Legislative Priorities

Legislative Priority #1 – Foundational Funding Stability 

Executive Summary

Texas public school funding has not kept pace with economic realities. The Basic Allotment (BA), the state’s foundational per-student funding, has increased only from $6,160 in 2019 to $6,215 in 2025, a $55 increase (less than 1%) despite inflation exceeding 20% during that same period. This minimal growth leaves districts like Pflugerville ISD (PfISD) unable to meet rising costs tied to staffing, safety, and student services. PfISD and similar suburban districts are now facing enrollment declines due to statewide demographic trends, charter expansion, and anticipated voucher implementation. These pressures reduce revenue faster than fixed costs can be adjusted, creating an urgent need for a modernized and responsive funding model.

Key Funding Pressures

• Declining Enrollment: PfISD faces steady enrollment decline, reducing revenue faster than costs can be lowered. Fixed operational costs in transportation, safety, and staffing remain constant despite fewer students.
• Special Education: Texas’s new intensity-based, tiered funding model introduces uncertainty. While it may benefit some districts, others could experience reduced allocations. PfISD advocates for full or threshold-level reimbursement of actual costs tied to student progress. (Advocacy Recommendation)
• Teacher and Staff Compensation: PfISD receives approximately $2.6 million for the Allotment for Basic Costs (ABC) Allotment, $6.7 million for the Teacher Retention Allotment (TRA), and $900,000 for the Support Staff Retention Allotment (SSRA). These funds help, but do not fully cover salary costs needed to maintain competitive pay in Central Texas.
• Emergent Bilingual and Compensatory Education: While recent formula adjustments have increased flexibility, funding remains insufficient to meet the instructional needs of emergent bilingual and economically disadvantaged students.
• Safety and Security: Under HB 2, the School Safety Allotment increased to approximately $21 per ADA and $33,540 per campus. While progress was made, these amounts remain insufficient to fund full-time armed officers and meet TEA’s safety infrastructure standards without local supplementation.
• Career and Technical Education (CTE): Although CTE allotments increased, they still fall short of covering the real costs associated with dual credit tuition, modern equipment, and industry credentialing. PfISD estimates a local gap of 20–30% depending on program area.

Statewide Context

• Flat Funding Amid Rising Costs: The Basic Allotment has remained essentially unchanged while inflation and state mandates have raised operational costs significantly.
• Changing Enrollment Patterns: Texas’s overall enrollment growth has slowed, and many suburban districts like PfISD are experiencing decline for the first time in decades.
• Unfunded Mandates: New requirements in safety, accelerated instruction, and mental health services continue to expand without full state funding.

Legislative Recommendations

1.  Texas should increase the Basic Allotment (BA) to reflect the real cost of education and restore its purchasing power. 
   1. The BA has risen by only $55 since 2019—growing from $6,160 to $6,215—despite inflation exceeding 20 percent and significant increases in required instructional and operational costs. While we recognize that recent legislatures have been reluctant to increase the BA, it remains the foundation of the state’s school finance system, and its stagnation now places unsustainable pressure on local budgets.
   2. In addition to impacting base funding, the BA affects dozens of weighted formulas—meaning the shortfall compounds across areas like special education, transportation, emergent bilingual instruction, and safety. Any serious effort to stabilize school funding must include BA reform.
   3. Even a modest increase to the Basic Allotment would send a meaningful signal that the Legislature recognizes the fiscal pressures facing Texas public schools and is committed to restoring balance and sustainability to the system.
2. Texas should implement biennial education cost reviews to increase fiscal transparency.
   1. These statewide reviews, conducted by the Comptroller or Legislative Budget Board, should compare actual district operating costs to current state funding levels, including the Basic Allotment. Modeled on Truth in Taxation, these reviews would not mandate inflation indexing but would provide objective data for legislators and the public. They would help identify misalignments between funding formulas and the actual cost of delivering mandated services.
3. Texas should allow the conditional conversion of copper pennies to golden pennies based on fiscal benchmarks.
   1. Districts should be permitted to convert up to two copper pennies to golden pennies when meeting clear fiscal responsibility criteria, such as:
      1. Maintaining an Interest and Sinking (I&S) tax rate below $0.40, or
      2. Keeping their total tax rate within a legislatively defined cap.
   2. Why $0.40? This threshold reflects prudent debt management and falls well below the $0.50 debt test used for bond approval. It rewards districts demonstrating financial discipline and allows for predictable, locally retained revenue without expanding the overall tax rate or increasing the state’s fiscal liability. It also helps reduce recapture obligations, allowing districts to retain more local funding for direct instructional use.
4. Texas should expand allowable uses and amounts of the Allocation for Basic Cost (ABC) fund to support enrollment-related stabilization.
   1. Districts facing enrollment declines due to demographic shifts or policy changes (e.g., vouchers, charter expansion) should be eligible for transitional support under the ABC fund. While enrollment may decline, fixed costs, such as staffing, transportation, and safety, do not decrease proportionally. This stabilization support could be limited to 2–3 years per district to ensure fiscal responsibility while maintaining service continuity.
5. Texas should require funding adequacy analysis to be embedded in Annual Financial Reports.
   1. Districts should report program-level costs and funding sources, especially in high-need areas such as Special Education, Emergent Bilingual, Career and Technical, Transportation, and Safety & Security, where state support often falls short of actual costs. This would:
      1. Quantify the local dollars required to meet state and federal mandates,
      2. Increase transparency for constituents and legislators, and
      3. Provide a credible foundation for evaluating and updating funding formulas.
6. Texas should require biennial reviews of high-impact funding formulas to ensure alignment with service costs.
   1. The Legislature should conduct reviews of formulas for the Basic Allotment, Special Education, Transportation, School Safety, Emergent Bilingual, and Compensatory Education every two years. These reviews would assess whether each formula continues to reflect the true cost of mandated services, including cost-of-living and inflationary pressures. This process would not trigger automatic increases but would maintain legislative focus on fair and sustainable funding.

Advocacy Message- Stable Funding for Stable Schools

PfISD believes a strong funding foundation is the cornerstone of student success. Texas must modernize its school finance system to reflect the real cost of providing safe, high-quality education. With inflation rising and enrollment shifting, our funding model must be transparent, stable, and locally flexible. PfISD’s recommendations build on current state mechanisms, reward fiscal responsibility, and equip lawmakers with the data they need to govern wisely.

Board Call to Action

The PfISD Board of Trustees can support this priority by:

• Sharing local cost data and fiscal impact numbers with lawmakers and the public.
• Advocating for biennial cost reviews and ABC fund flexibility.
• Supporting conditional golden penny conversion tied to responsible tax benchmarks.
• Reinforcing how foundational funding supports teacher retention, student outcomes, and school safety.

Legislative Priority #2 – School Safety, Mental Health & Student Wellness

Executive Summary

Students learn best in safe, supportive environments. School safety and student wellness must be fully funded priorities, not unfunded mandates. Pflugerville ISD (PfISD) remains committed to ensuring safe campuses, but the current level of state funding is not sufficient to meet the requirements of House Bill 3 (HB 3) and other safety mandates.

Under HB 3, school districts are required to maintain at least one armed peace officer on each campus during regular school hours. The 89th Texas Legislature increased the School Safety Allotment to $21.10 per student in average daily attendance (ADA) and $33,540 per campus. While this increase is appreciated, it remains significantly below the actual cost of hiring, training, and retaining armed officers across PfISD’s 35 campuses.

PfISD estimates the total annual cost of compliance with the armed officer requirement to be approximately $4 million, while the current School Safety Allotment provides only $1.59 million. To close this $2.4 million annual gap and support comprehensive safety efforts, the Legislature must increase funding and expand flexibility in how districts may use the School Safety Allotment.

Statewide Context

• The 89th Texas Legislature raised the School Safety Allotment to $21.10 per ADA and $33,540 per campus, effective September 1, 2025.
• Despite this increase, funding remains inadequate to meet HB 3 requirements and maintain existing mental health and safety supports.
• Costs related to school-based law enforcement, infrastructure upgrades, and safety staffing have risen due to inflation and labor market shortages, particularly in Central Texas.
• Many districts, including PfISD, have reallocated instructional and operating funds or relied on one-time grant programs to comply with HB 3, leading to long-term fiscal strain.

PfISD Local Impact

PfISD operates 35 campuses. To comply with HB 3, the district would need approximately $2.88 million annually to place one armed officer at each campus. Based on the current allotment formula, PfISD receives approximately $1.59 million, covering only a portion of required personnel costs.

In addition to staffing, PfISD must invest in ongoing security infrastructure, including secure vestibules, fencing, door alarms, and camera systems. While the district has maximized available grant funding, local resources remain insufficient to implement a comprehensive safety and wellness framework that meets community expectations and state mandates.

Challenges with Current Funding Model

• The current School Safety Allotment does not cover recurring personnel or operational costs required under HB 3.
• The fixed per-student and per-campus rates do not account for regional wage differences, cost inflation, or district size.
• The allotment provides limited flexibility for investment in mental health services, counseling, or preventative programs.
• Short-term safety grants help address one-time expenses but do not provide the ongoing resources required to build long-term safety infrastructure and staffing pipelines.

Clarification on Mental Health and Counseling Services

While current law allows districts to use School Safety funds for some behavioral health services tied directly to a safety and security plan, the statute lacks clarity. This leads to inconsistent interpretations across the state.

PfISD supports legislative action to explicitly authorize the use of School Safety Allotment funds for:

• Licensed school counselors
• Social workers and behavioral specialists
• Prevention and crisis intervention professionals

These roles are essential to school safety and climate, and their exclusion from the core funding stream undermines the state’s broader safety goals.

Legislative Recommendations

1. Texas should increase the School Safety Allotment to reflect the full cost of HB 3 compliance.
   1. PfISD receives approximately $1.59 million in School Safety Allotment funding, based on the state's per-campus and per-student formulas. However, the actual cost of staffing one armed peace officer per campus, as required by HB 3, is approximately $2.88 million per year. This results in a recurring shortfall of nearly $1.3 million annually, before factoring in infrastructure and training costs.
2. Texas should maintain the per-campus allotment and increase the per-student rate to reflect labor market pressures.
   1. The $21.10 per-student rate can remain unchanged, but the $33,540 per-campus base must be increased to reflect the full cost of placing an armed officer on every campus, including salary, benefits, insurance, training, equipment, and ongoing employment costs. In the Austin-Round Rock region, officer salaries commonly range from $74,560 to $85,970, before benefits, training, equipment, and coverage needs are included. PfISD competes directly with municipal law enforcement agencies and neighboring districts that often offer higher compensation. Increasing the per-campus allotment would better align state funding with actual costs and help districts recruit and retain qualified officers without diverting resources from students and classrooms.
3. Texas should expand allowable uses of the School Safety Allotment to include mental health personnel and student supports.
   1. Districts need flexibility to invest in prevention. School counselors, social workers, and behavioral health professionals play a vital role in threat reduction, early intervention, and student wellness. Currently, many of these positions are funded through federal grants or academic allotments, limiting their availability.
   2. Establish a dedicated, ongoing funding stream for mental health personnel and prevention-focused student supports, aligned with clear accountability and local needs.
4. Texas should clarify that prevention-based safety strategies are eligible uses of School Safety funds.
   1. Statutory language should be amended to explicitly allow School Safety Allotment funds to support:
      1. Licensed counselors and behavioral specialists
      2. Campus threat assessment teams
      3. SEL programs and student wellness initiatives

Evidence shows that prevention strategies reduce incidents and improve long-term safety outcomes.

5. Texas should establish a biennial legislative review of the adequacy of the School Safety Allotment.
   1. There is currently no mechanism for regular review of the allotment's effectiveness, despite HB 3's creation of a permanent staffing mandate. A scheduled review by the Legislative Budget Board or House Public Education Committee would provide fiscal oversight and ensure funding keeps pace with actual district costs.
6. Texas should fund sustainable and flexible staffing models for school-based mental health.
   1. Many districts, including PfISD, face ongoing shortages of school counselors, LSSPs, and psychologists. Statewide vacancy rates exceed 14 percent. One-time grants or rigid earmarks do not provide the consistency required to build long-term mental health infrastructure. Flexible models should include:
      1. Matching funds for salaries
      2. Shared-service incentives through ESCs
      3. Regional staffing collaboratives

Advocacy Message - Safe Schools, Supported Students

PfISD believes student safety and mental wellness are essential for academic success. The state’s current funding model does not match the real cost of providing officers, infrastructure, and wellness supports on every campus. The Legislature must act to ensure school safety funding reflects the true needs of Texas schools by supporting both physical security and mental health.

Board Call to Action

The Board of Trustees can advance this legislative priority by:

• Sharing PfISD’s data on safety, staffing, and mental health costs with legislators.
• Coordinating advocacy through TASA, TASB, and regional coalitions to emphasize the funding gap created by HB 3.
• Reinforcing that true safety includes both physical security and mental health support for students and staff.
• Highlighting the connection between school safety, mental wellness, and academic achievement in legislative meetings.

Legislative Priority #3 – Academic Readiness & Workforce Alignment

Executive Summary

Texas’s future workforce begins in public schools. Pflugerville ISD supports state policies that strengthen college, career, and military readiness (CCMR) accountability systems, and expand equitable access to high-quality early childhood education. From Pre-K through graduation, districts must have the flexibility and resources to build coherent, regionally aligned pathways that prepare all students for success in the classroom, workplace, and community.

Texas currently provides half-day funding for most four-year-old programs. While HB 2 (89th Legislature, 2025) expanded eligibility and increased the Early Education Allotment, it did not fully close the gap between program costs and state funding. PfISD supports future legislation to ensure universal full-day Pre-K funding and continued investment in early literacy and numeracy initiatives that form the foundation for academic success.

Statewide Context

• Early Learning Foundation: Students who attend high-quality Pre-K and early literacy programs are significantly more likely to meet grade-level standards in reading and math by third grade, a key predictor of long-term academic success.
• Pre-K Funding Gap: HB 2 expanded access and adjusted funding formulas, but Texas currently lacks a dedicated, recurring state investment to support cross-sector workforce alignment among districts, postsecondary institutions, and regional employers. Most districts continue to rely on a mix of state, federal, and local funds to support full-day instruction.
• CCMR Pressures: Texas’s A–F accountability system ties district ratings to CCMR outcomes. While CTE funding has increased incrementally, state support has not fully kept pace with rising CCMR standards and costs associated with career pathways.
• Regional Workforce Alignment: Texas has not yet established a dedicated statewide program to fund regional workforce alignment. PfISD recommends creating such a program to support partnerships with community colleges and employers that strengthen workforce readiness.

PfISD Local Impact

PfISD serves a diverse student population that must be prepared for a dynamic workforce. Through partnerships with local employers, higher education institutions, and economic development agencies, the district has expanded CTE pathways in health sciences, manufacturing, and construction. However, these programs outpace available funding, with costs for equipment, credentialing, and dual-credit coursework exceeding state support by an estimated 20–30%, depending on the program area. Additionally, PfISD funds Pre-K expansion through a combination of local and grant funds, as current state allotments cover less than 70% of true operational costs for full-day Pre-K.

Challenges with Current Funding and Policy Framework

• State Pre-K funding formulas cover only half-day instruction, requiring local subsidies for full-day programs essential to working families and early literacy outcomes.
• CCMR performance indicators continue to rise, but state investment in CTE pathways, college-readiness exams, and industry partnerships has not kept pace.
• The current accountability system underweights industry certifications and work-based learning compared to academic indicators like AP and dual credit.
• Regional workforce collaboration lacks a dedicated state funding stream, limiting innovation and access.
• Funding adequacy for early education and CTE is not systematically reviewed for inflation or labor market alignment; reviews currently occur only through ad hoc legislative action.

Legislative Recommendations

1. Texas should fully fund full-day Pre-K for all eligible four-year-olds and expand optional funding for eligible three-year-olds in high-need communities.
   1. PfISD currently enrolls over 1,000 eligible four-year-olds in Pre-K, yet receives only half-day state funding. To provide full-day access, the district relies on local and grant funds to cover a per-student gap of approximately $ 1,450. Additionally, more than 400 eligible three-year-olds remain unserved due to a lack of state support. Texas should revise the Foundation School Program to guarantee full-day funding for all eligible four-year-olds and authorize optional, targeted funding for eligible three-year-olds in communities with high economic disadvantage and emergent bilingual student populations. PfISD estimates total expansion costs of approximately $1.7 million annually to serve the full eligible population.
2. Texas should increase Career and Technical Education (CTE) funding to reflect the true cost of high-quality program delivery.
   1. PfISD operates over 20 CTE programs across multiple campuses, yet current funding does not cover the real costs of equipment, credentialing, and specialized staffing. For example, the district’s Applied Ag Engineering (welding) program requires over $30,000 annually in consumable materials and durable equipment repairs and purchases while the Healthcare Therapeutics program incurs certification preparation expenses exceeding $10,000 annually, which are not eligible for TEA industry-based certification reimbursement. Texas should revise the CTE allotment under TEC §48.106 to account for cost differentials by program, ensuring sustainable funding for high-demand, high-cost programs that align with local labor market needs.
3. Texas should revise CCMR accountability metrics to recognize industry certifications, apprenticeships, and work-based learning equally with college-readiness indicators.
   1. Current College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) indicators continue to prioritize traditional college-readiness measures, such as dual credit and AP, over career pathways that are equally rigorous and valuable in today’s economy. In PfISD, more than 800 industry-based certifications are earned each year, in fields like medical assisting, automotive service, and accounting, and while these are recognized by the state, others, like the more than 60 OSHA 10-hour General Safety certifications earned each year, are not recognized in accountability scoring, even though construction employers require this training. Additionally, structured apprenticeships and paid work-based learning experiences, developed in partnership with local employers, receive less weight than academic indicators. Texas should amend TEC §39.053 to ensure full parity across all pathways that prepare students for postsecondary success.
4. Texas should establish a Regional Workforce Alignment Grant to fund partnerships between school districts, higher education institutions, and employers.
   1. PfISD has built strong partnerships to expand CTE opportunities, but lacks dedicated funding for joint infrastructure, transportation, and credentialing programs. Texas should create a competitive Regional Workforce Alignment Grant, modeled on Perkins Reserve Grants or the Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative, to fund shared CTE equipment, dual-credit expansion, student transportation to internships, and collaborative curriculum development. PfISD would use this grant to support projects like an advanced manufacturing lab, certification-based summer boot camps, and employer-based internship transportation.

5. Texas should expand statutory flexibility within the Early Education Allotment to support proven PK–3 interventions in literacy and numeracy.
   1. Although the Early Education Allotment has helped PfISD fund early literacy initiatives, restrictive statutory definitions limit the district’s ability to invest in high-impact strategies such as high-dosage tutoring, instructional coaching, and progress-monitoring tools. These supports are essential to addressing persistent achievement gaps, especially among economically disadvantaged and emergent bilingual students. With over 5,000 students in grades PK–3, PfISD has identified multiple proven interventions that fall outside current allowable uses under TEC §48.108. Texas should broaden the statute to permit evidence-based practices that accelerate early learning outcomes.
6. Texas should require biennial reviews of early education and CTE allotments to ensure alignment with inflation and workforce demand.
   1. Despite growing enrollment and rising program costs, the Early Education and CTE allotments have not been systematically adjusted for inflation or labor market shifts. In PfISD, the cost of delivering early literacy and CTE programs has increased by 18% over the past four years, driven primarily by required salary increases, rising benefits costs, and inflation in instructional materials, yet funding has remained flat. Texas should require the Legislative Budget Board, Texas Workforce Commission, or the Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative to conduct biennial reviews of these allotments, using inflation, enrollment, and regional workforce data to inform future legislative adjustments. This would ensure funding keeps pace with actual program needs without creating new administrative burdens for TEA or school districts.

Advocacy Message- Start Strong, Finish Ready

Texas must invest in both the foundations and the finish line of public education, ensuring all students begin school ready to learn and graduate ready to thrive. PfISD believes high-quality early learning experiences and aligned college, career, and military pathways are essential for preparing students for a dynamic Central Texas economy. Sustained, flexible funding for Pre-K and CCMR ensures every student has access to a strong start and a successful future.

Board Call to Action

The Board of Trustees can advance this legislative priority by:

• Sharing PfISD’s Pre-K and CTE funding data and success stories with legislators.
• Collaborating with regional business and higher education partners to advocate for stronger workforce alignment support.
• Coordinating advocacy through TASA, TASB, and the Central Texas Legislative Council for Pre-K expansion and CTE investment.
• Reinforcing the distinction between current law and PfISD’s advocacy recommendations when presenting to policymakers.

Legislative Priority #4: Recruitment, Retention & Certification Flexibility 

Executive Summary

Texas continues to face significant challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified educators, particularly in high-need areas such as special education, bilingual education, and early childhood. Pflugerville ISD (PfISD) supports legislative efforts to strengthen compensation systems, streamline certification pathways, and expand local flexibility to address persistent staffing shortages.

The passage of House Bill 2 (89th Legislature, 2025) marked important progress by creating and expanding educator retention funding through the Teacher Retention Allotment (TRA), Support Staff Retention Allotment (SSRA), and Allotment for Basic Cost (ABC). HB 2 also included funding for grow-your-own pipelines and mentoring programs. However, several structural and financial barriers remain, particularly around certification reciprocity, rehire penalties, and the flexibility to implement local workforce solutions.

Statewide Context

• Texas continues to experience high teacher attrition rates, especially in bilingual, special education, and STEM teaching areas.
• HB 2 (2025) created and expanded teacher compensation allotments, which reward effectiveness and retention but vary annually based on staff verification data.
• The Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) added the new 'Acknowledged' tier and increased state investment in performance-based pay; however, stipend distribution depends on both TEA processing and district data readiness.
• Retirement and certification barriers continue to limit the state’s ability to rehire experienced teachers and expand the educator pipeline.
• PfISD supports a comprehensive approach that combines compensation reform, certification flexibility, and improved working conditions to stabilize the educator workforce.

PfISD Local Impact

PfISD receives an estimated $6.7 million through the Teacher Retention Allotment (TRA), $2.6 million through the Allotment for  Basic Cost (ABC), and $900,000 through the Support Staff Retention Allotment (SSRA) based on preliminary 2025 data. These investments are essential, but they do not fully address cost-of-living challenges in Central Texas or offset rising recruitment and retention pressures.

The district continues to experience turnover across certified and classified staff due to increased competition from neighboring districts and persistent shortages in high-need instructional areas. Housing affordability and regional wage pressures remain significant barriers to staffing stability.

Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) Implementation and Improvement

PfISD supports the expansion of the TIA under HB 2, including the new designation tier and increased statewide investment in effectiveness-based pay. However, implementation challenges require legislative attention:

• Timely Payments: TEA should complete TIA data validation and designation approvals within a single school year to ensure stipends are paid in a timely manner.
• Bridge Funding: The Legislature should establish a state-managed pre-award or revolving fund to allow stipends to be distributed upon provisional TEA approval. This would prevent delays for educators who have met all designation requirements.
• Campus Continuity: PfISD supports the requirement that designated teachers remain at their campus and in their subject area for at least one year following award in order to maintain instructional continuity.
• Local Flexibility: Districts should be granted flexibility to offer campus-based retention bonuses, differentiated stipends, and other locally developed incentives tied to designation status.
• Sustainable Systems: Additional state investment is needed to support the data systems, coaching infrastructure, and professional learning necessary to scale Enhanced TIA systems.

Certification Flexibility, TRS Rehire Rules, and Testing Requirements

• HB 2 did not eliminate TRS surcharges or annuity penalties; employers continue to face pension and healthcare costs when rehiring retirees. PfISD supports future legislation to reduce or remove these disincentives.
• Reciprocal certification for out-of-state educators and simplified testing requirements remain advocacy priorities, as current law limits reciprocity to specific shortage areas. 
• While PfISD strongly supports Grow-Your-Own and teacher residency models, these programs require districts to cover upfront costs such as resident salaries, mentor stipends, and university partnership fees without any guarantee of state reimbursement. Current models require districts to front significant costs before reimbursement, creating financial uncertainty for programs that are otherwise critical to addressing teacher shortages. Continuing and stabilizing, state support is essential to maintaining these local educator pipelines.
• PfISD encourages simplification of certification renewal requirements to reduce barriers for qualified educators seeking to re-enter high-need teaching fields.

Use and Flexibility of Retention Allotments

Retention allotments established under HB 2 are currently governed by expenditure restrictions that limit district flexibility. While well-intentioned, these constraints prevent districts from addressing local labor-market needs and supporting a full range of student-serving personnel.

PfISD recommends increasing and expanding allowable uses of retention allotments to include any campus-based position that directly supports students.

Many critical roles, such as athletic trainers, speech-language pathologists (SLPs), licensed specialists in school psychology (LSSPs), behavior specialists, and other student-support providers, are excluded under current rules despite being essential to school operations and student well-being.

To better serve students and strengthen staffing stability, PfISD also recommends authorizing retention allotments for:

• Signing bonuses for hard-to-staff positions
• Housing stipends to offset rising cost-of-living pressures
• Tuition reimbursement for educators pursuing certifications in high-need areas (e.g., bilingual, SPED, STEM, CTE)

Greater flexibility would allow districts to design competitive, locally tailored recruitment and retention packages that reflect actual labor conditions and ensure that all student-facing roles are adequately supported.

Legislative Recommendations

1. Texas should increase and index the ABC, TRA, and SSRA allotments to inflation in order to sustain competitive compensation across all educator and staff roles.
2. Texas should streamline the TIA validation and approval process so that stipends can be delivered to designated educators within the same academic year.
3. Texas should establish a state-managed pre-award or revolving fund to support timely stipend delivery following provisional TEA approval.
4. Texas should eliminate TRS return-to-work surcharges and penalties that deter experienced retirees from returning to classrooms.
5. Texas should expand reciprocal and local certification pathways to reduce hiring barriers and accelerate the onboarding of experienced educators.
6. Texas should authorize broader use of retention allotments, including signing bonuses, housing assistance, and tuition reimbursement.
7. Texas should revise HB 2 to broaden the statutory definition of “teacher” so retention and compensation allotments can support the full set of campus professionals who provide daily, direct services to students. 
   1. The current definition excludes key roles that contribute to student learning, safety, and wellness. An expanded definition should include positions such as instructional coaches, athletic trainers, athletic coordinators, and other campus-based instructional and student-support roles who serve students throughout the school day. This change would better reflect how schools operate and give districts the flexibility to recruit and retain the staff students rely on every day.
8. Texas should fund mentoring and professional learning systems for early-career teachers in order to reduce attrition and support long-term effectiveness.

Advocacy Message-Strong Schools Start with Strong Staff

PfISD believes that competitive compensation, certification flexibility, and long-term investment in educator development are essential to student success. The district supports state-level reforms that expand access to the profession, remove financial disincentives, and reward excellence in the classroom. Stabilizing the educator workforce will ensure that every student in Texas is taught by a highly qualified and effective teacher.

Board Call to Action

The Board of Trustees can advance this legislative priority by:

• Sharing PfISD data on recruitment and retention challenges with legislators.
• Coordinating advocacy with regional partners and professional associations.
• Reinforcing how competitive pay, certification flexibility, and retention incentives directly impact student outcomes.
• Clearly distinguishing between existing statute and advocacy proposals when presenting to policymakers.