[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 27, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE INTRODUCTION OF THE UNIVERSAL PREKINDERGARTEN AND EARLY CHILDHOOD 
                         EDUCATION ACT OF 2013

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 27, 2013

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I am reintroducing a bill similar to 
a bill I have introduced since the 109th Congress, the Universal 
Prekindergarten and Early Childhood Education Act of 2013 (Universal 
Pre-K), to begin the process of providing universal public 
prekindergarten education in public and public charter schools. 
Although I have consistently introduced a bill in the past, this year 
it is particularly ripe in light of President Obama's call for early 
education for all children in his recent State of the Union speech. My 
bill is meant to fill a hole in the ``No Child Left Behind Act,'' which 
addresses elementary and secondary education but ignores the 
prekindergarten years, perhaps the most critical years for children's 
brain development. The President's proposal has not been committed to 
legislation yet, but his cost-sharing model is similar to my bill. My 
bill seeks a breakthrough in public elementary school education by 
providing the initial funding for states to encourage local school 
districts to add prekindergarten for children four years of age, as 
kindergarten programs were 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 daycare and, importantly, 
would ensure access to qualified teachers and the safe facilities of 
public schools. Unless early education becomes a necessary part of a 
child's education, I believe that it will continue to be unavailable to 
the majority of families with children.
  My bill provides federal funds to states, which must be matched by at 
least 20 percent of state funds, to create universal, voluntary 
prekindergarten in public and public charter schools for four-year-
olds, regardless of income. The classes, which would be full-day and 
run throughout the entire school year, must be taught by teachers who 
possess equivalent or similar qualifications to those in other grades 
in the school. The funds would supplement, not supplant, other federal 
funds for early childhood education. The unique aspect of my bill is 
that it uses the existing public school infrastructure and trained 
teachers to make early childhood education available to all.
  The success of Head Start and other prekindergarten programs, 
combined with new scientific evidence concerning the importance of 
brain development in early childhood, virtually mandate the expansion 
of early childhood education to all children today. However, 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, 
which would be unaffected by my bill. 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, the benefits of early childhood education.
  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 of parents 
who seek early childhood education, as well as today's brain science, 
which shows that a child's brain development begins much earlier than 
previously understood. However, many parents are unable to afford the 
stimulating education necessary to ensure optimal brain development.
  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 of success, schooling for four-
year-olds is overdue. The absence of viable options for working 
families demands our immediate attention.
  My bill reflects what jurisdictions increasingly are trying to 
accomplish. The District of Columbia, for example, has achieved an 
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.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support the legislation.

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