Creating Early Childhood Leaders Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2719 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase the knowledge and skills of principals and school leaders regarding early childhood education. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 28, 2019 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. ROMNEY, and Mr. JONES) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase the knowledge and skills of principals and school leaders regarding early childhood education. 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 ‘‘Creating Early Child- 4 hood Leaders Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Since principals and school leaders have the 8 second largest in-school impact on student achieve- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2719.IS S2719 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2719 IS ment (after teachers), a principal or school leader’s 1 knowledge has a substantial impact on the teachers 2 and students under the principal or school leader’s 3 supervision. 4 (2) Principals and school leaders are increas- 5 ingly being asked to supervise teachers and children 6 in pre-kindergarten programs, yet school leaders 7 often do not have training in early childhood edu- 8 cation. 9 (3) Given the critical development that occurs 10 in a child’s early life and the impacts of this develop- 11 mental period on later life outcomes, understanding 12 the standards of early childhood education is par- 13 ticularly important. 14 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to ensure 15 that principals and school leaders are able to effectively 16 support teachers in providing pre-kindergarten students 17 with developmentally appropriate instruction. 18 SEC. 3. SCHOOL LEADER TRAINING REGARDING EARLY 19 CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. 20 Section 202(f)(1)(B) of the Higher Education Act of 21 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1022a(f)(1)(B)) is amended— 22 (1) by striking clause (v) and inserting the fol- 23 lowing: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2719.IS S2719 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2719 IS ‘‘(v) engage and involve parents, com- 1 munity members, the local educational 2 agency, businesses, providers of early child- 3 hood education programs, and other com- 4 munity leaders, to leverage additional re- 5 sources to improve student academic 6 achievement;’’; 7 (2) in clause (vi), by striking the period at the 8 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(vii) understand child development, 11 social and emotional development, and ef- 12 fective instructional leadership skills for 13 children from birth through age 8, in order 14 to effectively manage and support develop- 15 mentally appropriate early childhood edu- 16 cation programs.’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2719.IS S2719 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS