Sen. Casey pushes early education
Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey proposed an amendment to the No Child Left Behind Act rewrite to expand and improve early education.
On Wednesday, the House passed a Republican-led rewrite of the No Child Left Behind education law. The bill lessens the federal role in education policy for the nation’s public schools, the Associated Press reported.
Casey’s new universal pre-kindergarten amendment, Strong Start for America’s Children, could become a part of the rewrite if approved. Senators are scheduled to vote on the amendment Tuesday, Casey said.
The amendment would provide more than $30 billion in funding over a five-year period from the corporate tax inversions loophole. The loophole is a strategy corporations use where they change country in which the company’s headquarters is located to generate a larger profit without closing down in other parts of the world.
Casey hopes to increase the number of Pennsylvania children receiving pre-K education subsides from more than 56,000 to over 93,000. Funding would be given directly to states to distribute in public schools, Head Start and licensed child care centers for full-day preschool for families earning below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. States already doing this can expand services to 3-year-olds.
Other parts of the amendment include the creation of an Early Head Start Quality Partnership program between Head Start and child care providers and increased authorization levels for the two early learning components of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Guidelines in the amendment would require teachers to be qualified and paid comparably to K-12 teachers. Rigorous health and safety standards would also be required.
Casey said the amendment would smooth out the “patchwork” of early education throughout the country. He acknowledged the amendment would be a “challenge” to get through the Senate, but noted it was important “to see where people stand.”
“All of us would ultimately benefit from this as it will improve the economy down the road,” Casey said. “We don’t want to lose the opportunity for early education because once a child passes a certain age, they lose any benefits.”