying out full-day prekindergarten programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2015 

Mrs. DAVIS of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Education to award grants to 

States to pay the Federal share of carrying out fullday prekindergarten programs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Expanded Access to Real Learning for our Young Act’’ 

6 or the ‘‘EARLY Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. UNIVERSAL PREKINDERGARTEN AND EARLY 

8 CHILDHOOD EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM. 

9 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.—From amounts ap10 propriated under subsection (g), the Secretary of EduVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:42 May 28, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2528.IH H2528

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1 cation is authorized to award grants, on a competitive 

2 basis, to States to pay the Federal share of carrying out 

3 full-day prekindergarten programs. 

4 (b) STATE APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under 

5 this Act, a State shall submit to the Secretary an applica6 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

7 information as the Secretary may require. 

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

9 under this Act shall use such grant funds to carry out 

10 a prekindergarten program that, at a minimum— 

11 (1) if practicable, is located at a public school 

12 in the State or, if not practicable, is carried out by 

13 a private or other community provider; 

14 (2) permits each 4-year-old child in the State to 

15 be voluntarily enrolled by the child’s parent in the 

16 prekindergarten program, and which is made avail17 able at no cost to families who make a combined in18 come of up to 400 percent of the poverty line; 

19 (3) is a full-day program that runs the length 

20 of the regular school year; 

21 (4) maintains a maximum class size of 20 chil22 dren, with at least 1 prekindergarten teacher per 

23 classroom; 


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1 (5) ensures that the ratio of children to pre2 kindergarten teachers and teacher aides does not ex3 ceed 10 to 1; 

4 (6) is taught by teachers who are paid a salary 

5 comparable to teachers of kindergarten through 

6 grade 12 at public schools in the State; 

7 (7) requires the State in which the program is 

8 located to determinate a minimum level of parental 

9 engagement in their child’s program; and 

10 (8) meets any other criteria that the Secretary 

11 may require. 

12 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec13 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to States that will 

14 use the grants to carry out a prekindergarten program at 

15 a public school. 

16 (e) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of a grant 

17 under this Act shall not exceed 75 percent of the costs 

18 of carrying out the activities described in subsection (c). 

19 (f) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds re20 ceived under this Act shall be used to supplement and not 

21 supplant other Federal early childhood education funds in 

22 the State. 

23 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 


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1 such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 

2 2016 through 2020. 

3 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

4 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

5 school’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘poverty line’’, ‘‘secondary 

6 school’’, and ‘‘State’’ have the meanings given the 

7 terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec8 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 9101). 

9 (2) PUBLIC SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘public 

10 school’’ means a public elementary school or public 

11 secondary school. 

12 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of Education. 

Æ 


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