Sponsors (11)
Introduced July 28, 2025 by Bernard Sanders · Last progress July 28, 2025
The bill aims to raise educator pay, stabilize and target federal education funding, and strengthen the teacher pipeline to improve equity and retention—but does so through large new mandatory spending, inflation indexing, and reporting/implementation requirements that create significant fiscal and administrative burdens for states, local districts, and taxpayers and risk uneven implementation.
Public K–12 teachers (especially first-year teachers) would receive guaranteed minimum salaries (e.g., $60,000 starting pay and state-determined floors), increasing teacher pay, income predictability, and financial stability.
Paraprofessionals and education support staff would receive statutory minimum pay (e.g., $45,000 salary or $30/hr), raising wages for school support employees and improving household stability for lower-paid school workers.
Students in high-poverty, rural, federally connected, and Bureau of Indian Education schools would get stable, predictable federal funding (e.g., Title I $36.8B, Rural Education minimums, Impact Aid, BIE funding) with automatic inflation adjustments, supporting services for disadvantaged students.
State and local governments, school districts, and taxpayers would face substantial new and recurring costs to meet salary floors and mandatory program funding, increasing pressure for higher local/state taxes or reallocation of budgets.
Students and school services could experience cuts (fewer programs, staff reductions, or larger class sizes) if districts must reallocate limited funds to cover higher payroll costs and federal funding falls short.
Smaller, low-revenue LEAs and rural districts may be disproportionately strained—facing difficulty meeting mandates, elevated administrative burdens, and potential loss of program capacity.
Based on analysis of 18 sections of legislative text.
Sets a $60,000 first‑year teacher floor (FY2026–FY2030), requires $45,000 for paraprofessionals, creates inflation‑adjusted mandatory education funding, and funds grants for career ladders, residencies, and Grow Your Own programs.
Requires states and school systems to ensure public K–12 teachers have career-long competitive pay with a first-year base of at least $60,000 (FY2026–FY2030) and periodic upward adjustments, and requires paraprofessionals and education support staff to earn at least $45,000 annually or $30.00 per hour. Creates new and expanded federal investments and permanent, inflation-adjusted appropriations for Title I, rural education, Impact Aid, Bureau of Indian Education schools, and Higher Education Act teacher-preparation grants; funds competitive grants for teacher career ladders, flexible classroom awards, teacher residencies and “Grow Your Own” programs; and tightens reporting, data disaggregation, and accountability rules to promote equitable distribution of qualified teachers. Directs the Department of Education to issue implementing regulations within one year, establishes formulas and matching rules for new grants (including a 25% non‑Federal share on certain awards), requires states to submit pay-plan addenda and teacher-pay adjustments tied to the Consumer Price Index, and expands technical assistance and data systems to track educator distribution and credentials.