Federal funding to boost teacher aide pay in high-poverty schools
H.R. 5476 — Preparing And Retaining All (PARA) Educators Act · Filed by Lucy McBath (D-GA) · 67 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 18, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a federal grant program to help states, school districts, and educational agencies recruit and retain paraprofessionals (teacher aides, instructional assistants) in public schools and preschools. Money flows from the U.S. Department of Education to states based on Title I poverty funding, then to local school districts, which can use funds for mentoring programs, professional development, credentials/certifications, and wage increases or bonuses for paraprofessionals—with priority given to high-poverty schools and rural areas.
Why we flagged it
The bill is a straightforward federal grant program designed to improve recruitment, retention, and compensation of paraprofessionals in public K-12 schools and preschools, with explicit targeting of high-poverty and rural districts.
What the text implies
- Wage increases funded by federal grants may create pressure on states/districts to sustain higher paraprofessional pay after federal funding ends, potentially straining future local budgets.
- Priority targeting of high-poverty schools may inadvertently widen resource gaps if non-priority districts cannot compete for subgrants, though the bill's structure mitigates this through state-level allocation.
- Collective bargaining language preserves union negotiation rights but does not mandate wage increases be negotiated—states/districts retain discretion on implementation, which may limit actual wage growth in some jurisdictions.
Who it affects
Ordinary families and students benefit from better-trained, more stable paraprofessional workforces in schools serving low-income communities. Higher wages and retention reduce classroom instability and improve instructional quality. The bill targets high-poverty schools and rural districts, directing public resources to communities with greatest need.
Who stands to gain
- paraprofessionals (direct wage/bonus recipients)
- public school districts and educational service agencies (grant recipients)
- state education departments (administrative allocations)
Named in the bill
U.S. Department of Education, State Educational Agencies (SEAs), Local Educational Agencies (LEAs), Educational Service Agencies (ESAs), Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, Title I (ESEA), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid
Where it stands
67 cosponsors: 66 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Sep 18, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 18, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jun 8, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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