The Commit Partnership applauds the 117 Texas school systems recently approved by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to implement the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA), an innovative program to identify and reward effective educators already fully implemented by 56 other school systems across the state. North Texas Independent School Districts approved in this latest cohort include Fort Worth, Garland, Grand Prairie, Lancaster, Cedar Hill, Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Crowley, Ferris, Princeton, Wills Point, and Keene (these systems operate in Education Service Centers 10 and 11).
TIA was created by House Bill 3 (86R) to keep highly effective teachers in the classroom – and in front of students who need them most – by significantly raising their salaries. Now, as our nation faces a teacher shortage, the program has proved even more timely. TIA is a key strategy for school districts across the state – especially those with more than 20,000 students that serve a majority of students experiencing economic instability. The 117 systems approved in Cohort D have received final approval to implement their systems following validation by TEA and Texas Tech of their evaluation data from the 2021-2022 school year – this in turn, allows teachers who were identified as effective last year to officially get their TIA designation. In total, these 117 new systems serve more than 870,000 students, bringing the total of Texas students in a TIA district to just over 26 percent.
“I'm thrilled to congratulate 117 school systems on their full approval and excited about the significant representation in North Texas. We’ve seen firsthand how TIA is keeping effective teachers in the classroom, and I’m glad school districts across the state are taking advantage of this innovative program,” said Commit Partnership Chief State Impact Officer Bridget Worley. “This latest set of approvals – with more districts than the first three cohorts combined – shows that Texas school systems are committed to identifying and compensating their most effective teachers and recognizing their value. The impact that will have on their students is transformational.”
“I am proud of the work Garland ISD has put into developing a local evaluation system that will recognize and financially award our highly effective teachers,” said Garland ISD Superintendent Dr. Ricardo López. “When I first heard about TIA, I knew it was something our district needed to pursue because we have so many talented teachers that deserve recognition and the increased compensation that comes with it. Now that our TIA program is officially approved, it provides an additional, powerful tool for our district to recruit and retain our best teachers – and that is what is best for our students. I hope our legislators continue to fund this vital program.”
Recruiting and retaining well-prepared teachers is essential for all students – but the stakes are even higher for students experiencing economic instability and students of color who are more likely to be taught by novice teachers. Through TIA, high-quality, effective teachers from across the state are being financially rewarded for moving to traditionally hard-to-staff, more economically disadvantaged schools to lend their expertise.
