II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3681 

To direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a grant program to 

support the recruitment and retention of paraprofessionals in public 

elementary schools, secondary schools, and preschool programs, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 30, 2024 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and 

Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a grant 

program to support the recruitment and retention of 

paraprofessionals in public elementary schools, secondary 

schools, and preschool programs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preparing And Retain5 ing All (PARA) Educators Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO SUPPORT EFFORTS TO RECRUIT AND 

2 RETAIN PARAPROFESSIONALS IN SCHOOLS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education shall 

4 carry out a program under which the Secretary makes al5 lotments to State educational agencies to assist States, 

6 local educational agencies, and educational service agen7 cies in recruiting and retaining paraprofessionals in public 

8 elementary schools, secondary schools, and preschool pro9 grams. 

10 (b) STATE-BY-STATE ALLOCATION.—Of the amount 

11 appropriated to carry out this Act for each fiscal year, 

12 each State educational agency that has an application ap13 proved by the Secretary under subsection (e)(1) shall be 

14 allocated an amount in proportion to the amount received 

15 by all local educational agencies in the State under part 

16 A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

17 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) for the previous fis18 cal year relative to the total amount received under such 

19 part for such fiscal year by all local educational agencies 

20 in every State that has a plan approved by the Secretary 

21 under such subsection. 

22 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

23 (1) STATE RESERVATION.—A State educational 

24 agency that receives an allotment under subsection 

25 (b) may reserve not more than 5 percent of the al26 lotment for administrative activities relating to the 


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1 grant program under paragraph (2) and to carry out 

2 statewide activities to support the recruitment and 

3 retention of paraprofessionals in public elementary 

4 schools, secondary schools, and preschool programs 

5 in the State. 

6 (2) SUBGRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—From 

7 amounts received under subsection (b) and not re8 served under paragraph (1), a State educational 

9 agency shall make subgrants to eligible entities, on 

10 a competitive basis, to support the recruitment and 

11 retention of paraprofessionals in public elementary 

12 schools, secondary schools, and preschool programs, 

13 which may include activities such as— 

14 (A) establishing paraprofessional leader in15 duction and mentoring programs that are evi16 dence-based (to the extent a State determines 

17 that such evidence is reasonably available) and 

18 designed to— 

19 (i) improve classroom instruction and 

20 student learning and achievement, includ21 ing through improving school leadership 

22 programs; and 

23 (ii) increase the retention of para24 professionals; 


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1 (B) developing and implementing high2 quality professional development programs to 

3 recruit and retain paraprofessionals in the ele4 mentary schools, secondary schools, and pre5 school programs served by eligible entities; 

6 (C) providing paraprofessionals with the 

7 skills, credentials, or certifications needed to 

8 educate all students, such as— 

9 (i) a special education certificate; 

10 (ii) an English learner certificate; 

11 (iii) an advanced paraeducator certifi12 cation to support specialized instruction; 

13 and 

14 (iv) a certification in teaching; and 

15 (D) increasing wages for paraprofessionals 

16 or providing bonus pay incentives to retain and 

17 recruit paraprofessionals. 

18 (d) PRIORITY.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—In making subgrants to eli20 gible entities under subsection (c)(2), a State edu21 cational agency shall give priority to entities— 

22 (A) that serve greater numbers or percent23 ages of children from low-income families; 

24 (B) in which all schools served by the enti25 ty are designated with a locale code of 41, 42, 


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1 or 43, as determined by the Secretary of Edu2 cation; or 

3 (C) in which all schools served by the enti4 ty— 

5 (i) are described in section 

6 11(a)(1)(F) of the Richard B. Russell Na7 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 1759a(a)(1)(F)); and 

9 (ii) have an identified student percent10 age (as such term is defined in section 

11 245.9(f)(1)(iii) of title 7, Code of Federal 

12 Regulations (or any successor regulations)) 

13 of not less than the threshold established 

14 by the Secretary of Education for purposes 

15 of such section. 

16 (2) LOW-INCOME FAMILY.—For purposes of 

17 paragraph (1)(A), the term ‘‘low-income family’’ 

18 means a family— 

19 (A) in which the children are eligible for a 

20 free or reduced-price lunch under the Richard 

21 B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 

22 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); 

23 (B) in which the children are— 

24 (i) enrolled in a school described in 

25 section 11(a)(1)(F) of the of the Richard 


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1 B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(1)(F)); and 

3 (ii) identified students (as defined in 

4 section 11(a)(1)(F)(i) of such Act); 

5 (C) receiving assistance under the program 

6 of block grants to States for temporary assist7 ance for needy families established under part 

8 A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); or 

10 (D) in which the children are eligible to re11 ceive medical assistance under the Medicaid 

12 program under title XIX of the Social Security 

13 Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.). 

14 (e) APPLICATIONS.— 

15 (1) STATE APPLICATIONS.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive 

17 a grant under subsection (a), a State edu18 cational agency shall submit an application to 

19 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

20 and containing such information as the Sec21 retary may require. 

22 (B) REQUIRED ASSURANCES.—A State 

23 educational agency submitting an application 

24 under subparagraph (A) shall include in such 

25 application an assurance that— 


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1 (i) in making subgrants under sub2 section (c)(2), the State will give priority 

3 to eligible entities described in subsection 

4 (d); and 

5 (ii) the State educational agency will 

6 comply with the reporting requirements 

7 under subsection (f). 

8 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY APPLICATIONS.—To be 

9 eligible to receive a subgrant from a State edu10 cational agency under subsection (c)(2), an eligible 

11 entity shall submit an application to the State edu12 cational agency at such time, in such manner, and 

13 containing such information as the State educational 

14 agency may require. 

15 (f) IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION.—On an an16 nual basis, in each fiscal year for which a State edu17 cational agency receives a grant under this section, such 

18 agency shall prepare and submit to the Secretary of Edu19 cation a report that includes— 

20 (1) updated average paraprofessional pay base21 lines for that fiscal year, disaggregated by the state22 wide average and the average within the schools 

23 served by each eligible entity in the State; 

24 (2) a description of how the State and eligible 

25 entities in the State increased the average wages for 


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1 paraprofessional baselines in a manner consistent 

2 with the statewide annual goals for the cor3 responding fiscal year; 

4 (3) updated data on the number of paraprofes5 sionals employed by eligible entities in the State— 

6 (A) who earn less than the average wage 

7 for paraprofessionals in the State; and 

8 (B) who earn less than the average wage 

9 for paraprofessionals employed by the eligible 

10 entity concerned; 

11 (4) identification of any eligible entity that used 

12 a subgrant under subsection (c)(2) to increase the 

13 number of paraprofessionals employed in the schools 

14 and preschools served by such entity; 

15 (5) a description of the actions the State edu16 cational agency will take in the next fiscal year to 

17 support eligible entities experiencing a shortage of 

18 paraprofessionals; and 

19 (6) a description of any professional develop20 ment activities used by eligible entities to recruit and 

21 retain paraprofessionals. 

22 (g) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION FOR COLLECTIVE

23 BARGAINING.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

25 nothing in this section shall be construed to alter or 


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1 otherwise affect the rights, remedies, and procedures 

2 afforded to school employees or employees of an eli3 gible entity under Federal, State, or local laws (in4 cluding applicable regulations or court orders) or 

5 under the terms of collective bargaining agreements, 

6 memoranda of understanding, or other agreements 

7 between such employers and their employees. 

8 (2) COMPLIANCE.—Paragraph (1) shall not be 

9 construed to exempt a State, eligible entity, or 

10 school from complying with this section or from ne11 gotiating in compliance with State labor laws to 

12 comply with this section. 

13 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 

15 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

16 2024 through 2028. 

17 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

18 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti19 ty’’ means— 

20 (A) an educational service agency that 

21 serves a high-need school or a consortium of 

22 high-need schools; or 

23 (B) a local educational agency. 

24 (2) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘educational 

25 service agency’’, ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘English 


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1 learner’’, ‘‘evidence-based’’, ‘‘local educational agen2 cy’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘State educational 

3 agency’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec4 tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu5 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

6 (3) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘high-need 

7 school’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

8 2243(f)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6673(f)(2)). 

10 (4) PARAPROFESSIONAL.—The term ‘‘para11 professional’’ has the meaning given that term in 

12 section 3201 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu13 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7011). 

14 (5) PRESCHOOL PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pre15 school program’’ means a program that— 

16 (A) provides for the care, development, and 

17 education of infants, toddlers, or young children 

18 age 5 and under; 

19 (B) meets any applicable State or local 

20 government licensing, certification, approval, 

21 and registration requirements; and 

22 (C) is operated by a public or private 

23 school that is supported, sponsored, supervised, 

24 or administered by an eligible entity. 

Æ 


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