To the Administrator Addressed (TAA) Correspondence
role="heading">Overview ">This correspondence provides guidance on implementing stipend requirements for the Texas Reading Academies and Mathematics Achievement Academies, as amended by House Bill 2 (HB 2), 89th Regular Session, signed by the Governor on June 20, 2025. Specifically, this correspondence outlines stipend amounts, eligibility criteria, funding sources, and transition procedures for Summer 2025. ">Stipend Requirements and Authority">Pursuant to Texas Education Code (TEC) §§21.4552(d) and 21.4553(d), as amended by HB 2, classroom teachers as defined by TEC, §5.001(2), who meet grade-level conditions below, and who complete a Texas Reading Academies or Mathematics Achievement Academies are entitled to receive a stipend from their school district. "> For the Texas Reading Academies, a stipend is required for a classroom teacher who provides instruction to students in kindergarten through third grade and who is required to attend the academy or complete related coursework outside of contract hours. In addition, a school district may provide a stipend to a classroom teacher who provides instruction to students in a grade level above third grade and attends outside of contract hours with district approval. ">For the Mathematics Achievement Academies, a classroom teacher who attends is entitled to receive a stipend from the school district, regardless of the grade level they teach, provided they have been directed or received district approval to attend outside of contract hours. ">Per the authority granted by HB 2, the Commissioner of Education has set the stipend rate at a minimum of $50 per hour for approved training completed outside the days or hours of service included in the term of the teacher’s contract. ">The purpose of this law change was to honor teacher time. As such, the law is structured to have teachers participate in the academies during their normal work duties or otherwise receive extra compensation. Specifically, a school district is not required to provide a stipend to a classroom teacher under these circumstances: ">