# 119-s-4869: Indigenous Students Excel through Parity Act of 2026

119-s-4869, Indigenous Students Excel through Parity Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-08).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4869
- As of: 2026-10-08
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4869
- Congress: 119
- Title: Indigenous Students Excel through Parity Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-06-23
- Sponsor: Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Native Americans
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-08

## Summary

**The Indigenous Students Excel through Parity Act of 2026 would create a statutory framework to study and reform funding and staffing to achieve funding and staffing parity between Bureau-funded and tribally controlled schools and other public schools.** - Would direct a comprehensive review and update of the Indian School Equalization Formula (ISEF) within 1 year to identify funding needed so students in Bureau-funded schools receive a high-quality education. - Would require the study to identify resources needed to recruit and retain teachers, administrators, and staff by funding competitive salaries and benefits, using the higher of state public-school pay or the Department of Defense overseas teacher rate as a benchmark. - Would require the Secretary, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, and the Bureau of Indian Education Director to report adequacy findings and recommendations to Congress and Indian Tribes, and to run a separate 1-year study to identify potential revenue sources. The updated ISEF must consider special weights for tribally controlled, small, and rural schools and must award Havasupai Elementary School an additional 12.5 Weighted Student Unit (WSU).

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Lummis, Cynthia M. [R-WY] (R-WY), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Pay parity for Bureau schools: benefit, medium. If enacted, this bill would require the Bureau of Indian Education to update its Indian School Equalization Formula within 1 year. The updated formula would have to fund teacher, principal, and all school staff pay at a rate equal to the higher of: the top state salaries (highest quartile or state…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026
- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-135: Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act of 2025
- 119-s-5283: Momnibus Act
- 119-s-1507: Agriculture Resilience Act of 2025
- 119-s-4504: Full-Service Community School Expansion Act of 2026

## Sources
- [119-s-4869 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4869)

## Related
- [119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5071)
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-135: Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-135)
- [119-s-5283: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5283)
- [119-s-1507: Agriculture Resilience Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1507)
- [119-s-4504: Full-Service Community School Expansion Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4504)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4869 (as of 2026-10-08).