Funding & Policy Flexibility
Increase funding allocations and policy flexibility related to personnel budget expenditures.
The Teachers are Leaders Act
The Teachers are Leaders Act was originally filed in 2024 as a bipartisan bill aimed at addressing the national teacher shortage and improving student outcomes by investing in the professional growth of experienced educators. It has been refiled in 2026. The legislation seeks to expand leadership opportunities for current teachers, allowing them to mentor their peers and contribute to their school communities in new capacities while continuing to teach. By creating formal "teacher leader" roles, the bill intends to improve teacher retention, strengthen the pipeline of future school administrators, and leverage the valuable expertise of veteran teachers to benefit the entire school system.
https://www.aaspa.org/teachers-are-leaders-act
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