Legislation to Support the Educator Workforce Introduced

On May 11, two bills to support recruitment and retention of the educator workforce were introduced in Congress  – the Respect, Advancement, and Increasing Support for Educators Act, or RAISE Act, and the Retaining Educators Takes Added Investment Now (RETAIN) Act. ACTE has endorsed both pieces of legislation.

The RAISE Act (S. 1584/H.R. 3264) is led in the House by Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA), John Larson (D-CT), Mark Takano (D-CA) and Jahana Hayes (D-CT) and in the Senate by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), and was also introduced last Congress. It would provide all eligible educators with a $1,000 refundable tax credit, which could increase to up to $15,000 for teachers in under-resourced schools and communities. It would also double the educator tax deduction to $500 to offset the cost of school supplies.

In addition, the RAISE Act would:

• Create a refundable tax credit of up to $10,000 for early childhood educators with an associate degree or a Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate.
• Provide at least $5.2 billion in annual mandatory funding for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESSA) Title II
• Create and fund a federal grant program to support and incentivize local educational agencies to increase teacher salaries, and provide programs to strengthen, retain and diversify the educator workforce.

Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Haley Stevens (D-MI), along with Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Tina Smith (D-MN), also introduced the RETAIN Act (H.R. 3265/S. 1567), which would create a similar refundable tax credit for teachers, paraprofessionals, mental health providers and other professionals in Title I schools and early childhood education (ECE) programs. The tax credit initially increases as these professionals become more experienced in an effort to incentivize retention.

Comments

[Alberto Nevarez]

With the ongoing Teacher shortage, it would be wise for teachers to receive higher pay and tax credits. It is becoming much more challenging today to be an educator than ever before. With the recent pandemic and school shootings many good teachers are considering other careers outside of education, and the low pay makes it easier for teachers to make that decision even easier. Please help me as an educator and all of the other educators around the country stay in the proffesion we love.

Sincerely, Al