Strategic Compensation

RECRUIT, DEVELOP, RETAIN

Strategic compensation is an approach to paying teachers that thoughtfully aligns compensation with district goals for recruiting, developing, and retaining high-quality teachers. 

The value of strategic compensation is that it can be designed to best support multiple district priorities while still honoring the culture and experiences of any school district. A plan can take many different forms to accommodate differences across districts in culture, readiness for change, and financial condition.

As part of the Texas Education Agency's Strategic Compensation and Fellowship Grant, Region 15 is ready to offer support to your district and help find strategies to address recruitment, support teacher development,and improve retention of our most effective educators.

 Matching District Goals and Compensation Design Components

Goal	Pay Plan Design Options
Improving recruitment of effective teachers	Higher starting salaries, signing bonuses, or options for quickly earning significant pay increases early in a career
Supporting educator development	Extra pay for acquiring specific knowledge and skills supporting district priorities
Incentivizing and rewarding quality instruction	Bonuses or pay increases based on performance measures such as evaluation or observation ratings, student performance measures, or National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification
Recruiting and retaining teachers in hard-to-staff positions and high-need schools	Recruitment or retention bonuses specifically targeted toward these positions or schools
Supporting teacher leadership and career development	Additional pay, recognition, and opportunities to develop leadership skills
Improving retention	Retention bonuses or career ladders whereby teachers’ roles grow and evolve while remaining in the classroom

Teacher Vacancy Task Force - Overview and Report - Click Here for Report