[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 176 (Thursday, November 17, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2085]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCTION OF THE UNIVERSAL PREKINDERGARTEN AND EARLY CHILDHOOD 
                         EDUCATION ACT OF 2011

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 17, 2011

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing the Universal 
Prekindergarten and Early Childhood Education Act of 2011, Universal 
Pre-K, to begin the process of providing universal public 
prekindergarten. The bill is meant to fill a gaping hole in the ``No 
Child Left Behind Act'' which requires elementary and secondary schools 
to meet more rigorous standards yet ignores the prekindergarten years, 
among the most critical years for children's brain development. My bill 
is particularly necessary today because legislation pending to 
reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act solely targets K-12. My bill 
makes a breakthrough in elementary school education by providing the 
initial funding for states to encourage local school districts to add 
prekindergarten for children four years of age and younger, so that 
every child can excel. We cannot afford to continue to allow the most 
fertile years for childhood development to pass, only to later wonder 
why we cannot teach Johnny to read.
  The bill responds both to the great needs, which are still growing, 
of parents who seek early childhood education, as well as new science, 
which shows that a child's brain development begins much earlier than 
previously believed. However, many parents are unable to afford the 
stimulating educational environment necessary to ensure optimal brain 
development. The bill would add prekindergarten for children four years 
of age or younger, similar to kindergarten programs for five-year-olds, 
that are now routinely available in public schools. The bill would 
eliminate some of the major shortcomings of unevenly available 
commercial day care and, importantly, would ensure children access to 
qualified teachers and the safe facilities of public schools.
  This bill reflects what jurisdictions increasingly are trying to 
accomplish, but lack the leadership and the start-up funds to see 
through. The District of Columbia, for example, is attempting to 
achieve more extensive integration of early childhood education as part 
of a larger effort to improve the D.C. public schools. A recent report 
highlighted the economic benefits of early childhood education, 
emphasizing its role in expanding job opportunities and in decreasing 
the amount of money spent on programs to address teen pregnancy, crime, 
and the like.
  The bill encourages school districts across the country to apply to 
the U.S. Department of Education for grants to establish 
prekindergarten. Grants under Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act would be available for educational activities for 
children four years of age or younger to public school systems that 
agree to phase in, where possible, a prekindergarten program that is 
taught by teachers who possess equivalent or similar guidelines to 
those in other grades in the school system.
  The success of Head Start and other prekindergarten programs, 
combined with new scientific evidence concerning the importance of 
brain development in early childhood, virtually mandates the expansion 
of early childhood education to all children. Traditionally, early 
learning programs have been available only to the affluent, who can 
afford them, and to low-income families in programs such as Head Start. 
My bill provides a practical way to gradually move to universal public 
preschool education. The goal of the bill is to afford the great 
majority of the American working poor, lower-middle-class, and middle-
class families, most of whom have been left out, with the benefits of 
early childhood education.
  Considering the staggering cost of daycare, the inaccessibility of 
early childhood education, and the opportunity that early education 
offers to improve a child's chances in life, schooling for three- and 
four-year-olds is overdue. The absence of viable options for working 
families demands our immediate attention.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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