Universal Full-Day Kindergarten Act

Subjects: Education

Summary:  <p><b>Universal Full-Day Kindergarten Act</b></p> <p>This bill requires the Department of Education to make formula grants to states and, through them, allocations to local educational agencies to carry out full-day kindergarten programs. ED must also reserve funds for outlying areas and the Bureau of Indian Education.</p>

<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2425 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2425

 To direct the Secretary of Education to make allotments to States to 
   carry out full-day kindergarten programs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 2023

   Mr. Gallego (for himself, Ms. Jacobs, and Mr. Torres of New York) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                      Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of Education to make allotments to States to 
   carry out full-day kindergarten programs, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Universal Full-Day Kindergarten 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall carry out a grant program to 
make grants in accordance with the formula described in subsection (b) 
to States to carry out full-day kindergarten programs.
    (b) Formula.--
            (1) Secretarial reservations.--
                    (A) Technical assistance.--From the amount 
                appropriated under section 6 for a fiscal year, the 
                Secretary shall reserve 2 percent of such amount for 
                technical assistance (including capacity building) to 
                States.
                    (B) Secretary of the interior.--From the amount 
                appropriated under section 6 for a fiscal year, the 
                Secretary shall reserve one-half of 1 percent for the 
                Secretary of the Interior for programs under this Act 
                in schools operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian 
                Education, Indian tribes and tribal organizations, or 
                consortia of Indian tribes and tribal organizations.
                    (C) Outlying areas.--From the amount appropriated 
                under section 6 for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall 
                reserve one-half of 1 percent for the outlying areas to 
                be distributed among those outlying areas on the basis 
                of their relative need, as determined by the Secretary, 
                in accordance with the purpose of this Act.
            (2) State allotments.--
                    (A) In general.--From the amount appropriated under 
                section 6 for a fiscal year that remains after the 
                Secretary makes the reservations under paragraph (1), 
                the Secretary shall allot to each State with an 
                approved State plan under section 3(a), an amount that 
                bears the same relationship to the remainder as the 
                amount the State received under subpart 2 of part A of 
                title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
                of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6331 et seq.) for the preceding 
                fiscal year bears to the amount all States received 
                under that subpart (20 U.S.C. 6331 et seq.) for the 
                preceding fiscal year.
                    (B) Minimum amount.--No State receiving an 
                allotment under this paragraph shall receive less than 
                one-half of 1 percent of the total amount allotted 
                under this paragraph.
                    (C) Reallotment.--If a State does not receive an 
                allotment under this paragraph for a fiscal year, the 
                Secretary shall reallot the amount of the State's 
                allotment to the remaining States in accordance with 
                this paragraph.
                    (D) State reservations.--
                            (i) Administrative costs.--A State may 
                        reserve not more than 2 percent of the 
                        allotment received by State under this 
                        paragraph for administrative purposes, 
                        including the activities described in 
                        paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 3(a).
                            (ii) Local allocations.--A State shall 
                        reserve not less than 98 percent of the 
                        allotment received by the State under this 
                        paragraph to make allocations to local 
                        educational agencies under paragraph (3).
            (3) Allocations to local educational agencies.--
                    (A) In general.--From the funds reserved by a State 
                under paragraph (2)(D), the State shall allocate to 
                each local educational agency in the State that has an 
                application approved by the State under section 3(b), 
                an amount that bears the same relationship to the total 
                amount of such reservation as the amount the local 
                educational agency received under subpart 2 of part A 
                of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
                Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6331 et seq.) for the preceding 
                fiscal year bears to the total amount received by all 
                local educational agencies in the State under such 
                subpart (20 U.S.C. 6331 et seq.) for the preceding 
                fiscal year.
                    (B) Minimum local educational agency allocation.--
                No allocation to a local educational agency under this 
                paragraph may be made in an amount that is less than 
                $10,000, subject to subparagraph (D).
                    (C) Consortia.--Local educational agencies in a 
                State may form a consortium with other surrounding 
                local educational agencies and combine the funds each 
                such agency in the consortium receives under this 
                paragraph to jointly carry out the activities described 
                in this section 4.
                    (D) Ratable reduction.--If the amount reserved by 
                the State under paragraph (2)(D)(ii) is insufficient to 
                make allocations to local educational agencies in an 
                amount equal to the minimum allocation described in 
                subparagraph (B), such allocations shall be ratably 
                reduced.

SEC. 3. STATE PLANS; LOCAL APPLICATIONS.

    (a) State Plans.--In order to receive an allotment under this 
section for any fiscal year, a State shall submit a plan to the 
Secretary, at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may 
reasonably require. Each plan submitted by a State under this section 
shall include the following:
            (1) A description of how the State will use funds reserved 
        under section 2(b)(2)(D)(i).
            (2) A description of how the State will ensure that the 
        allocations made to local educational agencies meet the 
        requirements of section 2(b)(3).
            (3) Assurances that the State will--
                    (A) review existing resources and full-day 
                kindergarten programs across the State and coordinate 
                such resources and programs with the State plan 
                submitted under this subsection and the funds received 
                under this Act;
                    (B) monitor the implementation of activities under 
                this Act and provide technical assistance to local 
                educational agencies in carrying out such activities; 
                and
                    (C) provide for equitable access for all students 
                to the activities supported under this Act, including 
                aligning those activities with the requirements of 
                other Federal laws.
    (b) Local Applications.--To receive an allocation under this Act, a 
local educational agency shall submit an application to the applicable 
State at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as 
may be required by such State.

SEC. 4. USE OF FUNDS.

    A local educational agency that receives an allocation under this 
section shall use the allocation to establish or maintain a full-day 
kindergarten program that--
            (1) has a duration of at least 5 hours per school day;
            (2) permits children who are not younger than age 5 or 
        older than age 6 to be enrolled in such program, except that a 
        program that permits children who are not younger than age 4 or 
        older than age 6 meets the requirements of this paragraph;
            (3) does not require payment for participation in such 
        program;
            (4) is offered for the full school year;
            (5) is taught by teachers who meet the applicable 
        professional qualifications (including licensure and 
        certification requirements) for kindergarten teachers working 
        in the geographic area in which the program is located;
            (6) includes academic standards that prepare students to 
        meet grade-level benchmarks;
            (7) may include standards related to cognitive development, 
        socio-emotional learning, physical and behavioral skills 
        development, and recreational activity; and
            (8) in a case of a program supported by paraprofessionals, 
        is supported by paraprofessionals who meet the applicable 
        professional qualifications (including licensure and 
        certification requirements) for paraprofessionals working in 
        the geographic area in which the program is located.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

    Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall conduct a study and 
submit a report to Congress that--
            (1) specifies the number of States, local educational 
        agencies, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and outlying 
        areas that offer full-day kindergarten programs; and
            (2) assesses the availability of such programs to 
        individuals in each such entity.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2024 through 
2029.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this section:
            (1) ESEA terms.--The terms ``local educational agency'' and 
        ``outlying area'' have the meanings given the terms in section 
        8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 7801).
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.
            (3) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States, 
        the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
            (4) Tribe; tribal organization.--The terms ``Indian tribe'' 
        and ``tribal organization'' have the meanings given such terms 
        in section 5212 of the Tribally Controlled Schools Act of 1988 
        (25 U.S.C. 2511).
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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