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Bill

HB 2639

An Act amending Title 35 (Health and Safety) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in Nonprofit Security Grant Fund, further providing for administration.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Dan Frankel and 10 co-sponsors

The bill creates a three-year Pre-K Teacher Salary Supplement Pilot to raise pre-K pay to parity with nearby K-4 teachers in high-poverty districts.

Referred to Finance
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Bill Summary · HB 2639

Summary of HB 2639 (2025-2026) – Pennsylvania

Main purpose

Establishes the Pre-K Teacher Salary Supplement Pilot Program within the Department of Education to bring pre-kindergarten (pre-K) teachers’ salaries in line with elementary school teachers’ salaries for comparable skills. The program is a three-year pilot intended to improve compensation for early childhood educators and support parity with K-4 teachers.

Key provisions and changes

  • New program creation

    • Creates the Pre-K Teacher Salary Supplement Pilot Program (pilot) under the Department of Education.
    • Goal: provide a salary supplement to pre-K teachers so their earnings align with salaries of elementary school teachers with similar experience and credentials in the district.

  • Pilot duration and timeline

    • The pilot operates for three school years.
    • Implementation begins in the first school year after the section’s effective date.

  • Department responsibilities and guidelines

    • Within 90 days after the section’s effective date, the Department must establish guidelines and procedures for implementing the pilot.
    • The Department must collect data, monitor implementation, and report on outcomes one year after implementation.
    • The Department must seek and apply for Federal, State, private, or other non-State funds to support the program.
    • All distributed funds must be used solely to increase teacher salaries; any misused funds must be recovered.

  • Participant selection criteria (districts and programs)

    • Select school districts/pre-K programs using:
    • Districts with a poverty rate of at least 20%.
    • For non-district-operated pre-K programs: the census tract must have a median poverty level of 80% or less of the statewide median (to be eligible for inclusion).
    • Department shall compare salaries and qualifications of pre-K teachers with those of kindergarten through fourth-grade teachers in the serving public school district.

  • Salary calculation and subsidy

    • The Department shall use a formula to estimate what pre-K teachers’ salaries would be if they were teaching in the local public school district with the teacher’s current experience and credentials.
    • A subsidy will be provided to the pre-K program to raise salaries to that calculated level (i.e., parity with nearby K-4 teacher salaries).

  • Program reporting and oversight

    • One year after implementation, the Department must:
    • Submit a report to the General Assembly detailing the pilot’s design, implementation status, and any successes or failures.
    • Provide recommendations for improvements or revisions to the program.

  • Program accountability and disclosures

    • Programs selected for the pilot must provide salary and employment information to the Department.
    • Programs must prove that funds are used exclusively to increase teacher salaries, not to reduce other costs of employment for the program.

  • Definitions

    • Clarifies key terms: “Department” (Pennsylvania Department of Education) and “Pilot program” (the Pre-K Teacher Salary Supplement Pilot Program).

Who is affected

  • Pre-kindergarten programs participating in the pilot (including those within school districts and certain non-district-operated pre-K programs meeting poverty criteria).
  • Public school districts serving pre-K students in the participating areas, to the extent salaries are benchmarked against K-4 teacher salaries.
  • Pre-K teachers in selected programs, who would receive salary supplements to reach parity with elementary teachers.
  • Department of Education (administrative and reporting responsibilities, guidelines, and oversight).

Procedural and timing aspects

  • Effective date: Section 1156 becomes effective 60 days after enactment.
  • Implementation window: Pilot runs for three school years starting with the first school year after the effective date.
  • Reporting: A formal one-year post-implementation report to the General Assembly, plus ongoing data collection and compliance oversight during the pilot.
  • Funding: The Department must seek non-State funds where possible; all funds must be used solely for salary increases.

Notes

  • The bill focuses on early childhood workforce compensation as a lever to improve pre-K program quality by aligning pay with K-4 teachers.
  • Selection criteria emphasize districts with higher poverty and program locations in high-poverty areas (for non-district pre-K programs, targeted census tract poverty levels apply).
  • The bill is introduced within the Public School Code framework, adding a distinct pilot program rather than creating an ongoing statutory entitlement.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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