Teacher Incentive Allotment
The Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) was established by HB 3, a school finance bill that was passed in 2019 by the 86th Texas Legislature. Districts are not required to participate in TIA, but it is a way for them to receive additional state funding for employing teachers who have been “designated” as high performing.
Districts who want to participate must first develop local designation systems that they will use to identify their most effective teachers. There are restrictions around what “teacher effectiveness” must look like, and the designation systems have to be approved by the state. Districts without approved designation systems can still generate allotment funds for employing teachers who received a designation in another district and then transfer, but only districts with approved plans can designate their own teachers.
TIA has three levels of designation: Recognized, Exemplary, and Master. Designations are awarded to teachers through their district’s local designation system, which is based on student outcomes, the T-TESS evaluation, or by achieving National Board certification. Designated teachers generate funds for their district based on their level of designation, the socioeconomic needs of their campus, and whether the campus is rural. Annual teacher allotment funds range from $3,000 to $32,000, depending on these factors. Teachers maintain their designation for five school years, even if they move districts.
Law requires the district to use at least 90% of the allotment toward teacher compensation on the campus where the designated teacher works. Although they are not required to transfer the full 90% directly to the designated teacher who is generating the funds, we find anecdotally that districts typically do this. Some districts choose to give the full 100% to their designated teachers.
Up to 10% may be used for costs associated with implementing a local designation system or supporting teachers in earning designations. This includes costs associated with supporting teachers becoming National Board certified teachers, which can include cohort support or reimbursement for the cost of the certification.
TSTA does not support TIA because we do not support merit pay or basing a teacher’s salary on student scores on a standardized exam. We understand, however, that cash-strapped districts must jump through this hoop for additional funding. We urge our members to be involved in the development of their local designation plan, and TSTA can support with this.
The only feature of TIA that we do support is automatic designation of National Board certified teachers. NBCTs are automatically designated as Recognized, but we advocate that they should be automatically designated as Exemplary. We support differentiated pay based on years’ experience and advanced degrees and trainings, and National Board is a gold standard credential. We urge members to advocate that districts use the 10% toward National Board certification supports.
Governor Abbott and Education Commissioner Morath have been working to mislead Texas teachers and voters with suggestions that TIA will reward teachers with six-figure salaries. Currently, fewer than five percent of public school teachers are designated, and less than one-third of one percent earn six-figure salaries.
Abbott is simply trying to divert attention from the fact that average teacher pay in Texas is a staggering $9000 less than the national average. The average top salary is $14,565 less than the national average, ranking Texas 41st of the 46 states that report a top teacher salary.