Richardson ISD is working to expand the Teacher Incentive Allotment, a state-funded program that provides stipends to high-performing teachers.
Last year alone, RISD’s 186 TIA-designated teachers received roughly $2.5 million from the state through TIA, said Frank Patranella, RISD’s director of Teacher Incentive Allotment and National Board Certification. Patranella told the school board at the Aug. 20 meeting that TIA improves teacher retention and supports student growth.
The big picture
The Teacher Incentive Allotment was established by the Texas Legislature in 2019 to allow school districts to designate and reward top-performing teachers, Patranella said. The goal of the program is to provide additional compensation to prevent those top-performing teachers from leaving the classroom, he said.
“We know that the number one factor in the classroom for the student outcomes is having a high quality, strong teacher,” Patranella said. “We leverage the Teacher Incentive Allotment to reward, retain and recruit those teachers.”
Teachers can earn anywhere from $3,000 to $32,000 in their yearly allotment check, based on their level of TIA designation and the socioeconomic makeup of their campus, Patranella said.
“These are substantial amounts that can make an incredibly profound difference for our teachers,” Patranella said.
The state distributed $750 million to teachers last year through TIA, Patranella said, and is expecting to give out $2 billion within the next three years.
RISD currently has 186 designated teachers receiving stipends at 28 participating campuses, but is expanding to 38 TIA campuses for the 2026-27 school year.
How it works
Teachers can earn a TIA designation that is placed on their certificate for five years, during which they will receive a financial allotment from the state. At the end of the five years, teachers will have to be reevaluated for the designation.
Teachers can earn recognized, exemplary or master designations and can level up their designation on a yearly basis.
Their eligibility is determined by four weighted components, which district officials said were based on input from RISD teachers:
- 40% teacher performance, based on TEA evaluation
- 30% student growth
- 20% professional development
- 10% campus culture
RISD introduced the program in 2021-22 at four campuses. Seven teachers at those campuses earned TIA designations, followed by 40 teachers in 2022-23. RISD began giving teachers a scorecard to guide them on what components they still needed to achieve a designation, said Patranella.
The district has increased the number of participating campuses every year, Patranella said, and 38 campuses are participating in 2026-27. The number of designated teachers has also grown every year, along with the teacher types who are eligible to participate in the program.
For the 2026-27 school year, RISD added Career and Technical Education, language and Health I teachers and academic success coaches to TIA.
Taking a step back
Superintendent Tabitha Branum said that the TIA rollout has been intentionally slow to ensure that each campus would be ready for the program to be implemented.
“We made the commitment that we were going to do this with our campuses every step of the way,” Branum said. “We were going to do this with our teachers, we were not going to do it to them.”
Teachers must vote to agree to bring the program to their campus. Branum said the district is “very mindful” of the impact that TIA could have on campus culture, when some teachers receive additional financial stipends and others do not.
“We know how critical it is that our teachers are working in an environment where they collaborate, where they want to share, where they want to lift each other up,” Branum said.
The impact
Patranella said RISD has seen a significant decrease in teacher turnover at TIA campuses. He said TIA also creates a “ripple effect” of improvements in teacher capacity and student performance, as teachers know they have to increase their own skills and student outcomes to earn designations.
“[Principals] tell me all the time that whenever a teacher on their campus has earned a designation, they start helping their teammates to also try to earn it,” Patranella said.
The TIA stipends provide funding beyond what the district is able to offer through compensation increases, Branum said.
“What TIA did was provide revenue that there is no way we would have ever had money to provide, and be able to provide additional compensation for teachers,” Branum said.
Put in perspective
Sixth grade teacher Joshua Garay told the board that receiving the master designation through the TIA validated his experience as a teacher.
“Some people have the misconception that if you ever want to grow in this career, you have to leave the classroom,” Garay said. “But having TIA and having this designation just inspires me to say, ‘No, I get the opportunity to be here, to be in this class and continue growing kids as the years go on.’”
Elementary teacher Tiffany Ollie, who also earned the master designation, told the board the TIA recognition strengthened her desire to continue growing as an educator.
“Our campus has always been filled with teachers whose commitment and passion for students were evident long before TIA,” Ollie said. “However, knowing that educators could receive a recognition and compensation for the impact that they make only amplified the passion, loyalty [and] connection in our special community.”
Looking ahead
Patranella said RISD will continue to add new campuses to TIA as well as establish pathways to include all teacher types in the program. District officials are also creating a process for principals and assistant principals to earn a stipend based on data from their campuses.
“This would not work if we did not have a strong culture on the campus,” Branum said. “This works because we have incredible principals, incredible leadership and a culture of support and collaboration.”
