[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7202 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7202

 To direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a grant program to 
 support signing and retention bonuses for teachers in rural schools, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 22, 2026

  Ms. Bynum introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                  Committee on Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a grant program to 
 support signing and retention bonuses for teachers in rural schools, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Invest in Rural Teachers Act''.

SEC. 2. RURAL SCHOOL RECRUITMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating part C as part D; and
            (2) by inserting after part B, the following:

               ``PART C--RURAL TEACHER INCENTIVE BONUSES

``SEC. 2251. RURAL TEACHER INCENTIVE BONUSES.

    ``(a) Grants to States.--
            ``(1) Authority to award grants.--The Secretary shall carry 
        out a program under which the Secretary makes grants to States 
        to enable States to award subgrants to eligible entities, in 
        accordance with subsection (b), to support signing and 
        retention bonuses for teachers in rural schools.
            ``(2) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
        this section, a State shall submit an application to the 
        Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
        information as the Secretary may require.
    ``(b) Subgrants to Eligible Entities.--
            ``(1) Authority to award grants.--A State that receives a 
        grant under subsection (a) shall use the grant funds to award 
        subgrants to eligible entities to pay signing and retention 
        bonuses, in accordance with paragraph (3), to individuals hired 
        to teach in rural schools.
            ``(2) Application.--To be eligible to receive a subgrant 
        under this subsection, an eligible entity shall submit an 
        application to the State at such time, in such manner, and 
        containing such information as the State may require.
            ``(3) Use of funds.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An eligible entity that receives 
                a subgrant under paragraph (1) shall use the subgrant 
                funds to award a signing and retention bonus to each 
                teacher hired by the agency who agrees to teach in a 
                rural school for a period of 3 school years.
                    ``(B) Bonus amount and disbursement.--The amount of 
                the signing and retention bonus paid to a teacher under 
                subparagraph (A) shall be $5,000 annually for each year 
                of the 3 school-year period described in such 
                subparagraph.
            ``(4) Prioritization of homegrown teachers.--An eligible 
        entity that receives a subgrant under this subsection shall 
        seek to prioritize the recruitment, hiring, and award of 
        bonuses to teachers who previously resided in the community 
        served by the entity, including teachers who were born, raised, 
        and educated in such community.
    ``(c) Partnerships With Institution of Higher Education.--States 
and eligible entities shall seek to enter into partnerships with 
institutions of higher education for purposes of--
            ``(1) informing students in teacher preparation programs 
        about the availability of rural teacher incentive bonuses under 
        this section; and
            ``(2) encouraging students in such programs to seek 
        teaching positions in rural schools.
    ``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `eligible entity' means--.
                    ``(A) a local educational agency that meets the 
                requirements of section 5211(b); or
                    ``(B) an educational service agency that serves 
                such a local educational agency.
            ``(2) The term `rural school' means a school under the 
        jurisdiction of a local educational agency described in 
        paragraph (1)(A).''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 2003 of such Act is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Rural Teacher Incentive Bonuses.--For the purposes of 
carrying out part C, there are authorized to be appropriated 
$500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2030.''.
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