Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) Update and Information

House Bill (HB) 3 established district local optional teacher designation systems and the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) that are dedicated to recruiting, rewarding, and retaining highly effective teachers in all schools, with particular emphasis on high-needs and rural schools. In 2019-2020, 26 local education agencies (LEA) developed plans that were approved by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for local designation systems, and over 3900 teacher designations were issued. To review a list of approved districts please visit the TEA website.

Teacher designations and the associated TIA funding will be tied to the district in which a designated teacher is working during the Class Roster Winter Submission in February 2021. Therefore, all Texas school districts must prepare for the possibility of employing designated teachers and receiving funding through the Teacher Incentive Allotment. TEA will verify designations and allotments and notify districts annually in April 2021. To ensure that the appropriate district personnel are notified of your district’s annual allotment, please submit your TIA contacts through this Qualtrics link by September 30, 2020. 

To prepare for receipt of the Teacher Incentive Allotment without an approved local designation system, please read below. 

Allotment Funding Considerations: 

• TIA funding will appear as a separate line item in the district’s Foundation School Program (FSP) summary of finance (SOF) report. 
• TIA designations and funding will follow the designated teacher, regardless of district, campus, or teaching assignment. 
• TIA funding will be recalculated annually in April 2021, based on the designated teacher’s campus(es) of employment at the time of Class Roster Winter Submission in February 2021, and the SOF report will be updated in September 2021 as part of the settle-up process. 
• Designated teachers must meet eligibility requirements to generate annual TIA funding (19 TAC 150.1012(b)). 
• Districts will receive an annual report of designated teachers and scheduled TIA funds from the TEA TIA program team in late April 2021. 
• For the first year of a teacher’s designation or employment, districts must expend the scheduled TIA funds by August 31, 2021, prior to receipt of funds in the September 2021 settle-up. 
• Thereafter, the district will receive regular funding through the FSP based on projections from the previous year, with annual settle-up to account for new designations and/or designated teachers entering and leaving the district. 
• Districts must certify annually that the funds have been expended in compliance with the requirements of Texas Education Code (TEC), §48.112. 

 A timeline of TIA funds for districts that begin employing a designated teacher in 2020-2021 is below: 

For districts that do not have a local designation system, consider the following recommended next steps: 

1. Determine if your district employs teachers who were designated in 2019-2020 through a local designation system or through their National Board certification status. For new hires, the designation and expiration date will appear on the teacher’s SBEC certificate. 
2. Determine if your district employs any undesignated National Board Certified teachers by searching the National Board directory. All undesignated National Board Certified teachers in Texas with a valid Texas teaching certificate and active National Board certificate will earn a Recognized designation in April 2021. 
3. Develop a board-approved local spending plan for allotment funds. According to statute, 90% or more of allotment funding must be spent on teacher compensation on the campus where the designated teacher works. Ten percent of allotment funding may be spent by the district to help support the TIA or teachers earning designations. 
   • Determine how the district will distribute allotment funds. Consider the following: 
     • What percentage of allotment funds will go to the designated teacher? 
     • What percentage of allotment funds will be retained by the district? Will the percentage differ from campus to campus or be consistent throughout the district? 
     • When will teachers be compensated? 
     • How will teachers be compensated (e.g., salary increase, stipend)? 
     • Will the compensation be TRS eligible?
   • For districts in the process of developing a local designation system, determine if spending plans and requirements will differ for teachers designated outside of the district’s local designation system. 
4. Ensure that designated teachers who provide regular instruction to students are properly coded with the accurate CDCN(s) and a 087 Role ID in both October PEIMS and Class Roster Winter Submission. 

Updated Letter of Intent (LOI) 

Updated cohort application dates are available on our website. If your district has an interest in applying for a designation system or expanding an already approved system, please complete the online letter of intent to ensure your district’s information is up to date. Please complete the updated letter of intent regardless of whether you submitted an LOI last year. 

The letter of intent is an initial, non-binding expression of interest in the Teacher Incentive Allotment and not a prerequisite for applying for the TIA. Districts submitting an LOI will receive timely communication related to their chosen cohort. 

*if the district chooses to hold designations  

National Board Fee Reimbursement 

Through the Teacher Incentive Allotment, Texas school districts may request reimbursement of fees paid to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). The annual application window for fee reimbursement will open January 4, 2021, and will close March 15, 2021. Fees will be reimbursed annually through FSP and will be included in the TIA funds in the district’s SOF report. The following conditions apply: 

• Requests for reimbursement are limited to National Board Certified teachers (NBCTs) who successfully achieved certification in 2019 or later. 
• The NBCT must be a current or former employee of the requesting district. 
• NBCTs who paid fees out of pocket may work with the district for reimbursement on their behalf through TIA. The district must fully reimburse the NBCT prior to requesting reimbursement through the Teacher Incentive Allotment. 
• Districts may request up to: 
  • $1,900 for initial certification 
  • $1,250 for renewal 
  • $495 for maintenance of certification 
• Registration fees will not be eligible for reimbursement. 
• TEA will verify the following information with records from NBPTS: 
  • NBCT name and DOB 
  • Amount of fees paid and original method of payment 
  • Initial or renewal certification date (must be 2019 or later) 
• TEA will track reimbursement history for each NBCT to ensure statutory maximums are not exceeded. 
• TEA will not verify: 
  • The NBCT’s current position or employment status 
  • If the NBCT has a TIA designation 

Updated Information 

The following additional information has been posted on our resources page: 

• System application exemplar answers 
• A free resource that includes classroom videos for teacher observation calibration 
• Student growth measure one-pagers 
• Upcoming webinars 

Questions and Contact Information: 

If you have any questions about the posted information or general questions, please reach out to the Teacher Incentive Allotment team at tia@tea.texas.gov.