Teacher Incentive Allotment
Overview
House Bill (HB) 3 was passed by the 86th Texas Legislature and was signed into law by Governor Abbott on June 11, 2019. The bill established the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) program. The TIA has a stated goal of a highly competitive salary for teachers who prioritize teaching in high needs areas and rural district campuses. The program is dedicated to recruiting, supporting and retaining highly effective teachers in all schools, with particular emphasis on high need and rural schools. Districts, if they choose to, can develop a local designation system and designate high-performing teachers. In 2025, the 89th legislature increased TIA funding and added a fourth designation level. Teachers can now earn designations as Master, Exemplary, Recognized, and Acknowledged.
Canutillo ISD completed it's first data collection during the 21-22 school year and submitted it's first set of teachers for designation in October of 2022. Now, four years later, Canutillo has continued the pattern of TIA excellence having submitted three more years of data with successful data validation. Canutillo has designated over 200 teachers since 2022. In summer of 2026, the district TIA local designation program was reapproved for another five years while extending eligibility to over 90% of teachers across the district.
Resources
- TIA Guidebook
- TIA teacher survey results
- Spending Plan
- National Board Certification Presentation Deck
- National Board Certification Handbook
- TIA Assessment Guide
- TIA oath of Testing Integrity form
FAQ
What is the TIA?
Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) is a key part of HB3, dedicated to recruiting, supporting and retaining highly effective teachers in all schools, with particular emphasis on high need and rural schools. Districts, if they choose to, can develop a local designation system and designate high-performing teachers (Master, Exemplary or Recognized). Districts will receive additional funding ($3,000-$32,000 per year) for every designated teacher they employ. Districts will receive greater funding for designated teachers who work on rural and/or high needs campuses. At least 90% of TIA funds must be used on teacher compensation on the campus where the designated teacher works. Texas Education Agency (TEA), in partnership with Texas Tech University, will approve the local designation systems.
What is the goal of TIA at Canutillo?
In order to continue to attract, retain, and reward effective teachers, Canutillo ISD participates in the Teacher Incentive Allotment to maintain competitive salaries within the region. Canutillo believes that an effective teacher is the single most important factor to student achievement. Thus, teachers who meet the TEA eligibility requirements, can demonstrate their effectiveness through the teacher observation protocol, whose students show yearly progress on the designated assessment, and display leadership qualities are eligible to earn Teacher Incentive Allotment designations.
Who is eligible?
In order to be eligible for a TIA designation a teacher must:
- hold a valid SBEC teaching certification;
- be coded as a teacher (code 087) as reported to TEA through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS); and
- creditable year of service
REMEMBER, EVERY TEACHER HAS A PATHWAY TO EARN THE TIA ALLOTMENT BY BECOMING NATIONALLY BOARD CERTIFIED.
What are the components of the local designation system?
Canutillo ISD will use the following two components for the local designation system:
Measure #1 Teacher Observation/T-TESS - Strongly calibrated teacher observation system which shows a congruence of observation scores to student growth. Domains II & III.
Measure #2 Student Performance - Accurate and reliable measures of a teacher’s impact on student growth, with constant disaggregation and analysis of data to show a high level of validity and reliability.
What is the timeline?
Canutillo's TIA program is now in a constant cycle of data collection and data submission. The entire process takes approximately two years to complete from data collection, to validation, and the awarding of a teacher designation.
How are the measurements for determining teacher designations weighted?
Teacher scores come from a combination of T-Tess Averages in Domains II and III alongside overall growth of students
What is the financial impact of the TIA per teacher?
It depends. First, each designation is awarded differently (i.e. a master teacher will be impacted more than a recognized or acknowledged teacher). Also, teachers who serve in schools with a higher number of low socio-economic students earn more than those who serve in schools with a lower number.
How will the allotments be paid?
Ninety percent of allotted funds Minus fringe benefits are paid directly to the designated teacher in Canutillo, distributed as a spring stipend.