S. 1673 — Introduced in Senate

II 113th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1673 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES November 7, 2013Mr. Franken introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To help States develop and improve the qualifications and training of their early childhood educator workforce. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Early Childhood Care and Education Workforce Improvement Act. 2. Purpose The purpose of this Act is to help States build their capacity to train, credential, fairly compensate, and retain a highly qualified early childhood care and education workforce. 3. Definitions In this Act: (1) Child The term child means a child— (A) who is age 5 or younger; or (B) who has not yet entered kindergarten. (2) Early childhood care and education program The term early childhood care and education program means— (A) any program or provider, regardless of setting or funding source, that provides early care and education for children, including any program operated by a child care center or in a family child care home; (B) any preschool program funded by the Federal Government, a State, or a local educational agency; or (C) an Early Head Start program or Head Start program. (3) Early childhood educator The term early childhood educator means an individual who works in an early childhood care and education program that is State-licensed or State-regulated and who is— (A) a center-based or family child care provider; (B) an infant or toddler specialist; (C) an early intervention specialist or early childhood special educator; (D) a Head Start or Early Head Start teacher or teacher assistant; (E) a preschool teacher, other teacher, or teacher assistant; or (F) a provider of training or technical assistance. (4) Early Head Start The term Early Head Start means an Early Head Start program supported under section 645A of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9840). (5) Early learning guidelines The term early learning guidelines means a set of standards or guidelines that— (A) describe what all children should know and be able to do; (B) are appropriate for each age group (such as infants, toddlers, and preschoolers), for English learners, and for children with disabilities or developmental delays; (C) cover all areas of child development and early learning related to the essential domains of school readiness, including cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development, and approaches to learning; and (D) are universally designed and developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate. (6) Head Start The term Head Start means the Head Start program supported under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.). (7) Institution of higher education The term institution of higher education has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). (8) Quality rating and improvement system The term quality rating and improvement system means a tiered quality rating system for early childhood care and education programs, which shall— (A) contain multiple quality rating levels that build on each other, leading to nationally recognized standards of program quality; (B) appropriately assess the quality of early childhood care and education programs in the State; (C) build on licensing standards and other State regulatory standards for such programs; (D) be designed to improve the quality of different types of early childhood care and education programs; (E) describe the quality of early childhood care and education programs; (F) build the capacity of State early childhood care and education programs and communities to promote parents' and families' understanding of the State's early childhood care and education programs and the ratings of the programs in which the child is enrolled; and (G) provide financial incentives and other supports to early childhood care and education programs to achieve and sustain higher levels of quality. (9) Secretaries The term Secretaries means the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. (10) State The term State means each of the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 4. Program authorized From the amounts made available under section 11, the Secretaries, in accordance with the interagency agreement described in section 10, are authorized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to States having applications approved under section 5, to enable such States to implement and administer the activities and initiatives described in section 6. 5. Applications (a) In general Each State desiring a grant under this Act shall submit an application to the Secretaries at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Secretaries may reasonably require. (b) Contents Each application submitted under subsection (a) shall include the following: (1) A demonstration of an existing comprehensive early childhood educator professional development system in the State, or a plan for developing such a system that— (A) is developed in collaboration with— (i) the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care designated or established under section 642B(b)(1)(A) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837a(b)(1)(A)), where applicable; (ii) an administrator of a State lead agency (as described in section 658D of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858b)); (iii) the State Director of Head Start Collaboration appointed or designated under section 642B(a)(3)(A) of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9837b(a)(3)(A)); (iv) the State educational agency (as defined in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)); (v) institutions of higher education that award a degree in early childhood education; and (vi) early childhood education professional organizations; (B) uses available early childhood care and education workforce data, such as the percentage of the early childhood educators who hold a license or certificate in early childhood care and education, in order to assess and provide resources for the State’s early childhood care and education workforce needs; and (C) coordinates with the State higher education agency (as defined in section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003)), institution of higher education accrediting agencies or associations, 2- and 4-year institutions of higher education that award a degree in early childhood education, and other organizations or agencies with expertise in early childhood educator preparation that provide the formal education and training necessary to— (i) encourage the establishment or expansion of credit-bearing opportunities that recognize prior learning and expertise; (ii) make higher education in early childhood education more accessible for working adult learners by offering postsecondary education courses at accessible times and locations and providing support to adult learners, especially adult learners who are low-income individuals or dual language learners; (iii) develop articulation agreements between 2- and 4-year public and private institutions of higher education; and (iv) expand the number of degree programs in early childhood education that meet nationally recognized standards for the preparation of early childhood educators. (2) A description of how the State will— (A) adopt professional standards and competencies for early childhood educators based on nationally recognized standards for professional preparation of early childhood educators; (B) develop career pathways and link opportunities to career pathways for early childhood educators, toward continuous and incremental improvement of the early childhood educator workforce; (C) target funds to the highest need areas, which shall be determined based on— (i) the level of access to high-quality, affordable early childhood care and education programs; (ii) the percentage of children living in poverty; and (iii) the percentage of early childhood educators with degrees and other credentials in early childhood education; (D) engage rural communities in participating in early childhood educator workforce improvement activities and how the State will provide technical assistance in rural communities to address unique barriers to the implementation of early childhood educator workforce programs; and (E) establish or enhance compensation and retention initiatives that reward and help retain early childhood educators who achieve a degree in early childhood education to work in a non-school early childhood education program, and to the extent feasible, have parity of compensation with public school elementary teachers in the same geographic area. 6. State use of funds (a) In general A State that receives a grant under this Act shall ensure that grant funds will be used to support services for early childhood educators and early childhood care and education programs across all early childhood age groups, such as infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. (b) Reservation of funds A State that receives a grant under this Act shall use not more than 5 percent of the grant funds for the administration and provision of technical assistance needed to carry out the initiatives and activities described in subsections (c), (d), and (e), collectively. (c) Required activities (1) In General A State that receives a grant under this Act shall use grant funds to carry out the following: (A) Providing scholarships for tuition, fees and materials, and support, including college counseling, paid substitutes, and release time, to early childhood educators or individuals who are preparing to be early childhood educators to enable such individuals to earn— (i) a child development associate credential; or (ii) an associate or baccalaureate degree in early childhood education, or a closely related field (as determined by the Secretary). (B) In a State with a quality rating and improvement system, enhancing and expanding coaching, mentoring, and other professional development to help early childhood care and education programs improve at least 1 level on the State's quality rating and improvement system. (C) Providing ongoing professional development opportunities for early childhood educators that relate to— (i) the specialized knowledge and skills of early childhood educators for working with different ages and levels of development of children (including infants, toddlers, and preschoolers); (ii) the State’s early learning guidelines; (iii) high-quality teacher-child interactions; (iv) cultural competence for working with a diversity of children and families; (v) dual language learners; (vi) children with disabilities, as described in parts B and C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq. and 1431 et seq.); and (vii) engaging and partnering with parents and families. (D) Encouraging cross-sector training opportunities for teachers and staff working in Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, early intervention programs, infant and early childhood mental health programs, home visiting programs, and State-funded prekindergarten and preschool programs that receive funds under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), where applicable. (E) Expanding the number of early childhood educators who are trained to work with infants and toddlers. (2) Priority In using grant funds received under this Act, a State shall give priority to using such funds to carry out the activities described under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1). (d) Permissible uses of funds A State that receives a grant under this Act may use grant funds to— (1) support directors of early childhood care and education programs in the areas of program management and leadership, adult learning to support staff development, and child development; and (2) expand the number of early childhood educators who have experience in providing professional development, coaching, mentoring, or consultation to early childhood educators about working with infants, toddlers, and their families. (e) Reports A State that receives a grant under this Act shall submit an annual report to the Secretaries at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretaries may require, including, at a minimum, the following: (1) In the case of a State that has a quality rating and improvement system, any evidence of an increase in the number of early childhood care and education programs participating in the State’s quality rating and improvement system, that— (A) have improved at least 1 level on the State's quality rating and improvement system; and (B) received coaching, mentoring, scholarships for postsecondary education, or other technical assistance related to professional knowledge and skills to improve quality as described under subsection (c)(1). (2) The number of scholarships provided by the State, as described under subsection (c)(1)(A), disaggregated by— (A) whether the scholarships support the pursuit of— (i) a child development associate credential; (ii) an associate degree in early childhood education, or a closely related field (as determined by the Secretary); or (iii) a baccalaureate degree in early childhood education, or a closely related field (as determined by the Secretary); (B) the race, gender, annual income, and native language of the individual receiving such scholarship; (C) in the case of a scholarship recipient who is, at the time the scholarship is awarded, working as an early childhood educator— (i) the age of the children with whom the early childhood educator works; (ii) the type of early childhood care and education program setting in which the early childhood educator works, and the percentage of children in such program setting who are— (I) eligible for Early Head Start or Head Start; or (II) receiving child care services for which financial assistance is provided in accordance with the Child Care and Development Block Grant of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); and (iii) the number of years that the early childhood educator has worked in the field of early childhood education prior to receiving such scholarship; and (D) the number of scholarship recipients who are working in the field of early childhood education 2 years after receiving a credential or degree described in subsection (c)(1)(A), whether such recipient is— (i) working in the same early childhood care and education program; (ii) in a different early childhood care and education program; or (iii) in the same role or in a different role within the field of early childhood education. (3) Data describing the professional development activities offered to early childhood educators, including information about such activities relating to the categories described in clauses (i) through (vii) of subsection (c)(1)(C), as appropriate. (4) Data describing the cross-sector training opportunities provided, as described in subsection (c)(1)(D), including— (A) the primary role of professionals who participated in a cross-sector training; (B) the primary setting in which such professionals work; (C) the topic of the training; and (D) the sources of funding for the training. (5) If applicable, evidence of an increase in the number of early childhood educators working with— (A) infants and toddlers; (B) children with developmental delays or disabilities; and (C) dual language learners. (6) Data describing any increase in early childhood care and education programs in the State. 7. Matching funds requirement (a) Amount of matching funds A State that receives a grant under this Act shall contribute to the activities assisted under such grant by providing matching funds from non-Federal sources in an amount as follows: (1) For the first year of the grant award, an amount equal to not less than 20 percent of the amount of the grant. (2) For the second year of the grant award, an amount equal to not less than 30 percent of the amount of the grant. (3) For the third year of the grant award, an amount equal to not less than 40 percent of the amount of the grant. (4) For the fourth and fifth years of the grant award, an amount equal to not less than 50 percent of the amount of the grant. (b) Matching funds requirement The matching funds requirement under subsection (a) may be met by contributions that are— (1) in cash or in kind; and (2) from any private source or State or local funds. 8. Supplement and not supplant Grant funds provided under this Act shall supplement, and not supplant, other Federal, State, and local funds that are available for early childhood workforce improvement programs. States receiving grant funds under this Act may provide additional funds, other than funds received under this Act, to enhance the early childhood provider quality initiatives and activities that are supported by such grant funds. 9. Maintenance of effort A State that receives funds under this Act for a fiscal year shall maintain the fiscal effort provided by the State for the activities supported by the funds under this Act at a level equal to or greater than the level of such fiscal effort for the preceding fiscal year. 10. Interagency agreement The Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall jointly develop policies for, and administer activities under, this Act in accordance with such terms as the Secretaries shall set forth in an interagency agreement. Such interagency agreement, at a minimum, shall include a description of the respective roles and responsibilities of the Secretaries in carrying out this Act. 11. Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2014 through 2019.