On March 3, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced legislation that would boost compensation for all public early childhood and K-12 (including CTE) teachers. This bill, titled the RAISE Act, would provide every eligible teacher with an annual refundable tax credit between $1,000 and $15,000. The size of the credit received is determined by a sliding scale based on the school poverty level where each teacher works. ACTE has officially endorsed the RAISE Act.
Specifically, the RAISE Act would:
- Provide all eligible K-12 and early childhood teachers with a minimum $1,000 refundable tax credit, regardless of school poverty level.
- Provide a refundable tax credit of up to $15,000 for early childhood teachers with a bachelor’s degree and all eligible K-12 teachers.
- Provide a refundable tax credit of up to $10,000 for early childhood teachers with an associate’s degree or Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate.
Additionally, the bill would invest in educator recruitment and retention programs, incentivize local education agencies to increase teacher salaries, provide labor protections to prevent the tax credit from being unfairly used in salary negotiations and increase the educator tax deduction (often used for purchases of school supplies) to $500 for all early childhood and K-12 teachers.
This bill was strategically introduced during Teacher Appreciation Week to draw attention to the systemically low teacher pay that has threatened both teacher recruitment and retention efforts across the country. Nationally, nearly every state is reporting shortages in areas like math, science, special education and CTE. The RAISE Act would help boost teacher pay so that they can afford to stay in the profession and so more high-quality professionals may be attracted to join the teacher workforce.
The bill was introduced with 7 original Senate co-sponsors and 24 original House co-sponsors. Should you have questions about the bill and how you can advocate for it, please reach out to ACTE Manager of Government Relations, Zach Curtis ([email protected]) or ACTE Media Relations and Advocacy Associate, Jori Houck ([email protected]).
Comments