Teacher Hiring Resources

Retention Strategies

The best strategy to reduce teacher vacancies is to retain the great teachers already in your districts.

Hold Stay Conversations

Having stay conversations with teachers can have a positive impact on retention. Principals should be encouraged to hold stay conversations with all effective and promising teachers as stay conversations are best leveraged by identifying highly effective teachers, as evidenced by data, and speaking with those who most positively impact students.

Recognize Great Teachers

Recognizing effective teachers is an important aspect of teacher retention and can contribute to increased job satisfaction, motivation, and engagement. There are different ways to genuinely recognize teachers for their work and commitment besides a yearly planned celebration. Peer, student, and administrator recognition can create a sense of belonging and community among teachers. Recognizing teachers through formal recognition programs such as Teacher of the Year awards and through informal ways such as praise during staff meetings can be a strong motivator. Providing effective teachers with professional learning and leadership opportunities that help them improve their skills and knowledge can also lead to them feeling valued and supported.

Implement the PREP Program Allotment 

The PREP Program Allotment provides funding to support the recruitment, preparation, and mentorship of pre- and early-service teachers. This allotment includes five partnership types: Grow Your Own, Mentorship, Preservice Residency, Preservice Traditional, and Preservice Alternative. Districts and open-enrollment charter schools applied for school year 2026-27 funding for the PREP Preservice Residency Program, Grow Your Own Program, and the Mentorship Program through the LASO Cycle 4 process. Applications for each of these programs plus the PREP Traditional and Alternative Preservice Programs will be available through LASO Cycle 5 in fall 2026. 

Funding is provided via foundation school program formulas and is available for every school system in the state. Each PREP Program type includes a specific funding formula structure in statute and provides funding for up to a specific number of supported teacher candidates or employees per year per school system. For PREP Preservice Programs, the exact funding a school system would receive for an individual depends on whether the school at which the teacher works is rural and the level of socio-economic need at the school where the individual is placed. There are certain statutory requirements related to allotment spending.

For more information, visit Preparing and Retaining Educators through Partnerships Program (PREP) Allotment | Texas Education Agency

Implement and Expand TIA Systems

TIA is built for Texas school districts to designate and reward top-performing teachers. Through a district’s TIA local designation system, teachers can earn one of four levels of designation -- Acknowledged, Recognized, Exemplary, or Master

Districts receive an annual allotment for each eligible designated teacher they employ and use TIA funds to incentivize effective teachers to remain in the classroom and prioritize high-needs campuses.

Develop Strategic Compensation Systems to Earn an Enhanced TIA Designation

Enhanced TIA is a designation a district can apply for and receive after establishing a district-wide strategic compensation system. Once obtained, this designation allows districts to access an additional 10% in TIA funding, beyond their existing allotment, to support this new system. 
Strategic compensation is a performance-based human resource management technique that involves designing and implementing a compensation plan that is strategically aligned with district objectives and culture. 

These strategic compensation plans are built to address the following five goals: 

  • Develop a refined administrator evaluation system for principals and assistant principals,
  • Develop and adopt a TIA-compliant teacher evaluation system for all,
  • Abandon the traditional step and ladder pay system and transition to one based on bands of effectiveness,
  • Blend TIA, district and other funding sources to ensure financial sustainability, and
  • Adopt an approach to teacher and administrator assignment based on student need. 
     

Support and Recognize Mentor Teachers through the PREP Mentorship Program 

The PREP Mentorship Program provides districts interested in implementing high-quality new teacher mentorship programs with funding to (1) provide, at a minimum, $1,000 to the mentor teacher, (2) train all required district mentorship staff via the Texas Mentorship Training, and (3) provide release time for mentor teacher and beginning teacher mentoring activities. Any remaining funds may be used on strategic staffing training. The PREP Mentorship Program provides $3,000 per beginning teacher (for teachers in their first two years) to fund these supports. Applications for school year 2026-27 are closed; the next application opportunity will open in fall 2026 via LASO Cycle 5 for school year 2027-28 implementation. Learn more at the PREP Program Allotment page.  

Develop & Implement Strategic Staffing Models  

Strategic staffing models help school systems retain their most effective teachers by creating differentiated instructional roles, protected collaborative time, and compensation structures that reflect teacher impact. When combined with high-quality instructional materials and associated professional learning, these models strengthen the conditions that keep strong teachers in the classroom.


Texas Strategic Staffing (TSS) is a two-year technical assistance process in which a school system and educator preparation program partner to design and implement a sustainably funded paid residency model. TSS is a time-limited competitive grant, available to school systems through LASO and with technical assistance provided by Education Service Centers. Once a school system has designed its model through TSS, the PREP Preservice Residency Program Allotment provides permanent per-resident formula funding to sustain that model at scale.  Visit the Texas Strategic Staffing website for more information on this initiative, including case studies and ESC support contacts.
 

Recruitment & Talent System Development Strategies Section

Determine Hiring Needs

Determining hiring needs is an important step in effective staffing, in providing support for existing teachers, and ultimately in ensuring the intended student experience is met. LEAs can determine hiring needs by examining and identifying different key data.

  • Identify teachers who are resigning or retiring
  • Identify additional positions based on school growth, schedule changes, or program implementation
  • Identify positions that need experienced, strong lead teachers such as in hard-to-staff schools
  • Identify campus or grade-level that can support a newer teacher who needs more training
  • Identify historical hiring data to identify any patterns and trends specific to the LEA

Target Recruitment to Returning Teachers

TEA examined newly hired teacher data from 2009-10 through 2025-26 and found that reentering teachers were a sizable and stable source of hires. Identifying and targeting recruitment efforts to this source may help LEAs increase their pool of teachers. Additionally, LEAs could consider providing additional incentives to returning teachers.

Key Takeaways

  • Reentering teachers make up a sizable proportion of newly hired teachers in any year, with 42% of new hires in 2025-2026 being teachers reentering the profession.
  • Reentering teachers typically come back to the workforce soon after they leave, with over 90% of reentering teachers doing so within 3 years of exit.
  • According to trends, reentering teachers are more likely to be retained than uncertified teachers. 

Leverage Teacher Certification Incentives 

Texas Education Code, §21.0033, Teacher Certification Incentive, provides districts with a onetime $1,000 payment for each eligible classroom teacher who completes all required preparation components and is issued a standard certificate. Eligible teachers must meet all the following requirements:

  • Hired as an uncertified first-year teacher in the 2022-2023 or 2023-2024 school year, and were still uncertified as of January 1, 2025,
  • Achieved standard certification by the end of the 2026-2027 school year,
  • Continuously employed as a teacher by the district. 

HB 2 also amended TEC, §29.190, Subsidy for Certification Examination, to include Career and Technical Education (CTE) certification reimbursement to districts. Districts can now request reimbursement for CTE certification examination fees, certification application fees, and fingerprinting costs, paid by the district for their educators to obtain a CTE standard certificate, beginning September 1, 2025, or later, in one of the approved areas. This provision was designed to help districts offset expenses associated with educators earning standard certification in hard-to-staff CTE fields and support retention of CTE-certified educators.

Incentivize Hard-to Staff Areas

Roughly 43% of middle school Bilingual Education, 49% of high school Bilingual Education, and 44% of all Special Education teachers serve out-of-field (TEA, 2025).

The TVTF recommended funding be provided to incentivize Special Education and Bilingual Education teachers to enter and remain in their roles. TVTF recommendations:

  • Requiring Special Education and Bilingual Education teachers to begin on the second step of the LEAs minimum salary schedule
  • Leverage incentives for exam certification fee waivers and additional funding for residencies in hard-to-staff areas. As of June 2025, HB 2 provides certification exam and certification application fee waivers for special education and bilingual certification areas.
  • Providing significant sign-on bonuses and stipends

Develop Strategic Staffing Models that Expand the Impact of GYO and Residency Models

In addition to supporting teacher retention, the presence of high-quality and robust strategic staffing models can provide compelling recruitment and preparation opportunities for future educators. Currently, 129 districts across Texas are implementing strategic staffing models that enable teacher residents to engage in a paid, year-long clinical teaching experience and serve in other instructional capacities aligned to the district’s needs. All 20 ESCs currently provide Texas Strategic Staffing services to support districts and educator preparation program partners to design these strategic staffing models. Beginning 2026-2027, districts across Texas will be leveraging strategic staffing models to maximize the benefits of and strong implementation of the PREP allotment programs.

Differentiate & Advertise Compensation 

Recruiting and retaining highly effective teachers and administrators is paramount in achieving strong student outcomes. With TIA as the basis, districts can continue their journey to strategically leverage compensation and staffing by undertaking these critical steps:

  • Developing a refined principal evaluation system,
  • Developing and adopting a TIA-compliant teacher evaluation system,
  • Transitioning away from a step and ladder pay system to one based on performance,
  • Blending TIA and other funding sources to ensure financial sustainability, and
  • Adopting an approach to teacher assignment based on student need.

To attract candidates with the highest-quality preparation, districts may also consider differentiating starting teacher salaries based on their route into the profession. 

Teacher Preparation, Hiring, & Onboarding

Develop Meaningful Partnerships with Educator Preparation Programs through PREP Preservice Programs

Partnerships between districts and educator preparation programs are vital for developing strong teacher talent pipelines. Research shows that these collaborations help ensure that new teachers are well-prepared to meet local district needs. Strong partnerships can transform the teacher pipeline by aligning preparation programs with district needs, providing real-world teaching experiences, and facilitating continuous professional development (Education First, Ensuring High Quality Teacher Talent). In the Texas EPP landscape, districts have options to seek and select EPP partnerships. The Educator Preparation Program Interactive Map provides an overview of programs across the state and preparation routes offered, including a growing number of programs offering teacher residency preparation routes. For more information about Texas teacher residency programs and their benefits you may also refer to Texas Teacher Residencies.

Onboarding

Employees who report positive onboarding experiences are more likely to stay in the organization longer. Providing new hires with clear information and early opportunities to connect with professional learning will allow them to feel more connected to their new role. Providing early opportunities for new hires to connect with other teachers will allow them to add value to their communities early in their role. Support new hires and help them successfully onboard by identifying mentor teachers early and connecting them to new hires. The PREP Program Allotment provides funding for new teacher mentoring as part of the PREP Mentorship Program. Applications for this support will re-open in fall 2026 via LASO Cycle 5 for implementation and funding for school year 2027-28 and beyond.

HB2 Supports

TEA Supports Aligned with HB 2 Implementation

TEA offers support with initiatives aligned to many of the best practices to support implementation of HB 2. Learn more about some of these initiatives and look for upcoming information, including potential future opportunities for grants and technical assistance.

PREP Allotment Supports 

Teacher Incentive Allotment Supports 

Additional Resources