Texas Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA)
Center Point ISD is excited to offer our teachers a realistic pathway to earning substantially more money for their great work.
In June 2019, the 86th Texas Legislature passed House Bill 3 (HB 3). This bill established the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) to help Texas School Districts recruit, retain, and reward highly effective educators in the classroom. TIA financially awards such top-performing teachers in high needs areas, or rural district campuses, with the bill's promise of a six-figure salary. The amount of increased compensation available to each teacher depends on a formula determined at the state level, which also considers the number of economically disadvantaged students.
HB 3 established the TIA to recognize effective teachers on three different levels: Recognized, Exemplary, and Master. These teacher designations generate additional teacher-focused allotment funding for districts in order for them to reward their top performers.
Local optional teacher designation systems allow districts, such as Center Point ISD, to identify and designate top-performing teachers using teacher empirical appraisal data. TIA elevates the education profession by recognizing, and rewarding, effective teaching, and also incentivizes outstanding teachers to remain in the classroom and improve student outcomes. Center Point ISD has fully approved a local designation system submitted to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to participate in this process.
Information regarding the program is subject to change.
Why is Center Point ISD Participating in the TIA?
With approximately 500 students in the District, Center Point ISD is a small, rural school district with a diverse student population.
Center Point ISD is committed to its mission of preparing ALL students for success in college, trade, and community leadership. The mission of the Center Point Independent School District is to provide excellence in education for every student. With a dedicated, caring staff, we seek to foster a safe, positive, and creative atmosphere. In this environment, students will be empowered with the critical-thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills necessary to succeed in a complex, global, multi-cultural society.
The Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) allows Center Point ISD to become more competitive with our surrounding school districts by attracting the best teachers to work in our highest-need campuses. Teachers are considered to be the leading contributors to student success. Participation in TIA provides the necessary incentive to attract high-performing teachers from other districts to CPISD and for our most effective teachers to stay and work at high-needs campuses.
Center Point ISD recognizes the importance of compensating teachers and desires to lead our region in this initiative. Through the compensation levels provided by the designation system, our highest-need campuses will attract highly-effective teachers.
Center Point ISD will continue to pursue opportunities to recruit highly-effective teachers to our highest-need campuses, to retain the highly- effective teachers already in the District, and to improve instructional practices across the District.
What Are the Local Designation System Requirements?
House Bill 3 provides districts with local control and flexibility when designing the designation system. TIA designation is a multi-year process from planning-to-payout. Teachers must maintain continuous employment and be coded as a 087-teacher throughout the process.
The designation system must include both a teacher observation and a student performance component:
- Teacher Observation based on T-TESS
- Student Growth Measures Determined by the District
- Districts may include other factors in determining the teachers eligible to receive a designation
The designation system must be submitted to TEA for approval, fully engage in data capture, and undergo a data-validation process, conducted by Texas Tech University. As part of the validation process, Texas Tech University will:
- Review alignment between teacher observation ratings and student performance ratings
- Review data validity by appraiser/rater, by campus, across campuses in the District, and by teaching assignment
- Compare District data to state data by comparing the percentage of teachers the District puts forth for designation to overall District performance.
House Bill 3 (HB 3) established the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) to recognize effective teachers at three distinct levels: Master, Exemplary, and Recognized. These teacher designations generate additional teacher-focused allotment funding for districts to reward and retain their most effective teachers.
Master Teacher
Master level teacher designation indicates that the identified teacher has achieved a level of teacher appraisal and student growth performance that places them in a level commensurate with the top 5% of teachers statewide. Master Teacher Allotment ranges between $12,000 to $32,000.
Exemplary Teacher
Exemplary level teacher designation indicates that the identified teacher has achieved a level of teacher appraisal and student growth performance that places them in a level commensurate with the top 20% of teachers statewide. Exemplary Teacher Allotment ranges between $6,000 to $18,000.
Recognized Teacher
Recognized level teacher designation indicates that the identified teacher has achieved a level of teacher appraisal and student growth performance that places them in a level commensurate with the top 33% of teachers statewide. The Recognized Designation can be earned through the Local Teacher Designation System or through National Board Certification. Recognized Teacher Allotment ranges between $3,000 to $9,000.
Who Can Be Designated?
Any number of teachers may be put forth for designation under a local designation system if they meet the district’s designation criteria and the eligibility requirements under the rules defined by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). TEA does not cap or limit the number of designations a district may issue. Teachers with an active National Board Certification may automatically be designated as Recognized if they meet the eligibility requirements under the rules defined by TEA.
TIA designations are determined based on the TIA score, a weighted combination of the teacher observation dimensions (the 8 dimensions of domains 2 and 3) and the student growth score. To determine annual teacher eligibility for a TIA designation, the following steps are completed at the district-level, end-of-year analysis:
Pre-Application & System Application
Districts engage with stakeholders and develop their local designation system.
Districts submit their application to TEA after building their system then submit the TIA Teacher Buy-In Survey to TTU.
Data Capture
Districts implement their system and track student growth and teacher observations.
Data Submission
Districts submit their data to TTU for data validation and TEA reviews outcomes and other pieces of data to determine final approval.
Post-Approval
New or higher designations with expansions and modifications.
Center Point ISD has a clear, written plan to abide by the spending requirements in TEC 48.112. Districts receive an annual allotment for each eligible designated teacher they employ. Districts must spend 90% or more of the allotment on teacher compensation on the campus where the designated teacher works by August 31 each school year. Note, based on local TIA spending plans, districts can choose to reward other instructional staff at the campus where the allotment was generated.
Note: payouts to teachers may be subject to deductions including retirement contributions and taxes.
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House Bill 3 (HB 3) established the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) to recognize effective teachers at three distinct levels: Master, Exemplary, and Recognized. These teacher designations generate additional teacher-focused allotment funding for districts to reward and retain their most effective teachers.
Master Teacher
Master level teacher designation indicates that the identified teacher has achieved a level of teacher appraisal and student growth performance that places them in a level commensurate with the top 5% of teachers statewide. Master Teacher Allotment ranges between $12,000 to $32,000.
Exemplary Teacher
Exemplary level teacher designation indicates that the identified teacher has achieved a level of teacher appraisal and student growth performance that places them in a level commensurate with the top 20% of teachers statewide. Exemplary Teacher Allotment ranges between $6,000 to $18,000.
Recognized Teacher
Recognized level teacher designation indicates that the identified teacher has achieved a level of teacher appraisal and student growth performance that places them in a level commensurate with the top 33% of teachers statewide. The Recognized Designation can be earned through the Local Teacher Designation System or through National Board Certification. Recognized Teacher Allotment ranges between $3,000 to $9,000.
Who Can Be Designated?
Any number of teachers may be put forth for designation under a local designation system if they meet the district’s designation criteria and the eligibility requirements under the rules defined by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). TEA does not cap or limit the number of designations a district may issue. Teachers with an active National Board Certification may automatically be designated as Recognized if they meet the eligibility requirements under the rules defined by TEA.
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TIA designations are determined based on the TIA score, a weighted combination of the teacher observation dimensions (the 8 dimensions of domains 2 and 3) and the student growth score. To determine annual teacher eligibility for a TIA designation, the following steps are completed at the district-level, end-of-year analysis:
Pre-Application & System Application
Districts engage with stakeholders and develop their local designation system.
Districts submit their application to TEA after building their system then submit the TIA Teacher Buy-In Survey to TTU.
Data Capture
Districts implement their system and track student growth and teacher observations.
Data Submission
Districts submit their data to TTU for data validation and TEA reviews outcomes and other pieces of data to determine final approval.
Post-Approval
New or higher designations with expansions and modifications.
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Center Point ISD has a clear, written plan to abide by the spending requirements in TEC 48.112. Districts receive an annual allotment for each eligible designated teacher they employ. Districts must spend 90% or more of the allotment on teacher compensation on the campus where the designated teacher works by August 31 each school year. Note, based on local TIA spending plans, districts can choose to reward other instructional staff at the campus where the allotment was generated.
Note: payouts to teachers may be subject to deductions including retirement contributions and taxes.
Congratulations to 2025-2026 TIA Recipients
Mrs. Tamequah Mahler
Center Point Elemenetary
Mrs. Michelle Murray
Center Point Secondary
Apollina Guzman
Center Point Elementary
Mr. Anton Hildebrand
Center Point Secondary
Mrs. Lenita Merryman
Center Point Secondary
Mrs. Laura Nelson
Center Point Secondary
Mrs. Mary Southwick
Center Point Elementary
Center Point I.S.D. TIA Teacher Success Stories
I have been in education for fifteen years. I will be teaching 4th and 5th grade math this year.
I was not a good math student all throughout my youth. I was the kid that was always failing math. I decided that I would become the teacher that I needed when I was a kid. I absolutely love my students and I want to take the fear out of math. I love to see them have fun with math. My goal is to build up their confidence in themselves and teach them that mistakes are normal. We only grow when we learn that it is okay to fail. We have to push through to success. I am merely their guide to success. I hope that the students that leave my classroom will remember me and that math wasn’t so scary in my classroom.
Center Point ISD is an amazing school with great students and fantastic teachers. I love how all of the teachers show each kid that they are loved and seen. I love that Center Point is a small school. I grew up in a small school and I cannot imagine working at a large school. I like to get to know my kids and I can do just that at Center Point.
Mrs. Tamequah Mahler
Fifth-Grade Math and Science Teacher
I have been a teacher for 21 years because I am passionate about helping others learn and grow. The most rewarding part of teaching is building meaningful relationships with my students and guiding them to become responsible, compassionate, and
productive citizens of the world.
One of my greatest successes as a teacher has been increasing student engagement by creating a supportive, interactive learning environment where students feel encouraged to participate and take ownership of their learning. Seeing students become more confident, curious, and actively involved in the classroom has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my teaching and has reinforced my commitment to fostering meaningful learning experiences.
I enjoy teaching at Center Point ISD because of its small-town atmosphere and smaller class sizes, which make it easier to build meaningful relationships with students. Their eagerness to learn creates a positive classroom environment, and it is incredibly rewarding to watch them grow academically and personally during the year and continue to succeed after they leave my class.
Mr. Anton Hildebrand
Middle School Math, Grades 6-8th
Attention CPISD Teachers
If you have any questions about TIA, please email this district’s TIA Coordinator TIA_Questions@cpisd.net.