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