WACO, Texas (KXXV) — Statewide bonuses through the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) program aim to keep the highest performing Texas teachers in the classroom in participating districts.
- Waco ISD participates in the TIA program, giving its teachers opportunities to make more money and be rewarded for their skills.
- Every year, the district has to go through a data validation process to show the state the system is working to keep providing these incentives. Waco ISD says it will be notified in February if they pass.
- The program is supposed to help districts recruit and retain top-performing teachers in the state.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Shanna Jones has been teaching for 14 years. While she's highly decorated in her field, she said her true passion is helping students.
"I think as a teacher, my strongest attributes are I'm literally all about my students," she said. "I'm literally I'm here to get to know them. I'm here to make them better."
Shanna is one of 200 teachers in the Waco ISD receiving bonuses from the state for being top performers. Not every district participates in the teacher incentive allotment program, or TIA, which is designed to help keep teachers in our classrooms.
The state provides qualified districts with money to help recruit and retain teachers in our schools.
"Mrs. Jones is definitely a success story because she has proven to be, time after time, a performing teacher."
Stepping outside the classroom, WISD TIA Director Vanessa Ruiz told 25 News this is a life-changing for many.
"I have families and teachers, who have families who, you know, they said, through this compensation, we're going to be able to purchase our first home because I never could have saved the money or had a down payment for a house for myself and my family if it was not for this compensation that I can now earn."
Waco ISD has participated in the TIA program since it was implemented into Texas state law about five years ago. Now, Vanessa says the program gives them a competitive edge.
"I can tell you that we've been able to recruit teachers that are top performing in the neighboring districts, right? And we are able to recruit them to our district because of this compensation we pay out a higher average rate than the neighboring districts."
Shanna tells me that schools struggle with keeping teachers around because it's not an easy job.
"When you are a dedicated teacher, it's not easy to just say, okay, at the end of the day, you close the door, you go home, and that's it," Shanna said. "You take that work home with you."
