Sponsors (3)
This is not an official government website.
Copyright © 2026 PLEJ LC. All rights reserved.
Creates a competitive federal grant program to recruit, prepare, and retain teachers by funding teaching residencies, mentor and induction programs, "grow your own" pathways, and other retention strategies. Grants prioritize rural and high-need subject areas, support diversification of the workforce, require measurable evaluation and reporting, and include planning grants and waivers for matching requirements. The Act also clarifies program definitions and standards, encourages treating teaching as a formal career pathway under career and technical education programs, and authorizes appropriations for implementation during fiscal years 2027–2032 (amounts to be appropriated).
The bill invests in pipelines, mentoring, and targeted funding to grow, diversify, and stabilize the teacher workforce—especially in rural and high‑need schools—but does so through federal and local spending, matching and competitive grants, and reporting requirements that may favor wealthier areas,
Students (especially in high‑need subjects) and schools will likely get more and better‑prepared teachers because the bill expands mentoring, induction, residencies, and Grow‑Your‑Own pathways that reduce early‑career attrition and raise instructional quality.
Rural, hard‑to‑staff, and Tribal/BIE schools will receive targeted support (set‑asides, explicit rural recognition and at least 25% allocations) improving their ability to hire and retain teachers in remote and underserved communities.
Local candidates (community college transfers, paraprofessionals, long‑term school employees) will have clearer, paid or subsidized pathways into teaching—through 2+2, Grow‑Your‑Own, residency models, stipends and service‑linked tuition support—lowering financial barriers and building local pipelines.
Taxpayers and local school budgets face substantial near‑term and ongoing costs—both federal spending authorized over six years without fixed caps and local costs to expand mentoring/residencies—raising fiscal pressure and potential trade‑offs with other priorities.
The required non‑Federal matching and competitive, multi‑year grant model will skew benefits toward better‑resourced districts and partners, making it harder for under‑resourced, rural, or small districts and nonprofits to compete for funds.
Grant and evaluation requirements (rigorous evaluation plans, data collection, reporting) create administrative burdens and may divert limited grantee funds and staff time away from direct services and teacher support—disadvantaging smaller programs.
Introduced March 9, 2026 by Haley Stevens · Last progress March 9, 2026