[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1673 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1673

 To help States develop and improve the qualifications and training of 
               their early childhood educator workforce.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 7, 2013

  Mr. Franken introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To help States develop and improve the qualifications and training of 
               their early childhood educator workforce.

    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 ``Early Childhood Care and Education 
Workforce Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to help States build their capacity to 
train, credential, fairly compensate, and retain a highly qualified 
early childhood care and education workforce.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Child.--The term ``child'' means a child--
                    (A) who is age 5 or younger; or
                    (B) who has not yet entered kindergarten.
            (2) Early childhood care and education program.--The term 
        ``early childhood care and education program'' means--
                    (A) any program or provider, regardless of setting 
                or funding source, that provides early care and 
                education for children, including any program operated 
                by a child care center or in a family child care home;
                    (B) any preschool program funded by the Federal 
                Government, a State, or a local educational agency; or
                    (C) an Early Head Start program or Head Start 
                program.
            (3) Early childhood educator.--The term ``early childhood 
        educator'' means an individual who works in an early childhood 
        care and education program that is State-licensed or State-
        regulated and who is--
                    (A) a center-based or family child care provider;
                    (B) an infant or toddler specialist;
                    (C) an early intervention specialist or early 
                childhood special educator;
                    (D) a Head Start or Early Head Start teacher or 
                teacher assistant;
                    (E) a preschool teacher, other teacher, or teacher 
                assistant; or
                    (F) a provider of training or technical assistance.
            (4) Early head start.--The term ``Early Head Start'' means 
        an Early Head Start program supported under section 645A of the 
        Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9840).
            (5) Early learning guidelines.--The term ``early learning 
        guidelines'' means a set of standards or guidelines that--
                    (A) describe what all children should know and be 
                able to do;
                    (B) are appropriate for each age group (such as 
                infants, toddlers, and preschoolers), for English 
                learners, and for children with disabilities or 
                developmental delays;
                    (C) cover all areas of child development and early 
                learning related to the essential domains of school 
                readiness, including cognitive, social, emotional, and 
                physical development, and approaches to learning; and
                    (D) are universally designed and developmentally, 
                culturally, and linguistically appropriate.
            (6) Head start.--The term ``Head Start'' means the Head 
        Start program supported under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 
        9831 et seq.).
            (7) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001(a)).
            (8) Quality rating and improvement system.--The term 
        quality rating and improvement system means a tiered quality 
        rating system for early childhood care and education programs, 
        which shall--
                    (A) contain multiple quality rating levels that 
                build on each other, leading to nationally recognized 
                standards of program quality;
                    (B) appropriately assess the quality of early 
                childhood care and education programs in the State;
                    (C) build on licensing standards and other State 
                regulatory standards for such programs;
                    (D) be designed to improve the quality of different 
                types of early childhood care and education programs;
                    (E) describe the quality of early childhood care 
                and education programs;
                    (F) build the capacity of State early childhood 
                care and education programs and communities to promote 
                parents' and families' understanding of the State's 
                early childhood care and education programs and the 
                ratings of the programs in which the child is enrolled; 
                and
                    (G) provide financial incentives and other supports 
                to early childhood care and education programs to 
                achieve and sustain higher levels of quality.
            (9) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means the 
        Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services.
            (10) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
        States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the 
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, 
        Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 
        Mariana Islands.

SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    From the amounts made available under section 11, the Secretaries, 
in accordance with the interagency agreement described in section 10, 
are authorized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to States 
having applications approved under section 5, to enable such States to 
implement and administer the activities and initiatives described in 
section 6.

SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Each State desiring a grant under this Act shall 
submit an application to the Secretaries at such time, in such manner, 
and accompanied by such information as the Secretaries may reasonably 
require.
    (b) Contents.--Each application submitted under subsection (a) 
shall include the following:
            (1) A demonstration of an existing comprehensive early 
        childhood educator professional development system in the 
        State, or a plan for developing such a system that--
                    (A) is developed in collaboration with--
                            (i) the State Advisory Council on Early 
                        Childhood Education and Care designated or 
                        established under section 642B(b)(1)(A) of the 
                        Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837a(b)(1)(A)), 
                        where applicable;
                            (ii) an administrator of a State lead 
                        agency (as described in section 658D of the 
                        Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 
                        1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858b));
                            (iii) the State Director of Head Start 
                        Collaboration appointed or designated under 
                        section 642B(a)(3)(A) of the Head Start Act (42 
                        U.S.C. 9837b(a)(3)(A));
                            (iv) the State educational agency (as 
                        defined in section 9101 of the Elementary and 
                        Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
                        7801));
                            (v) institutions of higher education that 
                        award a degree in early childhood education; 
                        and
                            (vi) early childhood education professional 
                        organizations;
                    (B) uses available early childhood care and 
                education workforce data, such as the percentage of the 
                early childhood educators who hold a license or 
                certificate in early childhood care and education, in 
                order to assess and provide resources for the State's 
                early childhood care and education workforce needs; and
                    (C) coordinates with the State higher education 
                agency (as defined in section 103 of the Higher 
                Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003)), institution of 
                higher education accrediting agencies or associations, 
                2- and 4-year institutions of higher education that 
                award a degree in early childhood education, and other 
                organizations or agencies with expertise in early 
                childhood educator preparation that provide the formal 
                education and training necessary to--
                            (i) encourage the establishment or 
                        expansion of credit-bearing opportunities that 
                        recognize prior learning and expertise;
                            (ii) make higher education in early 
                        childhood education more accessible for working 
                        adult learners by offering postsecondary 
                        education courses at accessible times and 
                        locations and providing support to adult 
                        learners, especially adult learners who are 
                        low-income individuals or dual language 
                        learners;
                            (iii) develop articulation agreements 
                        between 2- and 4-year public and private 
                        institutions of higher education; and
                            (iv) expand the number of degree programs 
                        in early childhood education that meet 
                        nationally recognized standards for the 
                        preparation of early childhood educators.
            (2) A description of how the State will--
                    (A) adopt professional standards and competencies 
                for early childhood educators based on nationally 
                recognized standards for professional preparation of 
                early childhood educators;
                    (B) develop career pathways and link opportunities 
                to career pathways for early childhood educators, 
                toward continuous and incremental improvement of the 
                early childhood educator workforce;
                    (C) target funds to the highest need areas, which 
                shall be determined based on--
                            (i) the level of access to high-quality, 
                        affordable early childhood care and education 
                        programs;
                            (ii) the percentage of children living in 
                        poverty; and
                            (iii) the percentage of early childhood 
                        educators with degrees and other credentials in 
                        early childhood education;
                    (D) engage rural communities in participating in 
                early childhood educator workforce improvement 
                activities and how the State will provide technical 
                assistance in rural communities to address unique 
                barriers to the implementation of early childhood 
                educator workforce programs; and
                    (E) establish or enhance compensation and retention 
                initiatives that reward and help retain early childhood 
                educators who achieve a degree in early childhood 
                education to work in a non-school early childhood 
                education program, and to the extent feasible, have 
                parity of compensation with public school elementary 
                teachers in the same geographic area.

SEC. 6. STATE USE OF FUNDS.

    (a) In General.--A State that receives a grant under this Act shall 
ensure that grant funds will be used to support services for early 
childhood educators and early childhood care and education programs 
across all early childhood age groups, such as infants, toddlers, and 
preschoolers.
    (b) Reservation of Funds.--A State that receives a grant under this 
Act shall use not more than 5 percent of the grant funds for the 
administration and provision of technical assistance needed to carry 
out the initiatives and activities described in subsections (c), (d), 
and (e), collectively.
    (c) Required Activities.--
            (1) In general.--A State that receives a grant under this 
        Act shall use grant funds to carry out the following:
                    (A) Providing scholarships for tuition, fees and 
                materials, and support, including college counseling, 
                paid substitutes, and release time, to early childhood 
                educators or individuals who are preparing to be early 
                childhood educators to enable such individuals to 
                earn--
                            (i) a child development associate 
                        credential; or
                            (ii) an associate or baccalaureate degree 
                        in early childhood education, or a closely 
                        related field (as determined by the Secretary).
                    (B) In a State with a quality rating and 
                improvement system, enhancing and expanding coaching, 
                mentoring, and other professional development to help 
                early childhood care and education programs improve at 
                least 1 level on the State's quality rating and 
                improvement system.
                    (C) Providing ongoing professional development 
                opportunities for early childhood educators that relate 
                to--
                            (i) the specialized knowledge and skills of 
                        early childhood educators for working with 
                        different ages and levels of development of 
                        children (including infants, toddlers, and 
                        preschoolers);
                            (ii) the State's early learning guidelines;
                            (iii) high-quality teacher-child 
                        interactions;
                            (iv) cultural competence for working with a 
                        diversity of children and families;
                            (v) dual language learners;
                            (vi) children with disabilities, as 
                        described in parts B and C of the Individuals 
                        with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 
                        et seq. and 1431 et seq.); and
                            (vii) engaging and partnering with parents 
                        and families.
                    (D) Encouraging cross-sector training opportunities 
                for teachers and staff working in Head Start, Early 
                Head Start, child care, early intervention programs, 
                infant and early childhood mental health programs, home 
                visiting programs, and State-funded prekindergarten and 
                preschool programs that receive funds under title I of 
                the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), where applicable.
                    (E) Expanding the number of early childhood 
                educators who are trained to work with infants and 
                toddlers.
            (2) Priority.--In using grant funds received under this 
        Act, a State shall give priority to using such funds to carry 
        out the activities described under subparagraph (A) of 
        paragraph (1).
    (d) Permissible Uses of Funds.--A State that receives a grant under 
this Act may use grant funds to--
            (1) support directors of early childhood care and education 
        programs in the areas of program management and leadership, 
        adult learning to support staff development, and child 
        development; and
            (2) expand the number of early childhood educators who have 
        experience in providing professional development, coaching, 
        mentoring, or consultation to early childhood educators about 
        working with infants, toddlers, and their families.
    (e) Reports.--A State that receives a grant under this Act shall 
submit an annual report to the Secretaries at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Secretaries may require, 
including, at a minimum, the following:
            (1) In the case of a State that has a quality rating and 
        improvement system, any evidence of an increase in the number 
        of early childhood care and education programs participating in 
        the State's quality rating and improvement system, that--
                    (A) have improved at least 1 level on the State's 
                quality rating and improvement system; and
                    (B) received coaching, mentoring, scholarships for 
                postsecondary education, or other technical assistance 
                related to professional knowledge and skills to improve 
                quality as described under subsection (c)(1).
            (2) The number of scholarships provided by the State, as 
        described under subsection (c)(1)(A), disaggregated by--
                    (A) whether the scholarships support the pursuit 
                of--
                            (i) a child development associate 
                        credential;
                            (ii) an associate degree in early childhood 
                        education, or a closely related field (as 
                        determined by the Secretary); or
                            (iii) a baccalaureate degree in early 
                        childhood education, or a closely related field 
                        (as determined by the Secretary);
                    (B) the race, gender, annual income, and native 
                language of the individual receiving such scholarship;
                    (C) in the case of a scholarship recipient who is, 
                at the time the scholarship is awarded, working as an 
                early childhood educator--
                            (i) the age of the children with whom the 
                        early childhood educator works;
                            (ii) the type of early childhood care and 
                        education program setting in which the early 
                        childhood educator works, and the percentage of 
                        children in such program setting who are--
                                    (I) eligible for Early Head Start 
                                or Head Start; or
                                    (II) receiving child care services 
                                for which financial assistance is 
                                provided in accordance with the Child 
                                Care and Development Block Grant of 
                                1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); and
                            (iii) the number of years that the early 
                        childhood educator has worked in the field of 
                        early childhood education prior to receiving 
                        such scholarship; and
                    (D) the number of scholarship recipients who are 
                working in the field of early childhood education 2 
                years after receiving a credential or degree described 
                in subsection (c)(1)(A), whether such recipient is--
                            (i) working in the same early childhood 
                        care and education program;
                            (ii) in a different early childhood care 
                        and education program; or
                            (iii) in the same role or in a different 
                        role within the field of early childhood 
                        education.
            (3) Data describing the professional development activities 
        offered to early childhood educators, including information 
        about such activities relating to the categories described in 
        clauses (i) through (vii) of subsection (c)(1)(C), as 
        appropriate.
            (4) Data describing the cross-sector training opportunities 
        provided, as described in subsection (c)(1)(D), including--
                    (A) the primary role of professionals who 
                participated in a cross-sector training;
                    (B) the primary setting in which such professionals 
                work;
                    (C) the topic of the training; and
                    (D) the sources of funding for the training.
            (5) If applicable, evidence of an increase in the number of 
        early childhood educators working with--
                    (A) infants and toddlers;
                    (B) children with developmental delays or 
                disabilities; and
                    (C) dual language learners.
            (6) Data describing any increase in early childhood care 
        and education programs in the State.

SEC. 7. MATCHING FUNDS REQUIREMENT.

    (a) Amount of Matching Funds.--A State that receives a grant under 
this Act shall contribute to the activities assisted under such grant 
by providing matching funds from non-Federal sources in an amount as 
follows:
            (1) For the first year of the grant award, an amount equal 
        to not less than 20 percent of the amount of the grant.
            (2) For the second year of the grant award, an amount equal 
        to not less than 30 percent of the amount of the grant.
            (3) For the third year of the grant award, an amount equal 
        to not less than 40 percent of the amount of the grant.
            (4) For the fourth and fifth years of the grant award, an 
        amount equal to not less than 50 percent of the amount of the 
        grant.
    (b) Matching Funds Requirement.--The matching funds requirement 
under subsection (a) may be met by contributions that are--
            (1) in cash or in kind; and
            (2) from any private source or State or local funds.

SEC. 8. SUPPLEMENT AND NOT SUPPLANT.

    Grant funds provided under this Act shall supplement, and not 
supplant, other Federal, State, and local funds that are available for 
early childhood workforce improvement programs. States receiving grant 
funds under this Act may provide additional funds, other than funds 
received under this Act, to enhance the early childhood provider 
quality initiatives and activities that are supported by such grant 
funds.

SEC. 9. MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.

    A State that receives funds under this Act for a fiscal year shall 
maintain the fiscal effort provided by the State for the activities 
supported by the funds under this Act at a level equal to or greater 
than the level of such fiscal effort for the preceding fiscal year.

SEC. 10. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT.

    The Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services shall jointly develop policies for, and administer activities 
under, this Act in accordance with such terms as the Secretaries shall 
set forth in an interagency agreement. Such interagency agreement, at a 
minimum, shall include a description of the respective roles and 
responsibilities of the Secretaries in carrying out this Act.

SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act such 
sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2014 through 2019.
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