Prekindergarten-Oriented Professional Support Act of 2005 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to states and local educational agencies to: (1) pay all or a portion of the salaries, benefits, and training costs of new prekindergarten teachers at prekindergarten providers; and (2) increase retention of prekindergarten teachers by establishing a career ladder for them.
Makes high-quality state, local, or private nonprofit or for-profit prekindergarten providers eligible for the new teacher program if they: (1) meet standards issued by the Secretary; (2) serve a significant percentage of low-income children; and (3) if private and tuition-based, agree to ensure that at least one-half of the children served by new teachers will be low-income.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3296 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3296
To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to States and
local educational agencies for hiring and training prekindergarten
teachers.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 14, 2005
Mr. Ford introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to States and
local educational agencies for hiring and training prekindergarten
teachers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Prekindergarten-Oriented
Professional Support Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR HIRING AND TRAINING ELIGIBLE PREKINDERGARTEN
TEACHERS.
(a) Grants.--The Secretary of Education, in consultation with the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, may make grants to States and
local educational agencies to pay all or a portion of the salaries,
benefits, and training costs of new eligible prekindergarten teachers
for the purposes of--
(1) increasing the number of such teachers; and
(2) expanding children's access to free or affordable,
high-quality, early education.
(b) Use of Funds.--The Secretary shall require each applicant for a
grant under this section to agree to use the grant to pay all or a
portion of the salaries, benefits, and training costs of new eligible
prekindergarten teachers to serve at eligible prekindergarten providers
described in subsection (c).
(c) Eligible Prekindergarten Providers.--An eligible
prekindergarten provider described in this paragraph is a State, local,
or private non-profit or for-profit prekindergarten provider that--
(1) is a high-quality, prekindergarten provider meeting the
standards issued by the Secretary under subsection (d);
(2) is serving a significant percentage of low-income
children; and
(3) if the provider is a private, tuition-based provider,
agrees to adjust tuition standards or take other appropriate
measures to ensure that not less than 50 percent of the
children to be served through the provider by new eligible
prekindergarten teachers under this section will be low-income
children.
(d) Standards for High-Quality, Prekindergarten Providers.--
(1) Standards.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue standards
to determine whether a prekindergarten provider is a high-
quality, prekindergarten provider.
(2) Criteria.--In issuing standards under this subsection,
the Secretary shall take into consideration the following
criteria:
(A) Administration.
(B) Support services.
(C) Health, safety, and nutrition.
(D) Parental involvement.
(E) Teacher training.
(F) Teacher-to-student ratio.
(G) Curriculum, including pre-literacy, pre-
numeracy, emotion regulation, and behavioral skills
training.
(3) Relation to standards under head start act.--Any
standards issued by the Secretary under this subsection shall
be consistent with or in addition to any standards applicable
to prekindergarten providers under the Head Start Act (42
U.S.C. 9831 et seq.).
(e) Additional Requirements.--The Secretary shall require each
applicant for a grant under this section to comply with the following:
(1) Lead agency.--The chief executive officer of the State
or local educational agency applying for the grant must
designate an agency (which may be an appropriate collaborative
agency) or establish a joint interagency office to serve as the
lead agency for administering the grant.
(2) Coordination.--The applicant must have a mechanism in
place to coordinate the applicant's activities under the grant
with other programs in order to ensure the effective and
efficient use of all available resources to meet early
childhood and family needs.
(3) Matching funds.--
(A) In general.--With respect to the costs of the
program to be carried out through a grant under this
section, a condition for the receipt of the grant is
that the applicant agree to make available (directly or
through donations from public or private entities) non-
Federal contributions toward such costs in an amount
that is not less than 25 percent of such costs.
(B) Determination of amount contributed.--Non-
Federal contributions required in subparagraph (A) may
be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, including
plant, equipment, or services. Amounts provided by the
Federal Government, or services assisted or subsidized
to any significant extent by the Federal Government,
may not be included in determining the amount of such
non-Federal contributions.
(C) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the
requirements of this paragraph in whole or in part with
respect to any grantee for any fiscal year if the
Secretary determines that such a waiver would be
equitable due to lack of available financial resources.
(4) Supplement, not supplant.--Funds made available under
this section shall be used to supplement, and not supplant,
other Federal, State, and local funds expended to support early
childhood programs.
(f) Application.--
(1) In general.--To seek a grant under this section, a
State or local educational agency shall submit an application
to the Secretary at such time, in such form and manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably
require.
(2) Contents.--At a minimum, an application under this
subsection shall include a description of--
(A) the applicant's need for expanded access to
high-quality, early childhood education; and
(B) the applicant's ability to use resources
efficiently and effectively to address such need.
(g) Priority.--In making grants under this section, the Secretary
shall give priority to States and local educational agencies that
demonstrate the greatest need for increased access to high-quality,
early childhood education.
(h) Monitoring; Reports.--The Secretary shall--
(1) require each recipient of a grant under this section to
monitor and report to the Secretary on the progress achieved
through the grant; and
(2) submit an annual report to the Congress on the progress
of grantees under this section.
SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR INCREASING RETENTION OF PREKINDERGARTEN TEACHERS.
(a) Grants.--The Secretary of Education, in consultation with the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, may make grants to States and
local educational agencies to increase retention of prekindergarten
teachers by establishing a career ladder described in subsection (b)
for such teachers.
(b) Career Ladder.--A career ladder described in this subsection--
(1) shall provide incentives for prekindergarten teachers
to obtain additional training and education, such as by
obtaining certification, an associate's degree, a bachelor's
degree, or other recognition of higher education; and
(2) shall not undermine the valuable contributions of
prekindergarten teachers lacking formal education, but having a
wealth of early childhood experience.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) The term ``eligible prekindergarten teacher'' means an
individual who has, or is currently enrolled in classes to
obtain, a Bachelor of Arts degree in early childhood
development.
(2) The terms ``local educational agency'' and ``State''
have the meanings given to those terms in section 9101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
7801).
(3) The term ``low-income child'' means a child from a
family with an income below 200 percent of the poverty line.
(4) The term ``poverty line'' means the poverty line (as
defined by the Office of Management and Budget and revised
annually in accordance with section 673(2) of the Community
Services Block Grant Act) applicable to a family of the size
involved.
(5) The term ``prekindergarten'' means a program serving
children 3, 4, and 5 years of age that requires teachers to
equip such children with the pre-literacy, pre-numeracy emotion
regulation, and behavioral skills required for school success.
(6) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of
Education.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
To carry out this Act, there is authorized to be appropriated
$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness.
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