II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2510 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a refundable tax 

credit for certain teachers as a supplement to State effort to provide 

teachers with a livable wage, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

a refundable tax credit for certain teachers as a supplement to State effort to provide teachers with a livable 

wage, 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 ‘‘Respect, Advancement, 

5 and Increasing Support for Educators Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘RAISE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE TEACHER TAX CREDIT. 

8 (a) ALLOWANCE OF TAX CREDIT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub2 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code 

3 of 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36B 

4 the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 36C. TEACHER TAX CREDIT. 

6 ‘‘(a) CREDIT ALLOWED.—In the case of an individual 

7 who is an eligible educator during school years ending with 

8 or within the taxable year, there shall be allowed as a cred9 it against the tax imposed by this chapter an amount 

10 equal to the sum of— 

11 ‘‘(1) $500, plus 

12 ‘‘(2) in the case of an eligible educator who is 

13 employed at a qualifying school, the applicable 

14 amount. 

15 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE AMOUNT.—For purposes of sub16 section (a), the applicable amount is the amount which 

17 bears the same ratio (not to exceed one) to $9,500 

18 ($7,500, in the case of any early childhood educator with19 out a bachelor’s degree) as— 

20 ‘‘(1) the number of percentage points by which 

21 the student poverty ratio for such qualifying school 

22 exceeds 49 percent, bears to 

23 ‘‘(2) 26 percentage points. 

24 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE EDUCATOR.—For purposes of this 

25 section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible educator’ 

2 means— 

3 ‘‘(A) any elementary or secondary teacher, 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(B) any early childhood educator. 

6 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTARY OR SECONDARY TEACHER.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘elementary 

8 or secondary teacher’ means an individual 

9 who— 

10 ‘‘(i) is a teacher of record who pro11 vides direct classroom teaching (or class12 room-type teaching in a nonclassroom set13 ting) in a public elementary school or a 

14 public secondary school for not less than 

15 75 percent of the normal or statutory 

16 number of hours of work for a full-time 

17 teacher over a complete school year (as de18 termined by the State in which the school 

19 is located), 

20 ‘‘(ii) meets applicable State certifi21 cation and licensure requirements, includ22 ing any requirements for certification ob23 tained through alternative routes to certifi24 cation, in the State in which such school is 


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1 located in the subject area in which the in2 dividual is the teacher of record, and 

3 ‘‘(iii) has met the requirements of 

4 clauses (i) and (ii) for a period of not less 

5 than 1 year before the first day of the tax6 able year. 

7 ‘‘(B) TEACHER OF RECORD.—For pur8 poses of subparagraph (A), the term ‘teacher of 

9 record’ means a teacher who has been assigned 

10 the responsibility for specified pupils’ learning 

11 in a grade, subject, or course as reflected on the 

12 school’s official record of attendance. 

13 ‘‘(3) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR.—The 

14 term ‘early childhood educator’ means an individual 

15 who— 

16 ‘‘(A) has— 

17 ‘‘(i) an associate’s degree or higher, or 

18 ‘‘(ii) credentials or a license under 

19 State law for early childhood education, 

20 ‘‘(B) has primary responsibility for the 

21 learning and development of children in an 

22 early childhood education program (as defined 

23 in section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 

24 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003)) during the taxable 

25 year, and 


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1 ‘‘(C) has met the requirements of subpara2 graphs (A) and (B) for a period of not less 

3 than 1 year before the first day of the taxable 

4 year. 

5 ‘‘(d) QUALIFYING SCHOOL.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualifying 

7 school’ means, with respect to any school year— 

8 ‘‘(A) a public elementary school or a public 

9 secondary school that— 

10 ‘‘(i) is in the school district of a local 

11 educational agency that is eligible in such 

12 year for assistance pursuant to part A of 

13 title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et 

15 seq.), or 

16 ‘‘(ii) is served by an educational serv17 ice agency, or a location operated by an 

18 educational service agency, that is eligible, 

19 for the year in which the determination is 

20 made, for assistance under part A of title 

21 I of the Elementary and Secondary Edu22 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et 

23 seq.), 

24 ‘‘(B) an elementary school or secondary 

25 school that is funded by the Bureau of Indian 


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1 Education and that is in the school district of 

2 a local educational agency that is eligible in 

3 such year for assistance pursuant to part A of 

4 title I of the Elementary and Secondary Edu5 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.), or 

6 ‘‘(C) an early childhood education program 

7 (as defined in section 103 of the Higher Edu8 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003)) that 

9 serves children who receive, or are eligible for, 

10 services for which financial assistance is pro11 vided in accordance with the Child Care and 

12 Development Block Grant of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

13 9858 et seq.) or the child and adult care food 

14 program established under section 17 of the 

15 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 

16 (42 U.S.C. 1766). 

17 ‘‘(2) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of 

18 this subsection, the terms ‘educational service agen19 cy’, ‘elementary school’, ‘local educational agency’, 

20 ‘secondary school’, and ‘State educational agency’ 

21 have the meanings given such terms in section 8101 

22 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

23 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.). 

24 ‘‘(e) STUDENT POVERTY RATIO.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘student poverty 

2 ratio’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) with respect to any qualifying school 

4 described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of sub5 section (d)(1), the ratio (expressed as a per6 centage) of— 

7 ‘‘(i) the total number of children 

8 served at such qualifying school meeting at 

9 least one measure of poverty described in 

10 section 1113(a)(5) of the Elementary and 

11 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

12 U.S.C. 6313(a)(5)), to 

13 ‘‘(ii) the total number of children 

14 served at such qualifying school, and 

15 ‘‘(B) with respect to any qualifying school 

16 described in subsection (d)(1)(C), the ratio (ex17 pressed as a percentage) of— 

18 ‘‘(i) the total number of children at19 tending such qualifying school who are eli20 gible for the Child Care and Development 

21 Block Grant of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et 

22 seq.) or the child and adult care food pro23 gram established under section 17 of the 

24 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

25 Act (42 U.S.C. 1766), to 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the total number of children at2 tending such qualifying school. 

3 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF RATIO.—In deter4 mining the student poverty ratio with respect to a 

5 qualifying school under paragraph (1)(A), the Sec6 retary shall use the same measure of poverty as is 

7 used for purposes of determining the allocation of 

8 funds under part A of title I of the Elementary and 

9 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 

10 et seq.) with respect to the qualifying school. 

11 ‘‘(f) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any taxable 

13 year beginning after 2019, each of the dollar 

14 amounts in subsections (a) and (b) shall be in15 creased by an amount equal to— 

16 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

17 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter18 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

19 year in which the taxable year begins, deter20 mined by substituting in subparagraph (A)(ii) 

21 thereof ‘calendar year 2018’ for ‘calendar year 

22 2016’. 

23 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any increase determined 

24 under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $50, such 


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1 increase shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of 

2 $50.’’. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (A) The table of sections for subpart C of 

5 part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the In6 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in7 serting after the item relating to section 36B 

8 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36C. Teacher tax credit.’’. 

9 (B) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of such Code is 

10 amended by inserting ‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 

11 (C) Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United 

12 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘36C,’’ 

13 after ‘‘36B,’’. 

14 (b) INFORMATION SHARING.—The Secretary of Edu15 cation shall provide such information as necessary to the 

16 Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) for 

17 purposes of determining whether a school is a qualifying 

18 school (as defined in section 36C of the Internal Revenue 

19 Code of 1986, as added by subsection (a)). 

20 (c) SUPPLEMENTATION OF STATE AND LOCAL EDU21 CATIONAL FUNDS.—A State educational agency or local 

22 educational agency (as such terms are defined in section 

23 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

24 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.)) shall not reduce or adjust 

25 any teacher pay or teacher loan forgiveness program due 


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1 to the eligibility of teachers within the jurisdiction of such 

2 agency for the tax credit under section 36C of the Internal 

3 Revenue Code of 1986. Each State educational agency and 

4 local educational agency (as so defined), upon request by 

5 the Secretary of the Treasury, shall demonstrate that the 

6 methodology used to allocate teacher pay and teacher loan 

7 forgiveness (if applicable) to qualifying schools (as defined 

8 in section 36C(d) of such Code) ensures that each such 

9 school receives the same State and local funds for teacher 

10 compensation it would receive if the credit under such sec11 tion 36C had not been enacted. 

12 (d) EMPLOYER LIMITATIONS.— 

13 (1) PROHIBITION OF USE IN COLLECTIVE BAR14 GAINING.—An employer that engages in collective 

15 bargaining with employees who are eligible edu16 cators, as defined in section 36C(c) of the Internal 

17 Revenue Code of 1986, shall not include the amount 

18 of the teacher tax credit under section 36C of such 

19 Code in determining the amount of salary or other 

20 compensation provided to any employee under the 

21 collective bargaining agreement. 

22 (2) PROHIBITION OF USE AS PUNISHMENT OR

23 RETRIBUTION.—An employer of an eligible educator, 

24 as defined in section 36C of the Internal Revenue 

25 Code of 1986, shall not change the work assignment 


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1 or location of the eligible educator if one of the pri2 mary reasons for the change is to— 

3 (A) prevent the eligible educator from re4 ceiving a teacher tax credit under section 36C 

5 of such Code; or 

6 (B) reduce the amount of the teacher tax 

7 credit that the eligible educator will receive. 

8 (3) ENFORCEMENT.—Notwithstanding any 

9 other provision of law, the Federal Labor Relations 

10 Authority shall have the authority to investigate and 

11 enforce any alleged violation of this section in the 

12 same manner, and subject to the same procedures, 

13 as would apply to an allegation of an unfair labor 

14 practice under section 7118 of title 5, United States 

15 Code. 

16 (4) DEFINITION.—In this subsection— 

17 (A) the term ‘‘affecting commerce’’ has the 

18 meaning given the term in section 2 of the Na19 tional Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152); 

20 (B) the term ‘‘employee’’ means an em21 ployee of an employer who is employed in a 

22 business of an employer that affects commerce; 

23 and 

24 (C) the term ‘‘employer’’ means a person, 

25 including a State or political subdivision of a 


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1 State, engaged in a business affecting com2 merce. 

3 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN AND EXPANSION OF DEDUCTION FOR 

7 EXPENSES OF ELEMENTARY AND SEC8 ONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 

9 (a) INCREASE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (D) of section 

11 62(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

12 amended by striking ‘‘$250’’ and inserting ‘‘$500’’. 

13 (2) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Section 

14 62(d)(3) of such Code is amended— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘2015’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘2019’’; 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘the $250 amount’’ and in18 serting ‘‘each of the dollar amounts’’; and 

19 (C) by striking ‘‘2014’’ in subparagraph 

20 (B) thereof and inserting ‘‘2018’’. 

21 (b) EXPANSION TO EARLY CHILDHOOD EDU22 CATORS.—Section 62(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code 

23 of 1986 is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘who is a kindergarten’’ and in25 serting ‘‘who is— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a kindergarten’’; 

2 (2) by striking the period at the end and insert3 ing ‘‘, and’’; and 

4 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub5 paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(B) an early childhood educator (as de7 fined in section 200 of the Higher Education 

8 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021)) in an early 

9 childhood education program (as defined in sec10 tion 103 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1003)) for at 

11 least 1,020 hours during a year.’’. 

12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred in tax14 able years beginning after the date of the enactment of 

15 this Act. 

16 SEC. 4. MANDATORY FUNDING TO SUPPORT LOCAL EDU17 CATIONAL AGENCIES THAT MAINTAIN OR IN18 CREASE TEACHER SALARIES. 

19 Section 2003 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu20 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6603) is amended— 

21 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘AU22 THORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘FUNDING’’; and 

24 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(a) APPROPRIATIONS FOR PART A.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

3 appropriated, and there are appropriated, out of any 

4 funds not otherwise appropriated— 

5 ‘‘(A) for fiscal year 2020, $3,200,000,000 

6 to carry out part A; and 

7 ‘‘(B) for fiscal year 2021 and each suc8 ceeding fiscal year, the amount appropriated 

9 under this paragraph for the preceding year, in10 creased by a percentage equal to the annual 

11 percentage increase in the Consumer Price 

12 Index for All Urban Consumers published by 

13 the Department of Labor for the most recent 

14 calendar year. 

15 ‘‘(2) RESERVATION FOR TEACHER SALARY IN16 CENTIVE GRANTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

19 AGENCY.—The term ‘eligible local edu20 cational agency’ means a local educational 

21 agency that, for the preceding school year, 

22 maintained or increased the salary sched23 ule for all teachers employed by the local 

24 educational agency. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) TEACHER SALARY INCENTIVE

2 RESERVATION.—The term ‘teacher salary 

3 incentive reservation’ means, for each fis4 cal year, the amount that is 20 percent of 

5 the amount by which the funds appro6 priated under paragraph (1) for the fiscal 

7 year exceeds $2,200,000,000. 

8 ‘‘(B) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year 

9 for which the total amount appropriated under 

10 paragraph (1) is greater than $2,200,000,000, 

11 the Secretary shall, after making any reserva12 tions under section 2101(a), reserve and use 

13 the teacher salary incentive reservation to 

14 award grants, based on allotments under sub15 paragraph (C), to eligible local educational 

16 agencies for purposes described in subpara17 graph (E). 

18 ‘‘(C) ALLOTMENTS.—An allotment under 

19 this subparagraph for a fiscal year to an eligible 

20 local educational agency shall bear the same re21 lationship to the teacher salary incentive res22 ervation as the number of children counted 

23 under section 1124(c) who are served by the 

24 local educational agency bears to the total num25 ber of such children counted under such section 


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1 served by all eligible local educational agencies 

2 that submitted an application under subpara3 graph (D). 

4 ‘‘(D) APPLICATION.—An eligible local edu5 cational agency desiring an allotment under this 

6 paragraph shall submit to the Secretary an ap7 plication at such time, in such manner, and 

8 containing such information as the Secretary 

9 may require. 

10 ‘‘(E) USE OF FUNDS.—A local educational 

11 agency receiving an allotment under subpara12 graph (C) may use the allotment for any pro13 gram or activity described in section 2103(b) 

14 that the local educational agency selects. 

15 ‘‘(F) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—A 

16 local educational agency receiving an allotment 

17 under subparagraph (C) shall use the allotment 

18 to supplement, and not supplant, any State 

19 funds or efforts to raise teacher pay.’’. 

Æ 


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