Introduction of the Universal PreKindergarten and Early Childhood Education Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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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