I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4213 

To establish a grant program to assist States to establish or expand universal 

prekindergarten in public schools and public charter schools. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 27, 2019 

Ms. NORTON (for herself, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. 

SOTO, and Mr. MCNERNEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to assist States to establish 

or expand universal prekindergarten in public schools 

and public charter schools. 

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 ‘‘Universal Prekinder5 garten and Early Childhood Education Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. UNIVERSAL PREKINDERGARTEN AND EARLY 

7 CHILDHOOD EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.—From amounts ap9 propriated under section 3, the Secretary of Education is 


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1 authorized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to 

2 States to pay the Federal share of establishing or expand3 ing 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 establish or 

10 expand a prekindergarten program that, at a minimum— 

11 (1) is located at a public school in the State; 

12 (2) permits each 3- or 4-year-old child in the 

13 State to be voluntarily enrolled by the child’s parent, 

14 regardless of income, in the program at a school in 

15 which the child may be enrolled for kindergarten; 

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

17 of the regular school year; 

18 (4) is taught by teachers who possess equivalent 

19 or similar qualifications to the qualifications of 

20 teachers of other grades in the school involved; and 

21 (5) meets any other criteria that the Secretary 

22 may require. 

23 (d) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of a grant 

24 under this Act shall be not more than 80 percent of the 


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1 costs of carrying out the activities described in subsection 

2 (c). 

3 (e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds re4 ceived under this Act shall be used to supplement and not 

5 supplant other Federal early childhood education funds in 

6 the State. 

7 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

9 this Act such sums as are necessary for fiscal years 2020 

10 through 2025. 

11 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) FULL-DAY.—The term ‘‘full-day’’ used with 

14 respect to a program, means a program with a min15 imum of a 6-hour schedule per day. 

16 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

17 the Secretary of Education. 

18 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean19 ing given the term in section 8101 of the Elemen20 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

21 U.S.C. 7801). 

22 (4) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ has the 

23 meaning given the term in section 8101 of the Ele24 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

25 U.S.C. 7801). 


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1 (5) PUBLIC SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘public 

2 school’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘elementary 

3 school’’ or ‘‘secondary school’’ in section 8101 of the 

4 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

5 (20 U.S.C. 7801), except that the term does not in6 clude private schools. 

Æ 


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