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Southwest ISD outlines performance-based pay rollout after TEA validates $673,000 in TIA funds
Summary
Southwest ISD presented a multi-year strategic compensation plan that would tie principal and teacher pay to student outcomes; the district also confirmed TEA validation of $673,000 in Teacher Incentive Allotment funding.
At a Jan. 23 Southwest ISD Board of Trustees meeting, district leaders outlined a multi-year plan to tie portions of principal and teacher pay to measured student outcomes and announced that the Texas Education Agency has validated the district's Teacher Incentive Allotment data, producing $673,000 in allotments for teachers.
The district said the strategic compensation effort will begin with a redesigned principal appraisal system to be developed in the 2024–25 school year, implemented in 2025–26 and used to set principal pay in 2026–27. Planning for a teacher performance-pay system will follow; district staff said teacher compensation changes would be designed during 2026–27 and begin paying in 2027–28. An unidentified district staff member said the district is committed to not lowering current salaries while the program is phased in.
"So this morning, I received an email from TEA saying that our data has been deemed valid…The $673,000 that our teachers generated through the allotment will be paid to the district this summer," said Dr. McClellan, a district staff member who presented the TEA update.
District presenters said the approach is intended to reward effectiveness and improve retention and recruitment. Staff showed district analysis of MAP growth data, saying many of the principals with the highest student-growth measures are currently among the lowest-paid principals. Staff described a compensation model that would rank leaders into pay quartiles based on a multi-year measure of effectiveness rather than years of experience alone.
Board members raised questions about equity across campus types, the role of campus size and experience, and how the district would avoid subjective or biased evaluations. One board member said the evaluation system must be “very, very clear cut with no subjective” elements. Staff acknowledged those concerns and said principal input and a calibration process will be central to designing the appraisal.
Staff described safeguards under consideration: holding pay adjustments over a multi-year window (for example, a three-year lookback) to smooth year-to-year fluctuations; continuing to account for campus complexity and size; and engaging principals and assistant principals in the design and calibration process. Staff said local MAP data was used in examples but that the final appraisal would include multiple measures beyond MAP scores, such as school culture and operational responsibilities.
District staff said the work is part of a state grant-backed cohort that includes several other Texas districts that are piloting similar strategic compensation systems.
Why it matters: District leaders said the plan would shift part of compensation dollars toward educators whose work drives measured student growth, with the stated goals of retaining high performers and recruiting more effective teachers and leaders. The timeline presented places principal evaluation changes first, with teacher-related pay changes to follow over the next two to three years.
