PRINTER'S NO. 678
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.679
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY L. WILLIAMS, COMITTA, HAYWOOD, COSTA, PISCIOTTANO,
FONTANA, HUGHES, TARTAGLIONE, CAPPELLETTI AND SAVAL,
APRIL 28, 2025
REFERRED TO EDUCATION, APRIL 28, 2025
AN ACT
Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
act relating to the public school system, including certain
provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
laws relating thereto ," in preliminary provisions, providing
for minimum hourly wage or living wage for education support
professionals; in duties and powers of boards of school
directors, further providing for majority vote required and
recording; and imposing duties on the Department of Labor and
Industry.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a
section to read:
Section 135. Minimum Hourly Wage or Living Wage for
Education Support Professionals.--(a) Beginning in the 2025-
2026 school year:
(1) An education support professional shall be paid a
minimum hourly wage of not less than twenty dollars ($20) per
hour or the living wage determined under subsection (f),
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21 whichever is greater.
(2) For overtime hours, an education support professional
shall be paid not less than one and one-half (1 1/2) times the
amount that the education support professional is paid under
paragraph (1).
(3) For an education support professional paid on a salaried
basis, salary shall be compared to hours worked in two-week
periods to ensure that the education support professional is
paid not less than required under this section.
(b) This section shall not be construed to require the
modification, renegotiation or reopening of an agreement or
employment contract in effect on the effective date of this
subsection. Subject to subsection (c), the salary schedule or
any other terms of the agreement or employment contract are not
superseded or modified by this section.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b), beginning in the 2025-
2026 school year and during the term of any agreement or
employment contract in effect on the effective date of this
subsection, through and including the 2029-2030 school year, a
public school entity shall make a supplemental wage payment to
each education support professional who is entitled to a wage
that is lower than the minimum hourly wage or living wage
required under subsection (a). The supplemental wage payment
shall be in an amount equal to the number of hours worked by the
education support professional during the school year multiplied
by the difference between the minimum hourly wage or living wage
required under subsection (a) and the lower wage to which the
education support professional is entitled under the terms of
the agreement or employment contract in effect on the effective
date of this section, which shall not be lower than the wage
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30 that the education support professional received for the
immediately preceding school year.
(d) A public school entity shall be entitled to receive a
payment under subsection (g) if the public school entity:
(1) makes a supplemental wage payment under subsection (c)
in any school year from 2025-2026 through 2029-2030, inclusive;
(2) on or after the effective date of this subsection,
enters into an agreement or employment contract meeting the
requirements of subsection (e) for the 2025-2026 school year; or
(3) is operating under a period of status quo during the
2025-2026 school year following the expiration of an agreement.
(e) An employment contract or an agreement negotiated by a
public school entity and an employe organization under the
Public Employe Relations Act, on or after the effective date of
this subsection, shall not provide for a wage lower than
provided for under subsection (a). A provision in an agreement
or employment contract in effect on the effective date of this
section that provides for a wage in conflict with subsection (a)
shall be discontinued in a new or renewed agreement or
employment contract or during the period of status quo following
the expiration of an agreement.
(f) The following apply regarding the living wage:
(1) Within thirty (30) days of the effective date of this
paragraph, the Department of Labor and Industry shall:
(i) Determine the living wage applicable to each public
school entity in this Commonwealth.
(ii) Post the living wage described in subparagraph (i) on
the publicly accessible Internet website of the Department of
Labor and Industry.
(2) Beginning one year after the effective date of this
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30 paragraph, and each year thereafter, the Department of Labor and
Industry shall:
(i) Adjust the living wage described under paragraph (1)(i)
upward if there has been a positive percentage change in the
Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items (CPI-U)
for the United States City Average as published by the United
States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the
previous twelve-month period.
(ii) Post the adjusted living wage described in subparagraph
(i) on the publicly accessible Internet website of the
Department of Labor and Industry.
(g) The following apply to supplemental reimbursements and
special payments regarding wage increases for education support
professionals:
(1) Each public school entity making supplemental wage
payments as provided for under subsection (c) shall receive
supplemental reimbursement payments or special payments from the
Department of Education in amounts, on dates and in a manner
determined by the Department of Education.
(2) The reconciled amount of the payments for any school
year from 2025-2026 through 2029-2030, inclusive, shall be paid
to the public school entity in each school year thereafter.
(3) Payment under this subsection shall be in addition to
any other amount payable to the public school entity.
(4) For a school district, the total net, reconciled amount
of supplemental reimbursements that the school district receives
shall be included in the school district's allocation amount
under section 2502.56(b)(1).
(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection,
if a public school entity enters into a contract for
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30 noninstructional services with a third party under section 528
on or after the effective date of this paragraph, the public
school entity shall permanently forfeit an amount equal to the
payment received by the public school entity under this
subsection multiplied by the number of public school employe
positions eliminated due to the public school entity's decision
to enter into the contract with a third party under section 528.
The following apply:
(i) The Department of Education shall determine the amount
forfeited.
(ii) In the case of a school district, the amount forfeited
shall be permanently removed from the school district's
allocation amount under section 2502.56(b)(1).
(6) The Department of Education shall issue guidelines
necessary for the implementation and administration of this
subsection.
(h) As used in this section, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Agreement." A contract or agreement between a public
employer and a public employe or employe organization under the
Public Employe Relations Act.
"Education support professional." An individual who is not
any of the following:
(1) A professional employe, as defined in section 1101(1).
(2) A substitute, as defined in section 1101(2).
(3) A temporary professional employe, as defined in section
1101(3).
"Employe organization." As defined in section 301(3) of the
Public Employe Relations Act.
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30 "Employment contract." A contract for services between a
public school entity and one or more education support
professionals who are not members of a bargaining unit
represented by an employe organization.
"Living wage." The minimum income necessary for an education
support professional to meet basic needs based upon the region
of this Commonwealth in which the education support professional
is employed.
"Minimum hourly wage." A rate of pay of twenty dollars ($20)
per hour.
"Public employe." As defined in section 301(2) of the Public
Employe Relations Act.
"Public Employe Relations Act." The act of July 23, 1970
(P.L.563, No.195), known as the "Public Employe Relations Act."
"Public employer." As defined in section 301(1) of the
Public Employe Relations Act.
"Public school entity." A school district, intermediate unit
or area career and technical school.
Section 2. Section 508 of the act is amended to read:
Section 508. Majority Vote Required; Recording.-- (a) The
affirmative vote of a majority of all the members of the board
of school directors in every school district, duly recorded,
showing how each member voted, shall be required in order to
take action on the following subjects:--
Fixing length of school term.
Adopting textbooks.
Appointing or dismissing district superintendents, assistant
district superintendents, associate superintendents, principals,
and teachers.
Appointing tax collectors and other appointees.
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30 Adopting the annual budget.
Levying and assessing taxes.
Purchasing, selling, or condemning land.
Locating new buildings or changing the locations of old ones.
Dismissing a teacher after a hearing.
Creating or increasing any indebtedness.
Adopting courses of study.
Establishing additional schools or departments.
Designating depositories for school funds.
Entering into contracts of any kind, including contracts for
the purchase of fuel or any supplies, where the amount involved
exceeds one hundred dollars ($100).
Fixing salaries or compensation of officers, teachers, or
other appointees of the board of school directors.
Entering into contracts with and making appropriations to the
intermediate unit for the district's proportionate share of the
cost of services provided or to be provided for by the
intermediate unit.
(b) A board of school directors may not enter into a
contract for services to be provided by an education support
professional, as the term is defined in section 135(h), that
provides for payment of a wage of less than required under
section 135(a). The following apply to contracts:
(1) A provision in a contract in effect on the effective
date of this subsection that provides for a salary or fee in
conflict with this subsection shall be discontinued in a new or
renewed contract.
(2) This subsection shall not be construed to require the
modification, renegotiation or reopening of a contract in effect
on the effective date of this subsection, and neither the salary
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30 schedule nor any other terms of the contract are superseded or
modified by this subsection.
(c) Failure to comply with the provisions of this section
shall render [such] the acts of the board of school directors
void and [unenforcible] unenforceable.
Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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