PHARR - Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD (PSJA ISD) has created a committee comprised of teachers, administrators, board and community members to gather feedback and support for the district’s Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) application, which is meant to recruit, retain and reward highly effective teachers. 

TIA was established by House Bill 3 with the goal of increasing teacher compensation to six-figure salaries. This allotment fund helps Texas school systems incentivize highly effective teachers. The application is due April 15; if the application is approved, year two (2021-2022) will be a data capture year with year three (2022-2023) being the year it would designate and compensate qualifying teachers. 

“We thank the committee for coming together this week to discuss the details of this important application, that if approved, will grant us the opportunity to increase teacher compensation in our district,” said PSJA School Board President Jorge Zambrano. “On behalf of the board, I applaud these efforts to help us adequately incentivize our teachers at PSJA. We have experienced, highly qualified and loyal faculty that is deserving of this opportunity.” 

As part of the designation, approved districts may monetarily incentivize highly effective teachers based on three levels: Recognized, Exemplary and Master. Eligible designated teachers will generate an allotment for their district each year based on their campus of employment. 

“Thank you to our teacher representatives and community members for joining us and assisting with these efforts,” said PSJA Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jorge L. Arredondo. “It is the collective strength, feedback and support that will help us submit a quality and comprehensive application to the state.”  

Teachers will meet qualifications based on a TEA-approved locally developed designation system that must include teacher observation and a student performance component. 

PSJA ISD will be publishing continuous updates for the community and stakeholders of this process in the next several weeks.