Universal Prekindergarten and Early Childhood Education Act of 2019

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 re- ferred 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. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Universal Prekinder- 4 garten and Early Childhood Education Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. UNIVERSAL PREKINDERGARTEN AND EARLY 6 CHILDHOOD EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM. 7 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.—From amounts ap- 8 propriated under section 3, the Secretary of Education is 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:45 Aug 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4213.IH H4213 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4213 IH authorized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to 1 States to pay the Federal share of establishing or expand- 2 ing full-day prekindergarten programs. 3 (b) STATE APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under 4 this Act, a State shall submit to the Secretary an applica- 5 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing such 6 information as the Secretary may require. 7 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that receives a grant 8 under this Act shall use such grant funds to establish or 9 expand a prekindergarten program that, at a minimum— 10 (1) is located at a public school in the State; 11 (2) permits each 3- or 4-year-old child in the 12 State to be voluntarily enrolled by the child’s parent, 13 regardless of income, in the program at a school in 14 which the child may be enrolled for kindergarten; 15 (3) is a full-day program that runs the length 16 of the regular school year; 17 (4) is taught by teachers who possess equivalent 18 or similar qualifications to the qualifications of 19 teachers of other grades in the school involved; and 20 (5) meets any other criteria that the Secretary 21 may require. 22 (d) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of a grant 23 under this Act shall be not more than 80 percent of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:45 Aug 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4213.IH H4213 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4213 IH costs of carrying out the activities described in subsection 1 (c). 2 (e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds re- 3 ceived under this Act shall be used to supplement and not 4 supplant other Federal early childhood education funds in 5 the State. 6 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 7 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 8 this Act such sums as are necessary for fiscal years 2020 9 through 2025. 10 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 11 In this Act: 12 (1) FULL-DAY.—The term ‘‘full-day’’ used with 13 respect to a program, means a program with a min- 14 imum of a 6-hour schedule per day. 15 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16 the Secretary of Education. 17 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 18 ing given the term in section 8101 of the Elemen- 19 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 20 U.S.C. 7801). 21 (4) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ has the 22 meaning given the term in section 8101 of the Ele- 23 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 24 U.S.C. 7801). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:45 Aug 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4213.IH H4213 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4213 IH (5) PUBLIC SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘public 1 school’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘elementary 2 school’’ or ‘‘secondary school’’ in section 8101 of the 3 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 4 (20 U.S.C. 7801), except that the term does not in- 5 clude private schools. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:45 Aug 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4213.IH H4213 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS