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Creating Early Childhood Leaders Act
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase the knowledge and skills of principals and school leaders regarding early childhood education.
Summary
This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to add early childhood education training requirements to school leader preparation programs. The bill requires that principals and school leaders receive training in child development, social and emotional development, developmentally appropriate behavioral interventions, and instructional leadership for children from birth through age 8. The bill also updates community engagement requirements to specifically include providers of early childhood education programs. The changes are intended to ensure that principals and school leaders can effectively support teachers and programs serving pre-kindergarten students. The bill is based on findings that principals have substantial impact on student achievement and that school leaders increasingly supervise early childhood programs despite often lacking training in early childhood education.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
1 cosponsor
- Rep. Hayes, Jahana [D-CT-5] (D-CT)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Brittany Pettersen’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $30,671
- COINBASE $18,000
- ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ $13,200
- APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT $13,000
- SOLANA LABS $9,900
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Brittany Pettersen → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- May 15, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. · house
- May 15, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 15, 2026
Ms. Pettersen (for herself and Mrs. Hayes) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase the knowledge and skills of principals and school leaders regarding early childhood education.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Creating Early Childhood Leaders Act”.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.—Congress finds the following:
(1) Since principals and school leaders have the second largest in-school impact on student achievement (after teachers), a principal or school leader’s knowledge has a substantial impact on the teachers and students under the principal or school leader’s supervision.
(2) Principals and school leaders are increasingly being asked to supervise teachers and children in pre-kindergarten programs, yet school leaders often do not have training in early childhood education.
(3) Given the critical development that occurs in a child’s early life and the impacts of this developmental period on later life outcomes, understanding the standards of early childhood education is particularly important.
(b) Purpose.—The purpose of this Act is to ensure that principals and school leaders are able to effectively support teachers in providing pre-kindergarten students with developmentally appropriate instruction.
SEC. 3. SCHOOL LEADER TRAINING REGARDING EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION.
Section 202(f)(1)(B) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1022a(f)(1)(B)) is amended—
(1) by striking clause (v) and inserting the following:
“(v) engage and involve parents, community members, the local educational agency, businesses, providers of early childhood education programs, and other community leaders, to leverage additional resources to improve student academic achievement;”;
(2) in clause (vi), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
“(vii) understand child development, social and emotional development, developmentally appropriate behavioral interventions and supports, and effective instructional leadership skills for children from birth through age 8, in order to effectively manage and support developmentally appropriate early childhood education programs.”. <all>
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