Title 20, EducationRelease 119-102
§7931 Sense of Congress on Early Learning and Child Care
Title 20 › CHAPTER 70 — STRENGTHENING AND IMPROVEMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS › SUBCHAPTER VIII — GENERAL PROVISIONS › Part F — Uniform Provisions › subpart 2 — other provisions › § 7931
Summary
States keep the right to decide their early learning and child care policies and whether to use funds from this federal program. Systems should offer strong parent choice through a mixed delivery of services. States also decide school-starting age, early learning guidelines, and how to judge program quality.
Full Legal Text
Title 20, §7931
Education, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
It is the Sense of the Congress that a State retains the right to make decisions, free from Federal intrusion, concerning its system of early learning and child care, and whether or not to use funding under this chapter to offer early childhood education programs. Such systems should continue to include robust choice for parents through a mixed delivery system of services so parents can determine the right early learning and child care option for their children. States, while protecting the rights of early learning and child care providers, retain the right to make decisions that shall include the age at which to set compulsory attendance in school, the content of a State’s early learning guidelines, and how to determine quality in programs.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
A prior section 7931, Pub. L. 89–10, title IX, § 9301, as added Pub. L. 103–382, title I, § 101, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3805, set forth
Short Title
of the Alaska Native Educational Equity, Support and Assistance Act, prior to the general amendment of former subchapter IX of this chapter by Pub. L. 107–110.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Section effective Dec. 10, 2015, except with respect to certain noncompetitive programs and competitive programs, see section 5 of Pub. L. 114–95, set out as an
Effective Date
of 2015 Amendment note under section 6301 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
20 U.S.C. § 7931
Title 20, Education
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102