Introduction of the Universal Prekindergarten and Early Childhood Educatiom Act of 2011

Floor Speech

* Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing the Universal Prekindergarten and Early Childhood Education Act of 2011, Universal Pre-K, to begin the process of providing universal public prekindergarten. The bill is meant to fill a gaping hole in the ``No Child Left Behind Act'' which requires elementary and secondary schools to meet more rigorous standards yet ignores the prekindergarten years, among the most critical years for children's brain development. My bill is particularly necessary today because legislation pending to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act solely targets K-12. My bill makes a breakthrough in elementary school education by providing the initial funding for states to encourage local school districts to add prekindergarten for children four years of age and younger, so that every child can excel. We cannot afford to continue to allow the most fertile years for childhood development to pass, only to later wonder why we cannot teach Johnny to read.

* The bill responds both to the great needs, which are still growing, of parents who seek early childhood education, as well as new science, which shows that a child's brain development begins much earlier than previously believed. However, many parents are unable to afford the stimulating educational environment necessary to ensure optimal brain development. The bill would add prekindergarten for children four years of age or younger, similar to kindergarten programs for five-year-olds, that are now routinely available in public schools. The bill would eliminate some of the major shortcomings of unevenly available commercial day care and, importantly, would ensure children access to qualified teachers and the safe facilities of public schools.

* This bill reflects what jurisdictions increasingly are trying to accomplish, but lack the leadership and the start-up funds to see through. The District of Columbia, for example, is attempting to achieve more 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.

* The bill encourages school districts across the country to apply to the U.S. Department of Education for grants to establish prekindergarten. Grants under Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act would be available for educational activities for children four years of age or younger to public school systems that agree to phase in, where possible, a prekindergarten program that is taught by teachers who possess equivalent or similar guidelines to those in other grades in the school system.

* The success of Head Start and other prekindergarten programs, combined with new scientific evidence concerning the importance of brain development in early childhood, virtually mandates the expansion of early childhood education to all children. Traditionally, 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. My bill provides a practical way to gradually move to universal public preschool education. The goal of the bill is to afford the great majority of the American working poor, lower-middle-class, and middle-class families, most of whom have been left out, with the benefits of early childhood education.

* Considering the staggering cost of daycare, the inaccessibility of early childhood education, and the opportunity that early education offers to improve a child's chances in life, schooling for three- and four-year-olds is overdue. The absence of viable options for working families demands our immediate attention.

* I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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