On Thursday, Sept. 17, the House of Representatives passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (H.R. 3221) by a vote of 251 to 171. This bill includes a new Early Learning Challenge Fund, which would create competitive grants, distributed jointly by the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, to challenge states to develop and build comprehensive, high-quality early learning systems for children up to age five, with an emphasis on increasing the number of disadvantaged children receiving quality early education.
The Early Learning Challenge Fund comes at a unique time in history when more children than ever are falling into poverty. According to a recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2008, there were 800,000 more children living in poverty than in 2007. There are now a total of 14.1 million children in poverty nationwide.
State Grants
To strengthen early learning programs for all children, especially the disadvantaged, the Early Learning Challenge Fund would incentivize states to coordinate early learning services and systems of delivery. The Fund provides $1 billion a year for 8 years. States can get a share of this money by applying for one of two grants: a Quality Pathways Grant or a Development Grant. States with more developed early education systems can apply for the Quality Pathways Grant, which is meant to enhance good structures already in place. For states with less developed early education systems, the Development Grant would allow them to bolster their resources. To be eligible for either grant, however, states must promise to provide a 10 % match in the first two fiscal years of the program, 15% in the third fiscal year and 20% from there on. Meeting this match may initially be difficult for states, however, which according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, are facing a collective budget shortfall of $143 billion dollars.
State Applications
States can apply for limited waivers of the match requirement, but still must put together a detailed application to address all components called for in the legislation. These include, in part, creating:
• developmentally appropriate early learning standards and assessments
• a process integrating early learning and development standards into the instructional and programmatic practices of programs and services, including services provided to children under section 619 and part C of IDEA
• a system for rating program quality
• a system of program review and monitoring
• minimum pre-service early childhood development and education training requirements for providers in early learning programs
• a comprehensive plan for supporting ongoing professional development and
• an outreach strategy to promote understanding by parents and families.
Importantly, the bill mandates that funds may not be used to reward or sanction individual children or teachers based on assessment results. Furthermore, it bans the use of a single assessment as the primary or sole method for evaluating program effectiveness. The bill also establishes a National Commission to evaluate and review the status of state and federal early learning program quality standards and recommend benchmarks for these standards.
In addition to meeting these and other requirements, priority will be given to state plans which demonstrate how the state will try to build public-private partnerships, and use funds reserved for quality activities from the Child Case and Development Block Grant.
Next Steps
Having passed the House, this legislation now moves to the Senate. It is currently unclear when the Senate, which is bogged down in Health care legislation, will tackle this issue. CEC will continue to monitor developments regarding the Early Learning Challenge Fund and advocate for its passage.
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