I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4965 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to award 

grants to improve childhood care and education for local governments 

and local educational agencies. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2014 

Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself, Mr. FATTAH, and Mr. VEASEY) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to award grants to improve childhood care and 

education for local governments and local educational 

agencies. 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR IMPROVING EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE 

2 AND EDUCATION. 

3 Subpart 1 of part D of title V of the Elementary and 

4 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7243 et 

5 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 5415. GRANTS FOR IMPROVING EARLY CHILDHOOD 

7 CARE AND EDUCATION. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

9 under subsection (f), the Secretary jointly with the Sec10 retary of Health and Human Services and on such terms 

11 as such Secretaries set forth in an interagency agreement, 

12 shall make competitive grants to qualified entities for ac13 tivities that build the capacity to develop, enhance, or ex14 pand high-quality preschool programs, including com15 prehensive services and family engagement, for preschool16 aged children. 

17 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—Each qualified entity that de18 sires to receive a grant under this section shall submit an 

19 application to the Secretaries at such time, in such man20 ner, and containing such information as the Secretaries 

21 may require. 

22 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, EVALUATION, AND

23 OTHER NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—The Secretaries may use 

24 up to 3 percent of the funds appropriated under sub25 section (f) for technical assistance, evaluation, and other 


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1 national activities related to awarding grants under this 

2 section. 

3 ‘‘(d) REPORT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 30 days 

5 prior to the announcement of a competition under 

6 this section, the Secretaries shall submit a report 

7 outlining the proposed competition and priorities to 

8 the Congress on the activities carried out under this 

9 section. 

10 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretaries shall 

11 submit a report to Congress on the activities carried 

12 out under this section, including, at a minimum, in13 formation on the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) The progress of each qualified entity 

15 in moving toward fulfilling criteria outlined in 

16 the entity’s application. 

17 ‘‘(B) The extent to which the qualified en18 tities used grants under this section to expand 

19 a high-quality preschool program. 

20 ‘‘(C) The costs and barriers to such expan21 sion, including building and renovating pre22 school facilities so that such facilities are high23 quality and age and developmentally appro24 priate. 

25 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) HIGH-QUALITY PRESCHOOL PROGRAM.— 

2 The term ‘high-quality preschool program’ means an 

3 early learning program that includes structural ele4 ments that are evidence-based and nationally recog5 nized (such as Head Start program performance 

6 standards or research published by the National In7 stitute for Early Education) as important for ensur8 ing program quality, including at a minimum: 

9 ‘‘(A) High staff qualifications, including a 

10 teacher with a bachelor degree in early child11 hood education or a bachelor degree in any field 

12 with a State-approved alternate pathway, which 

13 may include coursework, clinical practice, and 

14 evidence of knowledge of content and pedagogy 

15 relating to early childhood, and teaching assist16 ants with appropriate credentials. 

17 ‘‘(B) High-quality professional develop18 ment for all staff. 

19 ‘‘(C) A staff-child ratio of no more than 

20 1:10. 

21 ‘‘(D) A class size of no more than 20. 

22 ‘‘(E) A full-day program. 

23 ‘‘(F) Full inclusion of children with disabil24 ities. 


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1 ‘‘(G) Developmentally appropriate, evi2 dence-based curricula and learning environ3 ments that are aligned with the State early 

4 learning and development standards, for at 

5 least the year prior to kindergarten entry. 

6 ‘‘(H) Individualized accommodations and 

7 supports so that all children can access and 

8 participate fully in learning activities. 

9 ‘‘(I) Instructional staff salaries comparable 

10 to kindergarten through grade 12 teaching 

11 staff. 

12 ‘‘(J) Program evaluation to ensure contin13 uous improvement. 

14 ‘‘(K) Onsite or accessible comprehensive 

15 services for children. 

16 ‘‘(L) Evidence-based health and safety 

17 standards. 

18 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED ENTITY.—The term ‘qualified 

19 entity’ means a local educational agency or a local 

20 government entity. 

21 ‘‘(3) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘Secretaries’ 

22 means the Secretary of Education and the Secretary 

23 of Health and Human Services. 

24 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

25 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 


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1 necessary to carry out this section for each of the fiscal 

2 years 2015 through 2024.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

4 The table of contents in section 2 of the Elementary 

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

6 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 

7 to section 5414 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 5415. Grants for improving early childhood care and education.’’. 

Æ 


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