PRINTER'S NO. 1937
No. 1532 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY E. Z. TAYLOR, D. EVANS, ADOLPH, TURZAI, DAILEY,
O'BRIEN, RAYMOND, CIVERA, TRUE, HENNESSEY, WRIGHT, GORDNER,
BISHOP, COY, RUBLEY, LEDERER, WASHINGTON, PHILLIPS, CAPPELLI,
CORRIGAN, CREIGHTON, R. MILLER, YUDICHAK, BEBKO-JONES,
DiGIROLAMO, BOYD, FLEAGLE, BAKER, CAWLEY, CRAHALLA, BELARDI,
WATSON, FLICK, BUNT, LAUGHLIN, CLYMER, COLEMAN, TANGRETTI,
BALDWIN, COSTA, BROWNE, HUTCHINSON, YEWCIC, GRUCELA, GABIG,
GEIST, MAITLAND, HORSEY, McILHATTAN, STERN, SAYLOR, HARPER,
HERSHEY, EGOLF, MACKERETH, BENNINGHOFF, PAYNE, R. STEVENSON,
WANSACZ, FREEMAN, YOUNGBLOOD, MANDERINO, MELIO AND JAMES,
JUNE 4, 2003
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, JUNE 4, 2003
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
2 act relating to the public school system, including certain
3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5 laws relating thereto," providing for the funding of
6 preschool education for financially needy persons, for
7 student transportation, for educational support services for
8 preschool children, for student loan forgiveness and for
9 distribution of books to parents of preschool-age children.
10 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
11 hereby enacts as follows:
12 Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
13 as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding an
14 article to read:
15 ARTICLE XIII-B
16 PRESCHOOL EDUCATION
17 Section 1301-B. Short title.
1 This article shall be known and may be cited as the Preschool
2 Opportunity Act.
3 Section 1302-B. Legislative findings.
4 The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
5 (1) Parents are best suited to choose the most
6 appropriate means of education for their preschool-age
7 children, including the selection of preschool programs of
8 their choice or the selection of in-home care and education.
9 (2) Enabling parents to be closely involved in the
10 education of their children at an early age is the most
11 effective means of promoting school readiness.
12 (3) Providing diverse educational opportunities for the
13 children of this Commonwealth is a civic imperative and a
14 matter of serious public concern.
15 (4) The importance of quality education and the need to
16 maintain and operate an effective system of education make it
17 imperative to provide for the increased availability of
18 diverse opportunities, including both public and nonpublic
19 programs of preschool education, to benefit all citizens of
20 this Commonwealth.
21 (5) Many disadvantaged preschool-age residents of this
22 Commonwealth enjoy comparatively fewer educational
23 opportunities or options than preschool-age residents who
24 possess greater economic means.
25 (6) The accessibility to families of nonpublic
26 educational alternatives decreases the burdens on the
27 Commonwealth and local school districts and increases the
28 range of educational choices available to Pennsylvania
29 families, thus providing a benefit to all citizens of this
30 Commonwealth.
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1 (7) The General Assembly intends the program of funding
2 and supplemental services for preschool education provided in
3 this article to be but one element of its overall program of
4 providing funds and related services to assure the
5 availability of educational opportunities for students
6 enrolled in the schools of this Commonwealth. A comparatively
7 far greater proportion of public funds are and, upon
8 implementation of a preschool educational choice program,
9 will continue to be devoted to the benefit of students
10 enrolled in the public schools of this Commonwealth.
11 Therefore, the General Assembly intends that a program for
12 funding preschool educational choice and supplemental
13 services be viewed as an integral part of its overall program
14 of educational funding and not as an isolated individual
15 program.
16 (8) A program of financial assistance and supplemental
17 services to enhance educational choice in this Commonwealth,
18 as one element of the Commonwealth's plan for funding of
19 diverse educational opportunities, will greatly aid efforts
20 to equalize educational opportunities for the citizens of
21 this Commonwealth, will better prepare Commonwealth citizens
22 to succeed in school and ultimately to compete for employment
23 opportunities, will foster development of a more capable and
24 better-educated work force and will better enable the
25 Commonwealth to fulfill its obligation of providing children
26 the opportunity of receiving a quality education.
27 Section 1303-B. Definitions.
28 The following words and phrases when used in this article
29 shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
30 context clearly indicates otherwise:
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1 "Agency." The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance
2 Agency.
3 "Charter school." A charter school established under the
4 provisions of Article XVII-A of this act.
5 "Child day-care center." A child day-care center that is
6 licensed under Article X of the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31,
7 No.21), known as the Public Welfare Code.
8 "Children's institution." A child day-care center that is
9 supervised by the Department of Public Welfare under Article IX
10 of the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), known as the Public
11 Welfare Code.
12 "Civil Rights Act." The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law
13 88-352, 78 Stat. 241).
14 "Department" The Department of Education of the
15 Commonwealth.
16 "Eligible grant recipient." The parent of a preschool-age
17 child who attends or is about to attend a preschool program in
18 this Commonwealth and who meets the income qualification
19 provisions of section 1304-B.
20 "Head Start." A program funded under the Head Start Act
21 (Public Law 97-35, 42 U.S.C. § 9831, et seq.), established by
22 the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (Public Law 97-35,
23 95 Stat. 357) and carried out by a Head Start agency or delegate
24 agency that provides ongoing comprehensive child development
25 services.
26 "Household income." All income, as defined in section 301 of
27 the act of March 4, 1971 (P.L.6, No.2), known as the Tax Reform
28 Code of 1971, of an eligible grant recipient and any other adult
29 member of the same household.
30 "Library." A library that is eligible to receive State aid
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1 under the act of June 14, 1961 (P.L.324, No.188), known as The
2 Library Code.
3 "Nonpublic school." A school, other than a public school,
4 located within this Commonwealth, at which a Commonwealth
5 resident may lawfully fulfill the compulsory attendance
6 requirements of this act and which meets the applicable
7 requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public
8 Law 88-352, 78 Stat. 241).
9 "Parent." A Commonwealth resident who is a parent or
10 guardian of, or person in parental relation to, a preschool-age
11 child.
12 "Preschool-age child." A resident of this Commonwealth who
13 is four years of age as of September 1 of the school year for
14 which a preschool education grant is sought.
15 "Preschool program." A program of education for preschool-
16 age children that meets the requirements of section 1305-B, is
17 operated by a public school district, a charter school, a
18 private academic school, a nonpublic school, a child day-care
19 center, a Head Start program or a children's institution and
20 meets the applicable requirements of Title VI of the Civil
21 Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-352, 78 Stat. 241).
22 "Public Welfare Code." The act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31,
23 No.21), known as the Public Welfare Code.
24 Section 1304-B. Preschool education grants.
25 (a) Program established.--The department shall establish a
26 program for awarding grants for preschool education to persons
27 who qualify as eligible grant recipients to the extent permitted
28 by annual appropriations made by the General Assembly.
29 (b) Parental qualification.--To qualify for a preschool
30 education grant, a parent must:
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1 (1) be a member of a household that has total household
2 income that does not exceed an amount equal to 235% of the
3 Federal poverty guidelines as reported by the Department of
4 Health and Human Services; and
5 (2) make application to the department for a grant on
6 forms to be developed and distributed by the department.
7 (c) Amounts.--Grants shall be awarded in the maximum amount
8 of $6 per hour of actual attendance at a preschool program or
9 the actual hourly charge for such program, whichever is less.
10 Grants may not be used to pay for more than seven hours of
11 instruction per day or for more than 180 days per school year.
12 At the beginning of each fiscal year, the Secretary of Education
13 shall increase the maximum amount of the grant by a percentage
14 factor equal to the percentage increase in the Consumer Price
15 Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Pennsylvania, New
16 Jersey and Maryland area, officially reported by the United
17 States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the
18 fiscal year immediately prior to the date the adjustment is to
19 take place. The Secretary of Education shall publish the maximum
20 grant amount, as adjusted, as a statement of policy in the
21 Pennsylvania Bulletin.
22 (d) Poverty guidelines.--Grant recipients whose household
23 income falls at or below 155% of the Federal poverty guidelines
24 shall be eligible for 100% of the maximum grant amount set forth
25 in subsection (c). Grant recipients whose household income falls
26 between 155% and 165% of the Federal poverty guidelines shall be
27 eligible for 90% of the maximum grant amount set forth in
28 subsection (c). Grant recipients whose household income falls
29 between 165% and 175% of the Federal poverty guidelines shall be
30 eligible for 80% of the maximum grant amount set forth in
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1 subsection (c). Grant recipients whose household income falls
2 between 175% and 185% of the Federal poverty guidelines shall be
3 eligible for 70% of the maximum grant amount set forth in
4 subsection (c). Grant recipients whose household income falls
5 between 185% and 195% of the Federal poverty guidelines shall be
6 eligible for 60% of the maximum grant amount set forth in
7 subsection (c). Grant recipients whose household income falls
8 between 195% and 205% of the Federal poverty guidelines shall be
9 eligible for 50% of the maximum grant amount set forth in
10 subsection (c). Grant recipients whose household income falls
11 between 205% and 215% of the Federal poverty guidelines shall be
12 eligible for 40% of the maximum grant amount set forth in
13 subsection (c). Grant recipients whose household income falls
14 between 215% and 225% of the Federal poverty guidelines shall be
15 eligible for 30% of the maximum grant amount set forth in
16 subsection (c). Grant recipients whose household income falls
17 between 225% and 235% of the Federal poverty guidelines shall be
18 eligible for 20% of the maximum grant amount set forth in
19 subsection (c).
20 (e) Appropriation shortfall.--In any school year in which
21 the amounts appropriated by the General Assembly for the program
22 established under this article shall not be sufficient to make
23 awards in the maximum amount permitted for all eligible
24 recipients, each grant recipient shall be awarded a pro rata
25 amount of the award for which he or she would otherwise be
26 eligible.
27 (f) Maximum allowance.--The grants awarded may be used only
28 for payment of actual charges for attendance at a preschool
29 program. The department may reduce the amount of a grant award
30 to offset any other payments made from State-appropriated funds
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1 to avoid the making of payments in excess of the actual charges
2 incurred for attendance at the preschool program.
3 (g) Grant guidelines.--The department shall issue guidelines
4 for the awarding of grants that shall include:
5 (1) grant application and award notification dates;
6 (2) standards for the verification of income
7 information;
8 (3) confirmation of attendance by grant recipients;
9 (4) distribution of information to schools, school
10 districts, child day-care centers, children's institutions
11 and the general public concerning the preschool education
12 funding program established under this article;
13 (5) restricted endorsement of grant award checks by
14 grant recipients to the preschool-age program attended by the
15 recipient's child;
16 (6) reimbursement by the grant recipient of grant awards
17 when the recipient's child withdraws or is suspended from
18 attendance at a preschool program;
19 (7) transfer of a child between preschool programs; and
20 (8) disqualification for eligibility for future
21 preschool grant awards for fraud or misrepresentations in
22 connection with the program established under this article.
23 The guidelines shall be published as a statement of policy in
24 the Pennsylvania Bulletin and shall be mailed by the department
25 to each school in this Commonwealth.
26 (h) Nontaxable income.--Grants awarded shall not be
27 considered to be taxable income for State or local income tax
28 purposes in this Commonwealth.
29 (i) Attendance.--Attendance by a child at a preschool
30 program shall not constitute entry into a school for purposes of
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1 section 1326.
2 Section 1305-B. Preschool programs.
3 (a) Program requirements.--Grants may be awarded for
4 attendance at preschool programs that meet the following
5 requirements:
6 (1) The program must meet all applicable State and local
7 fire safety and building code requirements and all applicable
8 State laws relating to health and safety that are
9 administered by the Department of Agriculture, the Department
10 of Environmental Protection, the Department of Health, the
11 Department of Labor and Industry, the Department of
12 Transportation and county health departments. The program
13 shall also comply with all applicable provisions of section
14 1517.
15 (2) The program must comply with all requirements of
16 section 111 and with all requirements of 23 Pa.C.S. § 6355
17 (relating to requirements for background checks for
18 employment in schools).
19 (3) The program shall have a director who is at least 21
20 years of age, has completed a program of instruction in
21 general first aid training, including instruction in
22 childhood injury prevention and infectious diseases, has had
23 fire safety training and has at least 1,250 hours of
24 experience in teaching or working with children.
25 (4) The program may employ only those individuals who
26 meet the applicable provisions of this act for employment as
27 teachers or as teacher's aides in the school, child day-care
28 center or children's institution that operates the program.
29 (5) The program shall maintain instructional materials
30 and indoor/outdoor equipment compatible with the program's
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1 philosophy, objectives and teaching methodology which will
2 accommodate the number of children in the preschool.
3 (6) The program of instruction shall include those
4 motor, creative, manipulative, imaginative, rhythmic,
5 language and science activities and experiences that tend to
6 promote effectively the physical, mental, social, emotional
7 and aesthetic development of children of preschool age.
8 Objectives and daily plans shall be kept on file and shall be
9 available to the department or to parents upon request.
10 (7) Learning experiences at the program, both informal
11 and planned, shall include: free play, which shall include
12 outdoor play, weather permitting; gross motor skill
13 development; fine motor skill development; perceptual
14 activities; language arts activities; mathematical
15 activities; science activities; expressive arts, including
16 music, art and dramatic play; socialization and social
17 development activities; nutrition; and health and safety.
18 (8) The program shall be planned for a minimum of two
19 hours of instruction per day. The program shall establish the
20 number of days that the program shall remain open.
21 (9) The program must require age-appropriate
22 immunizations for enrolled children, as prescribed by the
23 department.
24 (b) Program registration.--A preschool program at which
25 grant recipients may utilize their grant awards must register
26 with the department and must certify that the program meets the
27 requirements of this article. The department may make such
28 announced and unannounced inspections as may be necessary to
29 ascertain compliance with each of the requirements of this
30 article.
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1 (c) Public education.--Notwithstanding any other provision
2 of this act, a public school district or a charter school may
3 establish a reasonable charge for attendance at a preschool
4 program that it operates under guidelines to be established by
5 the department. In addition, a public school district may
6 contract for services with another public school district, with
7 a charter school or with a private or nonpublic preschool
8 program that meets the requirements of this article.
9 (d) Limitations.--Nothing in this article shall be construed
10 to empower the Commonwealth or any of its agencies or officers
11 to prescribe the course content or admissions criteria for any
12 religiously affiliated preschool program, to compel any private
13 preschool program to accept or enroll the children of eligible
14 grant recipients, to impose any additional requirements on any
15 private preschool program that are not otherwise authorized
16 under this act or to require any preschool program to accept or
17 retain the children of any eligible grant recipient if the
18 preschool program does not offer programs or is not structured
19 or equipped with the necessary facilities to meet the special
20 needs of the student or does not offer a particular program
21 requested.
22 (e) Grant recipients.--Grants awarded to eligible recipients
23 shall not constitute financial assistance or appropriations to
24 the preschool program attended by the grant recipient's child.
25 (f) Fairness of fees.--No preschool program may charge a
26 grant recipient a higher fee for attendance at the program than
27 the parent would have been charged had he or she not received a
28 grant.
29 Section 1306-B. Transportation.
30 Public school districts may furnish free transportation to
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1 children attending preschool programs and shall be reimbursed
2 for such transportation on the same basis as is provided for in
3 this act with respect to the transportation of school-age
4 children. When a school district provides transportation to
5 children attending a preschool program operated by or under
6 contract with the public school district, it shall provide
7 identical transportation services to children attending
8 preschool programs operated by nonprofit nonpublic schools that
9 meet the provisions of section 1305-B subject to the same
10 requirements, conditions and limitations prescribed in section
11 1361.
12 Section 1307-B. Educational support services for preschool
13 children.
14 (a) Supplemental grants.--To the extent permitted by annual
15 appropriations made by the General Assembly, the department
16 shall make supplemental grants to parents who are eligible grant
17 recipients, as defined in this article, for the purposes of
18 obtaining tutorial services in reading, language arts and
19 mathematics from providers who are approved by the department to
20 provide services under Article XV-C or from a library.
21 (b) Grant guidelines.--The department shall issue guidelines
22 prescribing procedures relating to application for and
23 notification of grant awards, restrictive endorsement of grant
24 award checks, grant eligibility, distribution of information to
25 parents and prospective providers and grant amounts.
26 (c) Need-based awards.--Grants shall be awarded according to
27 need, utilizing the same percentage guidelines as are prescribed
28 in section 1304-B(d).
29 Section 1308-B. Student loan forgiveness.
30 (a) Eligibility.--A teacher or teacher's aide who is
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1 employed in a preschool program that meets the requirements of
2 section 1305-B may qualify for forgiveness by the Pennsylvania
3 Higher Education Assistance Agency of debt incurred under the
4 agency-administered Federally insured student loan programs if
5 he or she:
6 (1) is enrolled in, or has graduated within the previous
7 two years from, a program in a community college, a college
8 or a university leading to an associate's degree or a
9 bachelor's degree in early childhood education;
10 (2) enters into a written agreement to work on a full-
11 time basis in a preschool program within this Commonwealth
12 following the awarding of his or her degree;
13 (3) is employed in a public or private preschool program
14 located within the boundaries of a school district that is
15 certified by the Secretary of Education as having a need for
16 teacher loan forgiveness because of difficulty in attracting
17 qualified preschool teachers and teachers' aides; and
18 (4) makes application to the department for approval of
19 a loan forgiveness award.
20 (b) Loan forgiveness.--The agency shall make payments toward
21 the student loans of individuals who are eligible for loan
22 forgiveness under this section in the following amounts:
23 (1) First academic year of full-time teaching in an
24 amount up to $2,000.
25 (2) Second academic year of full-time teaching in an
26 amount up to $3,000.
27 (3) Third academic year of full-time teaching in an
28 amount up to $4,000.
29 (4) Fourth academic year of full-time teaching in an
30 amount up to $6,000.
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1 (c) Certification of need.--In determining whether to
2 certify a school district as having a need for teacher loan
3 forgiveness, the Secretary of Education shall take into account
4 the incidence of poverty level families residing within the
5 district and whether the district has been placed on an
6 empowerment list in accordance with section 1703-B or for which
7 a board of control has been established pursuant to section
8 1705-B.
9 (d) Award distribution.--Loan forgiveness awards may be made
10 to the extent that funds are appropriated by the General
11 Assembly and are sufficient to cover administration of the
12 program. Preference shall be given to renewal applicants. In the
13 event that funding is insufficient to fully fund administration
14 and awards to all qualified applicants, the department shall use
15 a random lottery system for determining which applicants receive
16 loan forgiveness awards.
17 Section 1309-B. Book distribution.
18 To the extent permitted by annual appropriations made by the
19 General Assembly, the department shall establish a program for
20 the distribution of books and other instructional materials to
21 low-income parents that will assist them in learning about child
22 development and early childhood education, or that are suitable
23 for use by those parents in reading to or providing instruction
24 to their preschool-age children. The books and instructional
25 materials shall be distributed through libraries, schools,
26 community centers and such other facilities that the department
27 selects for participation in the distribution program.
28 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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