Sponsors (8)
The bill channels substantial federal funding to expand evidence-based academic, mental health, and innovation programs—particularly for high-need, rural, and tribal schools—while creating significant federal spending and administrative/eligibility requirements that may burden small districts and divert some funds to compliance.
Students in high-need schools (especially low-income students) receive new, large-scale federal support for evidence-based academic interventions through multibillion-dollar grants.
Students and educators can fund expanded instructional time, targeted tutoring, and high-quality distance instruction to accelerate learning recovery.
Students and school staff gain access to social-emotional learning, trauma-informed practices, and mental health services to address COVID-19-related and other mental/behavioral health needs.
Taxpayers face substantial new federal spending (initially about $15 billion per year), which raises budgetary trade-offs and long-term fiscal implications.
Small or lower-capacity districts (often rural) may struggle with the application, assessment, and reporting burdens and therefore be less competitive for grants.
Mandatory independent evaluations and public dissemination increase administrative costs for grantees and could divert funds away from direct services to compliance and research activities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a Department of Education grant program funding evidence‑based and educator‑initiated projects to address academic and student health needs, with specified allocation rules and rural/BIE reservations.
Introduced April 14, 2026 by Jahana Hayes · Last progress April 14, 2026
Creates a new Department of Education grant program that awards competitive grants to public education agencies, educational service agencies, nonprofit partners, institutions of higher education, and the Bureau of Indian Education to support evidence-based or field‑initiated projects addressing academic, social‑emotional, mental, behavioral, and physical health needs of students (including COVID‑19–related needs). The program sets allocation rules (administration cap, a small reservation for outlying areas and BIE, a 75/25 split favoring evidence-based projects, and a rural funding minimum) but does not specify total funding, application processes, or timelines in the provided text. Grants may be used to adopt proven, evidence-based activities or to design/replicate and implement educator-initiated proposals that the grantee independently evaluates and that meet the statutory evidence standard referenced in federal education law; for-profit entities are excluded from eligibility.