Sponsors (26)
Official title: To ensure that paraprofessionals and education support staff are paid a living wage.
Introduced January 13, 2026 by Jesús García · Last progress January 13, 2026
The bill raises and protects pay for paraprofessionals and support staff through federal grants and indexing—improving incomes and workforce development—but does so at substantial federal cost and with administrative, sustainability, and collective-bargaining challenges for states and districts.
Paraprofessionals and education support staff will receive higher guaranteed pay (an hourly floor of $30 or a $45,000 annual baseline for FY2026–2030), raising incomes for school support workers.
States and local education agencies (LEAs) receive federal grants to help raise compensation, reducing immediate local budget pressure to fund pay increases.
Wage adjustments are indexed to CPI with a 2% floor over five-year periods, protecting pay from inflation and preserving purchasing power.
All taxpayers face a large federal cost—the bill appropriates $25 billion for FY2026 with annual increases indexed to inflation.
Some districts may be unable to sustain pay increases after the grant period if federal funds only supplement (not supplant) state/local funding, risking reversals when grants end.
States and LEAs may need to change budgets, bargaining agreements, or staffing mixes to meet matching/timeline rules, creating administrative and fiscal strain.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Establishes federal minimum pay floors ($45,000 annual/$30.00 hourly for FY2026–2030) and a grant program to raise pay for paraprofessionals and education support staff, with five‑year CPI‑indexed increases thereafter.
Creates a federal program that sets minimum pay floors and funds state grants to raise compensation for paraprofessionals and other education support staff. It sets baseline pay levels for FY2026–FY2030 ($45,000 annual for full-time equivalents; $30.00 hourly for hourly/part-time equivalents) and requires future increases every five fiscal years tied to inflation or at least 2 percent, whichever is greater. The bill defines terms using existing ESEA definitions, requires pay scales to increase with experience, allows states to set minimum salary/wage levels meeting the federal floors, and establishes a multi-year appropriation stream with a small reservation for research and technical assistance to implement the program. The stated goals are living wages, recognition of public-service roles, regional cost differences, and safe working conditions.