Federal wage floor for school support staff: $45k full-time, $30/hr part-time
S. 2451 — Pay Paraprofessionals and Support Staff Act · Filed by Ed Markey (D-MA) · 11 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 24, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a federal grant program requiring states to ensure paraprofessionals and education support staff earn a living wage: $45,000 annually for full-time staff and $30/hour for part-time staff starting in 2026, with automatic inflation adjustments thereafter. The federal government appropriates $25 billion in 2026 (plus inflation adjustments) to help states and school districts meet these wage floors within four years, with funds flowing through state grants to local school districts.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a direct federal appropriation to establish and enforce minimum wage/salary standards for a defined class of public-sector workers. It is not deregulation, tax relief, or a private carve-out; it is a straightforward public-employment wage mandate.
What the text implies
- States retain discretion to set minimum salaries/wages above the federal floor and to determine subgrant allocation formulas, creating potential for unequal implementation across districts serving low-income students.
- The bill permits (but does not require) use of subgrant funds to increase pay for teachers and other staff beyond paraprofessionals, potentially diluting resources intended for the named beneficiaries.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
paraprofessionals and education support staff (direct wage increase); school districts (federal funding to offset wage costs); regional educational laboratories and nonprofit organizations (up to 1% reserved for research and te