Compensation

The Teacher Retention Allotment (TRA) was established through House Bill 2 during the 89th Legislative Session. It provides state-mandated raises to classroom teachers (teaching 4 hours per day) with at least three years of experience. This is part of a broader effort to recruit and retain classroom teachers by increasing compensation.

A classroom teacher is an employee who teaches an average of at least four hours per day in an academic instructional or career and technology setting and holds a valid SBEC teaching certificate. For more information about the Texas Education Agency's definition of classroom teacher, please see TEC 5.001

Staff currently paid on the teacher scale who aren’t eligible for the Teacher Retention Allotment will be moved to the Instructional Administration (IA)  pay structure.

Positions such as athletic trainers, behavior coaches, behavior specialists, librarians, nurses, diagnosticians, speech pathologists, instructional specialist (IS), campus content instructional specialist and DI helping teachers, although previously paid from the teacher hiring schedule, do not meet the state’s classroom teacher definition and will be transitioned to a new pay structure.

Employees who complete the 2024–2025 school year on the teacher hiring schedule will:

• Receive one additional step on the teacher hiring schedule and;
• Move to IA-3/ Instruction Administration pay grade and; 
• Receive a 4% general rate increase (based on the greater of the midpoint or the employee’s base salary)

The midpoint for an IA-3 is $385.23 per day.

Any current master’s or doctorate stipend will be added to your base salary permanently before the 4% increase is applied. New hires will no longer be eligible for this stipend.

This is the first year the state has differentiated between classroom and non-classroom roles in terms of eligibility for state-funded raises. TRA funds are limited to classroom teachers who meet the state’s definition.

While CFISD received $63 million in new revenue from House Bill 2, the district adopted a $45.4 million deficit budget due to ongoing underfunding. Out of that revenue,  $35 million was designated for TRA and associated benefits, and $3.8 million for the Early Education Allotment. That left approximately $23.5 million in flexible funding, which was insufficient to close compensation gaps or restore previously reduced positions.

Employees must have completed their fifth year of service to qualify for the $5,000 increase tied to the state Teacher Retention Allotment. Yes, since you have finished your fifth year at the end of the 2024–25 school year, you will be eligible for the $5,000 state Teacher Retention Allotment for the upcoming 2025–26 school year.

No, substitutes were not included in the TRA funding or other designated increases in House Bill 2 as there are restrictions on state funding and limited discretionary district resources. Therefore, a raise for substitutes was not financially possible at this time. 

If you transfer to a vacant classroom teacher position, you will be placed on the teacher hiring schedule and eligible for the Teacher Retention Allotment.

Send inquiries to the Chief of Staff Teresa Hull at Teresa.Hull@cfisd.net​​​​​​​.