I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1649

To provide grants to States to establish, expand, or enhance prekindergarten

programs for children who are not yet enrolled in kindergarten.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 1, 2001

Mr. ANDREWS (for himself and Mr. KUCINICH) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To provide grants to States to establish, expand, or enhance

prekindergarten programs for children who are not yet

enrolled in kindergarten.

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

3 SECTION 1. PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM.

4 Title X of the Elementary and Secondary Education

5 Act of 1965 is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing:

7 ‘‘PART M—PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS

8 ‘‘SEC. 10996A. FINDINGS.

9 ‘‘Congress finds the following:
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1 ‘‘(1) Countless studies have shown what every

2 parent already knows: High-quality preschool edu3 cation programs work. They prepare children to

4 learn when they go to school, and the programs in5 crease the success of students throughout their lives.

6 ‘‘(2) Children who get a high-quality prekinder7 garten education are less likely to repeat a grade

8 level and have less need for special education in9 struction than those with no prekindergarten experi10 ence.

11 ‘‘(3) Prekindergarten programs make a signifi12 cant difference in the lives of children from low-in13 come families. A recent study found that children in

14 high-quality child care programs had better thinking

15 and attention skills, better mathematics and pre16 reading skills, and fewer behavioral problems.

17 ‘‘(4) In a study following children to age 21

18 who received high-quality early children education,

19 such children were more likely to have enrolled in

20 college, been employed, and delayed parenthood.

21 ‘‘SEC. 10996B. DEFINITIONS.

22 ‘‘For purposes of this part, the following definitions

23 shall apply:

24 ‘‘(1) PREKINDERGARTEN.—The term ‘pre25 kindergarten’ means a program serving children
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1 ages 3, 4, and 5 years old that supports children’s

2 cognitive, social, emotional, and physical develop3 ment and helps prepare children for the transition to

4 kindergarten.

5 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PREKINDERGARTEN PRO6 VIDERS.—The term ‘eligible prekindergarten pro7 viders’ includes child care programs, Head Start

8 agencies, and schools that—

9 ‘‘(A) have met applicable State licensing

10 requirements and have obtained accreditation

11 by a national accrediting body with dem12 onstrated experience in accrediting child care,

13 prekindergarten programs, or schools; or

14 ‘‘(B) agree to obtain such accreditation not

15 later than 3 years after receipt of a grant under

16 this part.

17 ‘‘(c) PREKINDERGARTEN TEACHER.—The term ‘pre18 kindergarten teacher’ means an individual who has or is

19 working toward a bachelor of arts degree in early child20 hood development.

21 ‘‘SEC. 10996C. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to

23 provide grants to a State with an approved application

24 under section 10996D to allow such State to establish or

25 expand prekindergarten early learning programs by eligi-
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1 ble prekindergarten providers and local educational agen2 cies in partnership with early childhood programs, organi3 zations, or agencies that serve prekindergarten school chil4 dren.

5 ‘‘(b) STATE APPLICATION.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The State shall designate a

7 State agency to administer, including the receipt and

8 administration of funds and the evaluation of the

9 program, the State-funded prekindergarten program

10 funded under this part.

11 ‘‘(2) STATE APPLICATION.—The appropriate

12 agency shall submit an application to the Secretary

13 that includes—

14 ‘‘(A) an assurance that the State will pro15 vide non-Federal matching funds equal to not

16 less than 20 percent of the award; and

17 ‘‘(B) a description of—

18 ‘‘(i) how grant funds will be used to

19 expand or enhance existing efforts across

20 the State in providing access to high qual21 ity prekindergarten programs;

22 ‘‘(ii) how the State will collaborate

23 with local child care agencies and councils,

24 including local child care resource and re25 ferral agencies;
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1 ‘‘(iii) how grant funds will be used to

2 supplement and not supplant existing Fed3 eral, State, local and private funds used

4 for prekindergarten programs;

5 ‘‘(iv) how the State will ensure that

6 grant funds are provided to a range of

7 types of eligible prekindergarten providers;

8 ‘‘(v) how the State will help eligible

9 prekindergarten providers attract and re10 tain qualified prekindergarten teachers;

11 ‘‘(vi) how the State will identify the

12 eligible children and eligible prekinder13 garten providers; and

14 ‘‘(vii) how the State will give priority

15 to full-time prekindergarten programs, in16 cluding the expansion of existing part-time

17 programs into full-time programs.

18 ‘‘SEC. 10996D. LOCAL APPLICATIONS.

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency or eli20 gible prekindergarten provider, as the case may be, that

21 desires to receive a grant under this part shall submit an

22 application to the State agency designated under section

23 10996C(b) at such time, in such manner, and containing

24 such information as such agency may reasonably require.
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1 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE.—If the State prekindergarten

2 program is not operated through the local educational

3 agency, then the State shall award subgrants to eligible

4 prekindergarten providers that currently administer pre5 kindergarten programs at the local level.

6 ‘‘(c) CONTENT.—An application referred to in sub7 section (a), at a minimum, shall—

8 ‘‘(1) demonstrate a need for the establishment,

9 enhancement, or expansion of a prekindergarten pro10 gram;

11 ‘‘(2) describe how the local educational agency

12 or eligible prekindergarten provider collaborates with

13 local early childhood councils and agencies;

14 ‘‘(3) provide an assurance that each individual

15 hired is qualified to teach children at the prekinder16 garten level;

17 ‘‘(4) provide an assurance that the ratio of

18 teacher or child development specialist to children

19 shall not exceed 1–10;

20 ‘‘(5) provide a description of how funds will be

21 used to coordinate with and enhance, but not dupli22 cate or supplant, early childhood programs serving

23 eligible children that exist in the community;

24 ‘‘(6) describe how the agency or eligible pre25 kindergarten provider will use a collaborative process
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1 with organizations and members of the community

2 that have an interest and experience in early child3 hood development and education to establish, ex4 pand, or enhance prekindergarten programs;

5 ‘‘(7) describe how the program will meet the di6 verse needs of children, ages 3 through 5, in the

7 community who are not enrolled in kindergarten, in8 cluding children with disabilities or whose native lan9 guage is other than English;

10 ‘‘(8) describe how the agency or eligible pre11 kindergarten provider will collaborate with local

12 schools to ensure a smooth transition for partici13 pating students from early childhood education to

14 kindergarten and early elementary education;

15 ‘‘(9) describe the results the programs are in16 tended to achieve, and what tools will be used to

17 measure the progress in attaining those results; and

18 ‘‘(10) provide an assurance that none of the

19 funds received under this part may be used for the

20 construction or renovation of existing or new facili21 ties (except for minor remodeling needed to accom22 plish the purposes of this part).

23 ‘‘SEC. 10996E. USES OF FUNDS.

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An agency or eligible prekinder25 garten provider that receives a grant award under this
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1 part shall use funds received to establish, enhance, or ex2 pand prekindergarten programs for children, ages 3

3 through 5, who are not enrolled in kindergarten,

4 including—

5 ‘‘(1) providing a program that focuses on the

6 developmental needs of participating children, in7 cluding their social, cognitive, physical, and lan8 guage-development needs, and using research-based

9 approaches that build on competencies that lead to

10 school success, particularly in language and literacy

11 development and in reading;

12 ‘‘(2) paying the costs of purchasing educational

13 equipment, including educational materials, nec14 essary to provide a high quality program;

15 ‘‘(3) pursuing accreditation by a national ac16 creditation body with demonstrated experience in ac17 creditation of prekindergarten programs, to be ob18 tained not later than 3 years after the date of re19 ceipt of funds under this part;

20 ‘‘(4) helping prekindergarten teachers pursue

21 and attain the credential and degree requirements

22 established by the State and provide a stipend for

23 attaining educational or professional development;

24 and

25 ‘‘(5) meeting the needs of working parents.
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1 ‘‘(b) PERMISSIBLE USES OF FUNDS.—A prekinder2 garten program established under this part may use funds

3 received under this part to pay for transporting students

4 to and from a prekindergarten program.

5 ‘‘SEC. 10996F. REPORTING.

6 ‘‘(a) LOCAL REPORTS.—Each local educational agen7 cy or eligible prekindergarten provider that receives a

8 grant award under this part shall submit an annual report

9 to the designated State agency that reviews the effective10 ness of the prekindergarten program established with

11 funds provided under this part on—

12 ‘‘(1) number and ages of children served, in13 cluding information (disaggregated by family in14 come, race, disability, native language);

15 ‘‘(2) number of hours of service per day and

16 number of months;

17 ‘‘(3) number of prekindergarten teachers; and

18 ‘‘(4) other sources of Federal, State, local, and

19 private funds used to operate a program.

20 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall

21 submit an annual report to Congress that evaluates the

22 prekindergarten programs established under this part.

23 ‘‘SEC. 10996G. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

24 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

25 this part $2,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2001,
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1 $4,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, $5,000,000,000 for

2 fiscal year 2003, $8,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, and

3 $10,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2005.’’.

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