INTRODUCTION OF THE UNIVERSAL PREKINDERGARTEN AND EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ACT OF 2019; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 139
(Extensions of Remarks - August 27, 2019)
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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1078-E1079]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INTRODUCTION OF THE UNIVERSAL PREKINDERGARTEN AND EARLY CHILDHOOD
EDUCATION ACT OF 2019
______
HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON
of the district of columbia
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I introduce a bill similar to one I
have introduced in six previous Congresses, the Universal
Prekindergarten and Early Childhood Education Act of 2019. My bill
would establish and expand prekindergarten programs in public and
public charter schools for three- and four-year-old children. The
District of Columbia has made considerable strides since I first
introduced this bill, but today's bill is still needed for the nation
to fill a gap in the ``Every Student Succeeds Act,'' which addresses
elementary and secondary education, but ignores the prekindergarten
years, the most critical years for children's brain development.
My bill seeks a breakthrough in public education by providing funding
for states to add prekindergarten for children at three and four years
of age, like kindergarten programs for five-year-olds now routinely
available in public schools. This bill would eliminate 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 a state's own 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 teaching 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, saving billions of dollars
for 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. Early learning
programs have been available only to the affluent, who can afford them,
and to some low-income families in programs such as Head Start, which
would be unaffected by my bill. My bill provides a practical way to
universal, public preschool education for the majority of families. The
goal of the bill is to afford the benefits of early childhood education
[[Page E1079]]
to 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 allow the most fertile years for childhood
development to pass unenriched. My 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 D.C. public schools. A
recent report highlighted the economic benefits of early childhood
education, emphasizing its role in expanding job opportunities and
decreasing the amount of money spent on programs to address teen
pregnancy and crime.
I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
____________________