Federal wage floor for school staff: $45K salary, $30/hour minimum
H.R. 7032 — Pay Paraprofessionals and Support Staff Act · Filed by Chuy García (D-IL) · 25 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 13, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill establishes federal minimum salary and wage standards for school paraprofessionals and support staff, requiring states to ensure full-time staff earn at least $45,000 annually and part-time staff earn at least $30/hour (both indexed to inflation after 2030). The federal government appropriates $25 billion in fiscal year 2026 (plus inflation adjustments thereafter) to help states and school districts meet these requirements through a grant program, with states required to reach compliance within 4 years and prioritize high-poverty districts.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a federal appropriation and grant program designed to raise compensation for school support workers—a direct public-sector wage intervention, not a tax incentive, deregulation, or private-sector subsidy.
What the text implies
- States retain discretion to set actual minimum salaries/wages above federal floors and to distribute funds, creating potential for unequal implementation across districts and states.
- The 'supplement not supplant' requirement may be difficult to enforce, risking federal funds replacing rather than augmenting state/local education budgets.
- Collective bargaining protections are preserved, but the bill does not address whether existing union contracts must be renegotiated to comply with new minimums.
- Charter schools are included as local educational agencies eligible for subgrants, potentially directing federal education funds to private operators.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens—particularly families in lower-income school districts—benefit from improved compensation for essential school workers, reducing turnover and improving educational quality and school safety. The bill directly raises wages for a large, economically vulnerable workforce without imposing new costs on individual citizens or restricting their rights.
Who stands to gain
- school paraprofessionals and education support staff (direct wage recipients)
- school districts and states (grant recipients to fund wage increases)
Named in the bill
Department of Education, States, Local Educational Agencies (LEAs), Charter Schools, Regional Educational Laboratories, Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002
Where it stands
25 cosponsors: 25 Democrats.
- Jan 13, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 13, 2026 — 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 bill text published by Congress.gov (13,618 characters) on Aug 13, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; 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.
“Federal wage floor for school staff: $45K salary, $30/hour minimum” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr7032 Report an error
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