Early Learning Legislation in the 113th Congress

Building on the momentum of President Obama’s call to expand preschool access, the first months of the 113^th Congress have seen the reintroduction of a number of bills addressing early education.

Most of these bills first appeared in previous Congressional sessions, and it will remain difficult for them to attract the bipartisan support they need to reach the president’s desk. It does seem clear, though, that since Obama’s state-of-the-union address, early education has become a bigger priority for Congressional Democrats.  In last year’s Congress, the Democratic agenda-setting bill on education, S. 5, made no mention of early childhood education initiatives in its five-point plan. In the current version of that bill, S. 3, the first bullet point is a measure to “strengthen early learning programs to better prepare children for success in school.”

Here’s a quick round-up of the bills to watch, many of which we’ve written about before:

Race to the Top Act of 2013: Reintroduced by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), this bill would institute a competitive grant program, administered through the Secretary of Education, to states and local educational agencies to develop, among other proposals, a plan for “supporting, or coordinating with early learning programs for high-need children from birth through third grade.”

Continuum of Learning Act of 2013: A reintroduced bipartisan bill from Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Rep. Don Young (R-AK), this legislation would require states to create or revise developmentally appropriate guidelines for early childhood education. It would also help foster connections and continuity between early childhood and elementary education systems through changes to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (also known as No Child Left Behind).

Providing Resources Early for Kids Act of 2013 (also known as the PRE-K Act):  Reintroduced in both chambers by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), this bill appears to align with what the Obama administration proposes, expanding pre-K access through a federal-state partnership.

Ready to Learn Act: Reintroduced by Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA), Al Franken (D-MN), Mark Begich (D-AK) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI), this bill would issue competitive matching grants to states to provide funds for existing early education providers to improve the quality of full-day, voluntary pre-K programs.

Prepare All Kids Act of 2013: Also similar to the President’s plan, this reintroduced bill from Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA) would create an incentive fund that issues grants to encourage pre-K programs to maintain a low student-teacher ratio, use an appropriate research-based curriculum and ensure that teachers obtain a bachelor’s degree within six years.

Other early childhood education bills in the hopper include the reintroduction of Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s (D-DC) Universal Prekindergarten and Early Childhood Education Act of 2013 and Sen. Mark Begich’s (D-AK) initiatives to provide tax benefits (S. 438) and Federal Family Education Loan and Direct Loan forgiveness programs (S. 440) to early childhood educators. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and other Democratic senators alsoreintroduced the Child Care and Resources Education Act of 2013, which would establish a toll-free information line and accompanying website to provide information on quality early child care options.

Given the current Congressional gridlock, it’s uncertain whether any of these bills will move forward. (Last week, Education Week’s Politics K-12 blog also wrote about some of these bills.) We’ll keep you posted.