[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 138 (Thursday, September 24, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1352-E1353]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCTION OF THE UNIVERSAL PREKINDERGARTEN AND EARLY CHILDHOOD 
                         EDUCATION ACT OF 2015

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 24, 2015

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce a bill similar to a bill 
I have introduced in four previous Congresses, the Universal 
Prekindergarten and Early Childhood Education Act of 2015 (Universal 
Pre-K), to begin the process of providing universal prekindergarten 
education in public and public charter schools in states that have or 
plan to phase in or are phasing in prekindergarten education for three- 
and four-year-old children. The Obama administration and the District 
of Columbia have made considerable strides since I first introduced 
this bill, but today's bill is still needed to fill a hole in the ``No 
Child Left Behind Act,'' which addresses elementary and secondary 
education but ignores the prekindergarten years, the most critical 
years for children's brain development. My bill also seeks a 
breakthrough in public education by providing the initial funding for 
states to encourage local school districts to add prekindergarten for 
children at three or four years of age, as kindergarten programs were 
for five-year-olds, which are now routinely available in public 
schools. The bill would eliminate some of the major shortcomings of 
unevenly available ``day care'' and, importantly, would take advantage 
of the safe facilities required in public schools. Unless early 
education becomes a necessary part of a child's education, it almost 
surely 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 establish or expand universal, 
voluntary prekindergarten in public and public charter schools for 
three- and 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 
money-saving aspect of my bill is that it uses the existing public 
school infrastructure and trained teachers to make early childhood 
education available to all, and save billions of dollars in its 
implementation.
  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 for the 
majority of families The goal of the bill is to afford the benefits of 
early childhood education to the great majority of the American working 
poor, lower-middle-class and middle-class families, most of whom have 
been left out of this essential education for their children.
  We cannot afford to continue to allow the most fertile years for 
childhood development to pass, only to later wonder why Johnny can't 
read. The bill responds both to the great needs of parents who seek 
early childhood education, as well as to today's brain science, which 
shows that a child's brain development begins much earlier than had 
been previously understood.
  Considering the staggering cost of day care, the inaccessibility of 
early childhood education, and the opportunity that early education 
offers to improve a child's chances of success, schooling for three- 
and four-year-olds is overdue. The absence of viable options for 
working families demands our immediate attention.
  My bill reflects what jurisdictions throughout the nation 
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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