Teacher and School Leader Quality Partnership Grants Act
Sponsored By: Representative McClellan
Introduced
Summary
Strengthen educator preparation and leadership through competitive partnership grants, multi-year residencies, and tougher program accountability. The bill funds partnerships between high-need school districts and higher education to recruit, train, mentor, and retain teachers, principals, and teacher leaders with a focus on equity and measurable outcomes.
Show full summary
- Prospective teachers and residents get longer, practice‑focused training with at least one academic year of residency, mentor support, and financial stipends, while residents agree to a service obligation of not less than 3 years in high-need schools.
- School leaders and teacher leaders gain new residency and development tracks that include coursework, intensive clinical experience, mentorship, credentialing, and stipend support with matching rules that cover up to 50% of stipends in years 1–2 and up to 33% in year 3.
- States and partner institutions face expanded accountability and reporting. Programs must track student gains, certification pass rates, early-career retention, placement in shortage areas, and face improvement periods, technical assistance, and potential funding restrictions if identified as low-performing.
Your PRIA Score
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Sign up for a PRIA Policy Scan to see your personalized alignment score for this bill and every other piece of legislation we track. We analyze your financial profile against policy provisions to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.
Grants for high-need district-college teams
If enacted, grants would go to partnerships that include a high-need school district, a high-need school or early childhood program, and a partner college and its education program. Grants must fund teacher preparation or teacher/principal residencies; a partnership could get one extra grant in five years only to start a residency not funded before. Partner colleges would need either an 80% pass rate on state qualifying tests for graduates who intend to teach or not be rated low-performing by the state. A high-need district would generally serve at least 10,000 low-income students or have at least 20% low-income students and also face a school-need issue like high turnover, shortages, or identification for comprehensive support. A high-need school would be in the top poverty quartile in its district or have at least 60% (elementary) or 45% (other) students eligible for free/reduced lunch; the Secretary could designate a school based on poverty and achievement data.
Paid teacher residencies with service rules
If enacted, partnerships would run paid, year-long teacher and school leader residencies that lead to state certification and a degree. Residents would get a one-year living stipend or salary and train with a vetted mentor in a high-need school. Mentors would get paid release time and regular in-school coaching time. In return, residents would need to work full-time for at least three years in a high-need school, often in a high-need subject. If they do not finish the service, they would repay the stipend with interest, unless they qualify for prorated payments or a deferment for reasons like health issues or active duty.
States would rate teacher prep programs
If enacted, states would need to assess and publicly list at-risk and low-performing teacher and school leader prep programs to receive funds. States would offer help to at-risk programs for up to three years. Low-performing programs would face actions within a year, could lose some federal professional development funding, and must support current students if a program is closing. Prep programs would have to report uniform data, including pass rates or teacher performance assessment results, demographics, supervised clinical hours, and accreditation status. States would not need to report on program completers who live out of state.
Training to become a teacher leader
If enacted, grants would fund a Teacher Leader Development Program. You could get at least one year of training that leads to a teacher-leader credential, plus one to two years of follow-up support. To qualify, you would need full state certification, at least three years of teaching, and a job in the high-need district in the partnership. Partnerships would also plan how your time is split between teaching and leadership and how supports continue after the grant.
Two-year induction for new educators
If enacted, new teachers and school leaders would get at least two years of induction support. The program would include high-quality mentoring, set collaboration time, and use of evidence-based teaching. You would get observations and feedback based partly on student learning and other measures. It aims to help new educators improve and stay in the job.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
McClellan
VA • D
Cosponsors
Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1]
PA • R
Sponsored 2/13/2025
Rep. McIver, LaMonica [D-NJ-10]
NJ • D
Sponsored 6/12/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov