Education Code § 21.3521

Sec. 21.3521. LOCAL OPTIONAL TEACHER DESIGNATION SYSTEM. (a) Subject to Subsection (b), a school district or open-enrollment charter school may designate a classroom teacher as a master, exemplary, recognized, or acknowledged teacher for a five-year period based on the results from single year or multiyear appraisals that comply with Section 21.351 or 21.352. (b) The commissioner shall establish performance and validity standards for each local optional teacher designation system. The performance standards: (1) must provide a mathematical possibility that all teachers eligible for a designation may earn the designation; and (2) may not require a district to use an assessment instrument adopted under Section 39.023 to evaluate teacher performance. (c) Notwithstanding performance standards established under Subsection (b) and subject to authorization under Section 21.3523, a classroom teacher that holds a National Board Certification issued by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards may be designated as nationally board certified. (c-1) A classroom teacher's designation under Subsection (c) is valid for a five-year period, regardless of whether the State Board for Educator Certification subsequently revokes authorization for a nationally board certified teacher designation under Section 21.3523. (d) The commissioner shall: (1) ensure that local optional teacher designation systems: (A) meet the requirements of this section; and (B) prioritize high needs campuses; and (2) enter into a memorandum of understanding with Texas Tech University to monitor the quality and fairness of local optional teacher designation systems. (d-1) Each school year, the commissioner shall, using criteria developed by the commissioner, designate as enhanced teacher incentive allotment systems school districts and open-enrollment charter schools that implement comprehensive school evaluation and support systems. The criteria developed by the commissioner must require a district or school to: (1) for principals and assistant principals, implement: (A) a strategic evaluations system aligned with the district's or school's teacher designation system; and (B) a compensation system based on performance; (2) ensure that under the district's or school's teacher designation system substantially all classroom teachers, regardless of the grade level or subject area to which the teacher is assigned, are eligible to earn a designation under Subsection (a); (3) implement for all classroom teachers a compensation plan based on performance that: (A) uses a salary schedule that differentiates among classroom teachers based on staff appraisals; and (B) does not include across-the-board salary increases for classroom teachers except for periodic changes to the district's or school's salary schedule to adjust for significant inflation; and (4) implement a locally designed plan to place highly effective teachers at high needs campuses and in accordance with Section 28.0062(a)(3). (d-2) The commissioner may designate a school district or open-enrollment charter school as an enhanced teacher incentive allotment system under Subsection (d-1) only if the district or school has implemented a local optional teacher designation system under this section. (d-3) The commissioner may remove a school district's or open-enrollment charter school's designation under Subsection (d-1) if the commissioner determines the district or school no longer meets the criteria for the designation. (e) The agency shall develop and provide technical assistance for school districts and open-enrollment charter schools that request assistance in implementing a local optional teacher designation system, including: (1) providing assistance in prioritizing high needs campuses; (2) providing examples or models of local optional teacher designation systems to reduce the time required for a district or school to implement a teacher designation system; (3) providing examples or models of local optional teacher designation systems that implement a teacher designation system for teachers of special populations, including special education and bilingual education; (4) establishing partnerships between districts and schools that request assistance and districts and schools that have implemented a teacher designation system; (5) applying the performance and validity standards established by the commissioner under Subsection (b); (6) providing centralized support for the analysis of the results of assessment instruments administered to district students; and (7) facilitating effective communication on and promotion of local optional teacher designation systems. (f) A teacher has no vested property right in a teacher designation assigned to the teacher under this section. A teacher designation issued under this section is void in the determination that the designation was issued improperly. Subchapters C through H, Chapter 2001, Government Code, do not apply to the voiding of a teacher designation under this subsection. (g) The agency shall periodically conduct evaluations of the effectiveness of the local optional teacher designation systems under this section and the teacher incentive allotment under Section 48.112 and report the results of the evaluations to the legislature. A school district or open-enrollment charter school that has implemented a local optional teacher designation system or received funds under the teacher incentive allotment shall participate in the evaluations. (h) The agency shall collect information necessary to implement this section. Information otherwise confidential remains confidential and is not subject to Chapter 552, Government Code. (i) The commissioner may adopt fees to implement this section. A fee adopted by the agency under this section is not subject to Sections 2001.0045 and 2001.0221, Government Code. (j) The commissioner may adopt rules to implement this section. A decision made by the commissioner under this section is final and may not be appealed. Added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 943 (H.B. 3), Sec. 2.008, eff. June 12, 2019. Amended by: Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 806 (H.B. 1525), Sec. 5, eff. September 1, 2021. Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1065 (H.B. 2), Sec. 1.01, eff. June 20, 2025.