PRINTER'S NO. 556
No. 513 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY ORIE, ERICKSON, KITCHEN, TOMLINSON, STACK,
FONTANA, BOSCOLA, COSTA, RAFFERTY, LOGAN, WASHINGTON, O'PAKE,
GREENLEAF AND WONDERLING, MARCH 19, 2007
REFERRED TO EDUCATION, MARCH 19, 2007
AN ACT
1 Establishing the Early Childhood Education Fund; providing
2 funding for enhancement of the Head Start Program and other
3 similar programs; and making a repeal.
4 The General Assembly finds and declares that:
5 (1) Early childhood research indicates that stimulating
6 activities, as those engaged in while participating in
7 quality early childhood education programs, are important in
8 the development of the brain and have a long-term impact on
9 learning and independent thought.
10 (2) When compared to their counterparts, children who
11 have been exposed to quality early childhood education:
12 (i) Exhibit higher measures on reading and social
13 skills in the elementary school years, with benefits
14 lasting into adulthood so that persons who are 21 years
15 of age are more likely to delay parenthood, attend or
16 graduate from college and be gainfully employed.
17 (ii) Are 25% less likely to be retained a grade, at
18 an estimate of the per-child per-year cost of well over
1 $5,200 nationally.
2 (iii) Spend 1.3 fewer years in special education
3 placement, at an average cost of $1,800 more per student
4 per year than the standard curriculum cost.
5 (iv) Are one-third more likely to graduate from high
6 school, and unemployment rates for high school graduates
7 are 75% lower than those for nongraduates.
8 (v) Are five times less likely to be arrested
9 repeatedly by 27 years of age, thus reducing concomitant
10 societal costs associated with crime.
11 (vi) Scored higher and experienced immediate
12 positive effects on their socioemotional development,
13 including self-esteem, achievement motivation and social
14 behavior; and are one-third less likely to have children
15 out of wedlock and 25% less likely to be teenage parents
16 at a cost to society of $16,600,000,000 in Federal
17 support, alone.
18 (vii) Save the government $2 in special education,
19 unemployment, welfare, incarceration and other
20 intervention costs for every $1 invested in early
21 childhood education.
22 (viii) Save the Commonwealth the $100,000 long-term
23 cost that results when government does not provide at
24 least two years of early care and education for every
25 child born into poverty.
26 (ix) Provide the business community with workers
27 with an academic foundation for learning specialized
28 skills, competencies, attitudes and behaviors that will
29 ensure success in a technology-based, competitive
30 economic environment.
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1 (3) This act is enacted in order to ensure a quality
2 early childhood education that maximizes child development
3 and enhances school readiness.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Early
8 Childhood Education Act.
9 Section 2. Definitions.
10 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12 context clearly indicates otherwise:
13 "Fund." The Early Childhood Education Fund established by
14 this act.
15 "Owner." The term shall have the meaning given to it in
16 section 1301.1 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176),
17 known as The Fiscal Code.
18 Section 3. Early Childhood Education Fund.
19 (a) Establishment.--The Early Childhood Education Fund is
20 established in the State Treasury. The moneys of the fund shall
21 be invested in accordance with law and shall be used exclusively
22 for the purposes set forth in this act.
23 (b) Sources of funding.--
24 (1) Except for the amount required to be deposited into
25 the separate trust fund designated under section 1301.18(a)
26 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known as The
27 Fiscal Code, all funds received by the State Treasurer under
28 Article XIII.1 of The Fiscal Code, including the proceeds
29 from the sale of property under section 1301.17 of The Fiscal
30 Code, shall be deposited into the Early Childhood Education
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1 Fund. These moneys shall be designated as the principal of
2 the fund.
3 (2) An owner who is entitled to make a claim for
4 property that has been transferred to the Early Childhood
5 Education Fund may waive the owner's right, title and
6 interest in the property and make a gift of the property to
7 the fund. The identity of an owner who makes such a donation
8 to the fund shall remain anonymous unless the owner agrees in
9 writing to the release of the owner's name.
10 (3) The fund may accept donations from any person.
11 Section 4. Use of fund.
12 (a) Abandoned and unclaimed property claims.--If the owner
13 of property that has been transferred to the Early Childhood
14 Education Fund makes a claim to the State Treasurer under
15 Article XIII.1 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176),
16 known as The Fiscal Code, and the amount in the separate trust
17 fund designated under section 1301.18(a) of The Fiscal Code is
18 insufficient to pay the claim, the State Treasurer shall pay the
19 claim from the interest or, if the interest is insufficient, the
20 principal of the Early Childhood Education Fund.
21 (b) Enhancement of Head Start Program.--On an annual basis,
22 the interest earned on the fund and so much as the amount
23 transferred to the fund but not to exceed $150,000,000 is hereby
24 appropriated to the Department of Education:
25 (1) to increase the number of eligible children served
26 by the Head Start Program and any other early childhood
27 program that can demonstrate compliance with Head Start
28 performance standards or any other standards that meet or
29 exceed the Head Start performance standards; and
30 (2) to increase the hours and days of operation of the
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1 Head Start Program to a full day and a full year which shall
2 include education, parental involvement and access to health,
3 nutrition, dental, mental health and other social services.
4 (c) Priority for funding.--Priority for funding shall be
5 given to programs located in school districts designated as
6 academically distressed or empowerment districts.
7 (d) Accountability.--
8 (1) Each program receiving funding under this act shall
9 prepare an annual report to be provided to the Department of
10 Education no later than August 1 following the end of the
11 fiscal year in which funding was received, to describe the
12 number of children served through the grant and compare it to
13 the number of children funded.
14 (2) Head Start programs that receive funding under this
15 act must demonstrate that they have met Federal performance
16 standards established in 45 CFR Pt. 1304 (relating to program
17 performance standards for the operation of Head Start
18 programs by grantee and delegate agencies), by providing a
19 copy of their latest Federal review to the Department of
20 Education with their annual report. If any areas of
21 deficiency were identified in this review, the grantee must
22 demonstrate that measures to address them are in place.
23 (3) Early childhood programs not receiving Federal Head
24 Start funds shall be reviewed by the Department of Education
25 during the first year of receiving funds under this act and
26 at least once every three years thereafter to ensure that
27 services comply with Head Start performance standards, unless
28 the program can show that they meet comparable standards such
29 as the accreditation standards of the National Association
30 for the Education of Young Children.
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1 Section 5. Repeal.
2 The provisions of Article XIII.1 of the act of April 9, 1929
3 (P.L.343, No.176), known as The Fiscal Code, are repealed
4 insofar as they are inconsistent with this act.
5 Section 6. Effective date.
6 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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