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 teachers, including those in CTE. The legislation, titled the RAISE Act, would provide refundable federal income tax credits between $1,000 and $15,000 to eligible teachers annually. The amount of the credit would be determined by a sliding scale based on the school poverty level where the teacher works.
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 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 to $500 for all early childhood and K-12 teachers.
ACTE has officially endorsed the RAISE Act. Now, we need your assistance to help retain teachers in the profession and attract more high-quality professionals to the teacher workforce.
ACTION NEEDED: Contact your Members of Congress to ask them to cosponsor and support the RAISE Act!
If you have a direct contact in your Member's office, such as from a meeting with a staff member during NPS or at another time, we urge you to call or email directly. You can also call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and an operator will connect you to your requested congressional office. Please contact your Members of Congress today!
Comments