YourVoice.Now Summary
Your MoneyWorkers & JobsTransparency & AccountabilityNew grants would help school districts pay tuition, stipends, and housing for people training to teach in hard-to-staff schools.
Your Money
Grant money could pay all or part of a teacher resident's tuition. In return, that person would have to teach in the community for at least three years.
Districts could give student teachers a stipend or housing money during student teaching. Those students would have to commit to a rural school or a high-need subject.
Workers & Jobs
Districts could use grant money to pay teachers more when they take on leadership work. Each district would choose whether to offer this.
Grants could pay for mentor teachers and support programs for teachers in their first two years. Mentors would have to teach the same subject or grade as the person they help.
One quarter of the grant money would go toward hiring a more diverse group of teachers. Districts that work with Black, Hispanic, or Tribal colleges would score higher.
A teaching residency paid for by these grants would not require a master's degree. Students could finish with a four-year degree instead.
Transparency & Accountability
Districts would have to report teacher retention, hiring, and licensing results at year three and year five. Grants could only be renewed if those results are strong.
The bill would bar moving this program to any other federal agency. It would have to be run by the Education Department.
More about this bill
People training to become teachers could get help paying for it. A new federal grant program would let school districts cover tuition, salaries, stipends, or housing costs for teacher candidates. In return, those candidates would promise to teach in the community for at least three years. Districts could also pay mentor teachers. Another option is higher pay for teachers who take on leadership roles. Nothing here would change taxes or costs for most households. The grants would go to school districts that apply and win. At least 25 percent of the money would go to rural districts. Another 25 percent would go to shortages in subjects like math, science, and special education. A further 25 percent would go to making the teaching workforce more diverse. Five percent would go to Bureau of Indian Education schools. Districts would have to match the federal money with their own, unless the Education Department waives that. Grants would last at least five years. Districts would have to report on teacher retention and hiring at years three and five. Weak results could cost them a renewal. The bill sets no dollar amount. It authorizes spending for 2027 through 2032, but Congress would still have to approve the money each year. Nothing would reach a classroom until that happens.
Congressional Summary
This bill directs the Department of Education (ED) to establish an Addressing Teacher Shortages Program. Through this program, ED shall award grants for local educational agencies to address teacher shortage challenges.Specifically, grant funds may be used to establish or expand teaching residency programs, teacher mentor programs, specified recruitment and training programs, and other evidence-based strategies to increase teacher retention and support teachers.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2026-03-09
- Date Added
- 2026-04-06
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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