Funding & Policy Flexibility

Increase funding allocations and policy flexibility related to personnel budget expenditures.

 

The Respect, Advancement, and Increasing Support for Educators (RAISE) Act

The Respect, Advancement, and Increasing Support for Educators (RAISE) Act aims to boost salaries and address the teacher wage gap. Key provisions of the act include (1) providing a $1,000 refundable tax credit to all eligible early and K-12 educators, (2) establishing a sliding scale tax credit of up to $15,000 for eligible public elementary and secondary educators, (3) creating a sliding scale tax credit of up to $15,000 for early childhood educators with a bachelor’s degree and up to $10,000 for those with an associate degree of Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate, (4) offering the highest refundable tax credit to educators in the highest-need areas, (5) implementing labor protections to ensure fair use of the tax credit in labor negotiations, (6) increasing the educator tax reduction from $250 to $500 to offset school supply purchases, (7) providing at least $5.2 billion in annual mandatory funding for Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, supporting educator recruitment, retention, professional development, and class size reduction, and (8) establishing and funding a federal grant program to encourage local educational agencies to raise teacher salaries and enhance programs that strengthen, retain, and diversify the educator workforce.  

https://assets.noviams.com/novi-file-uploads/aaspa/RAISE_Act_of_2022.pdf; https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-re-introduces-legislation-to-boost-teacher-compensation-by-up-to-15000; https://www.aaspa.org/raise-act#:~:text=Act%20of%202022-,The%20Respect%2C%20Advancement%2C%20and%20Increasing%20Support%20for%20Educators%20(RAISE,quality%20education%20for%20all%20students