HB 2482 — An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, establishing the Newly Employed Teacher Grant Program.

PRINTER'S NO.    3354

                   THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                       HOUSE BILL
                       No. 2482
                                              Session of
                                                2026

     INTRODUCED BY PROKOPIAK, DOUGHERTY, PROBST, GOUGHNOUR, FREEMAN,
        SANCHEZ, INGLIS, MALAGARI, NEILSON, DONAHUE, CEPEDA-FREYTIZ,
        MULLINS, FLEMING AND STEELE, MAY 4, 2026

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, MAY 6, 2026


                                   AN ACT
 1   Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
 2      act relating to the public school system, including certain
 3      provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
 4      schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
 5      laws relating thereto," establishing the Newly Employed
 6      Teacher Grant Program.
 7      The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
 8          (1)   The General Assembly finds that this Commonwealth is
 9      currently experiencing a significant teacher shortage.
10          (2)   Resources should be directed to newly employed
11      teachers in this Commonwealth in an effort to attract and
12      retain them in the education workforce.
13          (3)   To alleviate financial burden placed on newly
14      employed teachers establishing an engaging and effective
15      experience for their students, the General Assembly is
16      committed to providing funding for newly employed teacher-
17      requested classroom supplies.
18          (4)   The purpose of this act is to provide funds to the
19      Department of Education for newly employed teacher-requested
 1      classroom supplies.
 2      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 3   hereby enacts as follows:
 4      Section 1.     The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
 5   as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding an
 6   article to read:
 7                               ARTICLE XII-D
 8                   NEWLY EMPLOYED TEACHER GRANT PROGRAM
 9   Section 1201-D.    Scope of article.
10      This article relates to providing a grant to newly employed
11   teachers.
12   Section 1202-D.    Definitions.
13      The following words and phrases when used in this article
14   shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
15   context clearly indicates otherwise:
16      "Administrative costs."    Operational expenses to facilitate
17   the implementation of section 1203-D, not to exceed Federal de
18   minimus rate, as issued by the Office of Management and Budget.
19      "Classroom supplies."    Materials, equipment and tools used to
20   facilitate teaching and learning.
21      "Department."    The Department of Education of the
22   Commonwealth.
23      "Newly employed teacher."      A person who holds a valid
24   Pennsylvania teaching certificate and has been employed by a
25   school entity for approximately 24 months.
26      "Online e-commerce platform."          A consumer interface for a
27   vendor that can meet the requirements under section 1205-D and
28   facilitate a commercial transaction, which shall include the
29   transmission of funds for data or both, conducted electronically
30   via the Internet.

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 1      "Program."     The Newly Employed Teacher Grant Program
 2   established under section 1203-D.
 3      "School entity."     A school district, intermediate unit, area
 4   career and technical school, charter school, regional charter
 5   school or cyber charter school operating within this
 6   Commonwealth.
 7   Section 1203-D.    Establishment.
 8      The Newly Employed Teacher Grant Program is established
 9   within the department to award grants to newly employed teachers
10   who request classroom supplies to the extent that money is
11   appropriated for this purpose.
12   Section 1204-D.    Duties of department.
13      The department shall:
14          (1)    In accordance with 62 Pa.C.S. (relating to
15      procurement), select and enter into an agreement with one or
16      more online e-commerce platforms to administer the program.
17      An online e-commerce platform must demonstrate prior
18      experience operating a Statewide or multidistrict program
19      that provides direct, itemized classroom supplies with real-
20      time public transparency prior to being selected by the
21      department.
22          (2)    Establish a process to ensure that purchases by
23      newly employed teachers who have been awarded a grant are
24      restricted to online purchases of classroom supplies from
25      department-selected online e-commerce platforms.
26          (3)    Establish a grant application in accordance with
27      section 1206-D and issue guidelines that advise grant
28      applicants which classroom supplies are eligible for grant
29      funding.
30          (4)    Require annual reporting from an online e-commerce

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 1      platform that includes the following:
 2                  (i)    Program utilization.
 3                  (ii)    Geographic distribution of funds.
 4                  (iii)    Timeliness of disbursements.
 5                  (iv)    The amount of payments received from the
 6            department for administrative costs.
 7                  (v)    Insights, trends and anecdotal experiences from
 8            newly employed teachers who were awarded funds about how
 9            grant funding was used in the classrooms. This data shall
10            include the following demographics:
11                         (A)   School entity information, including grade
12                  level breakdown.
13                         (B)   Average poverty level in school entities
14                  where newly employed teachers received funding under
15                  the program.
16                         (C)   A comparison of urban and rural school
17                  trends.
18                         (D)   Amount of funds awarded to each type of
19                  school entity.
20   Section 1205-D.        Duties of online e-commerce platforms.
21      An online e-commerce platform selected by the department
22   shall:
23            (1)   Operate an established fiscal management and payment
24      system that ensures that State funds are not commingled or
25      retained for discretionary use beyond administrative costs
26      that are permitted in accordance with the contract entered
27      into with the department.
28            (2)   Review grant applications submitted by newly
29      employed teachers.
30            (3)   Process and award the allocation of funds to the

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 1      user accounts of newly employed teachers for online purchases
 2      of classroom supplies from an online e-commerce platform for
 3      grants not to exceed $500 per school year.
 4            (4)   Accept donations from corporations and nonprofit
 5      organizations to provide additional funding for the program.
 6            (5)   Publicly post, in a searchable and user-accessible
 7      format, project-level information, including the school
 8      entity information of the requesting teacher, purposes of
 9      funds, amount awarded and status of fulfillment, protecting
10      personally identifiable student information.
11            (6)   Maintain a publicly accessible record of all funded
12      program expenditures for a minimum of five years.
13            (7)   Submit an annual report to the department no later
14      than June 15, 2027, and each June 15 thereafter.
15   Section 1206-D.    Creation and submission of application.
16      (a)   Department.--No later than May 31, 2026, the department
17   shall:
18            (1)   Establish and publish on the department's publicly
19      accessible Internet website the application and guidelines
20      for the program.
21            (2)   Transmit notice of the availability of the
22      application and guidelines to the Legislative Reference
23      Bureau for publication in the next available issue of the
24      Pennsylvania Bulletin.
25      (b)   Submission.--The online e-commerce platform shall accept
26   applications for funding from newly employed teachers no later
27   than July 15, 2026, and each July 15 thereafter.
28   Section 1207-D.    Classroom supplies awarded with grant funds.
29      All classroom supplies purchased by newly employed teachers
30   through funds awarded through the program shall become property

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 1   of the school entity employing the newly employed teacher.
 2   Section 1208-D.    Reports to General Assembly.
 3      No later than September 1, 2027, and each September 1
 4   thereafter, the department shall provide a report to the
 5   chairperson and minority chairperson of the Education Committee
 6   of the Senate and the chairperson and minority chairperson of
 7   the Education Committee of the House of Representatives. The
 8   report shall include the following:
 9          (1)   The amount of funds requested by newly employed
10      teachers during the previous school year.
11          (2)   The amount of funds distributed to newly employed
12      teachers during the previous school year.
13          (3)   A list of approved items purchased with grant funds
14      during the previous school year.
15          (4)   Information reported to the department by online e-
16      commerce platforms.
17      Section 2.     This act shall take effect in 60 days.




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