Information for determining salary is found in the Commissioner's Rules. Below, school districts can also find information about service records, personnel issues, and accreditation.
TEA does not maintain records of service for district employees. Teacher service records are maintained by the employing school district. You may contact your previously employing school district(s) for your official teacher service record(s) and for any corrections to your service record(s). The employing school district is responsible to determine acceptable years of service for salary increment purposes.
The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), HR Services offers a full-day service record training (offered for a fee statewide or locally) and makes available a Service Record Management recorded webinar at no charge with a TASB member login. The TASB HR Services team can also assist district staff with service record questions. For questions or to schedule training, contact TASB HR Services at hrservices@tasb.org or 800-580-7782.
For questions related retirement, please contact the Teacher Retirement System (TRS).
See the following for Commissioner's Rules on creditable years of service and minimum salary schedules:
Please confirm with your district which of the forms are required to determine your placement on the minimum salary schedule:
College Verification, Full-Time (PDF) College Verification, Full-Time (Word)
OR
College Verification, Part-Time (PDF) College Verification, Part-Time (Word)
AND
Verification of Accreditation Status (PDF) Verification of Accreditation Status (Word
AND
A supporting letter or form must be attached to the teacher service record verifying that either the full-time or part-time employment was at faculty status or its equivalent and that the schedule of work and the pay constituted that of other similar faculty employees.
*Nursing Experience: A supporting letter or form must be attached to the service record verifying that either the full-time or part-time employment was as a Registered Nurse or its equivalent and that the schedule of work and the pay constituted that of other similar Registered Nurse employees.
A digital version of a service record that includes information from previous employing districts is acceptable if the most recent school district is the designated recipient of the information from the previous districts.
A digital copy is not official from the educator.
According to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC), Local Schedule GR, Retention Schedule for Records Common to All Local Governments GR 1050-12(b):
The Teacher Service Record (Texas Education Agency Form FIN-115 or its equivalent), containing information required by statute or regulation, shall be considered an employee service record of the type described and must be retained date of separation + 75 years.
The employing ISD should do their best to recreate the information to the best of their ability. Some of the things you may request are paystubs or W2’s. Check with your PEIMS contact. TEA does not track an educator’s service. If additional PEIMS data is needed to recreate the service record, please email pir@tea.texas.gov.
According to Education Code §21.4031 (b) On request by a classroom teacher, librarian, school counselor, or nurse or by the school district employing one of those individuals, a school district that previously employed the individual shall provide a copy of the individual's service record to the school district employing the individual.
Clarification and links for frequent inquiries about personnel and salary are provided:
Read the Commissioner's Rules for all requirements. The following information can be used to help determine placement on the minimum salary schedule:
Texas private schools, out of state private schools and all college or university experience must be accredited as directed by the Commissioner’s Rules.
States with no accrediting or licensing provisions for primary or secondary schools, service is acceptable with a valid teaching certificate from the state in which the school is located or a valid Texas teaching certificate while employed.
The TEA does not maintain or have access to your service records. You must contact your previous employing school districts to obtain a copy of your service record. If you have earned service at more than one district, you will need to contact each district for a copy of the service record.
If the charter school was not taken over by another charter or school district, then you will need to contact the Region 13 Educational Service Center and use their Programs & Services option to submit a Charter School Records Request.
You must contact the Teacher Retirement System of Texas for information about retirement.
TEA does not review service records for salary increment purposes. This is the responsibility of your employing school district.
The service record reflects the service that you begin the year with. The next year will reflect that you begin that year with 1 year of completed service.
You must contact the district you believe made the error.
The commissioner has ruled a district must correct the pay and provide backpay to the teacher for the current year plus three prior years (Mata v. United Indep. Sch. Dist., Tex. Comm’r of Educ. Decision No. 016-R10-1099 (Sept. 5, 2000)).
A teacher is only entitled to recover four years of back pay because a four-year statute of limitations period applies to contract claims (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004).
There are only 3 CTE certificates that require work experience.
In accordance with TEC §21.403, effective with the 1982-1983 school year, certified career and technology education teachers employed for at least 50% of the time in an approved career and technology position may count up to two years of work experience for salary increment purposes if the work experience was required for career and technology certification.
For purposes of this section, an emergency teaching permit shall be the equivalent of a teaching certificate.
Once credit for work experience has been granted, the credit shall be continued regardless of the position held. For personnel granted credit under this section whose employment is split between career and technology and non-career and technology positions, the years granted shall apply to both the career and technology and the non-career and technology positions.
Work experience claimed by career and technology education personnel for salary increment purposes must be recorded on a service record.
An educator that does not hold a valid Texas certificate does not earn service for salary increment purposes.
Beginning in 2004-2005, a certified Paraprofessional who obtains teacher certification may count up to 2 years of full time (90 days) or part time (180 days) paraprofessional service for salary purposes.
Hospital nursing experience shall be acceptable provided the person held a registered nurse position with a recognized accredited university-operated hospital listed in this subsection. All eligible prior-year service in this area can be claimed for placement beginning on the 2000-2001 minimum salary schedule.
Verified Peace Corp nursing experience in a K-12 school system is acceptable.
Beginning with the 1998-1999 school year, a certified substitute teacher, as defined in subsection (a) of this section, employed in an entity recognized for years of service as prescribed by subsection (g) of this section is eligible for creditable service, provided that the educator held a valid Texas teaching certificate or a valid teaching certificate from the state where the school is located at the time the service was earned.
All eligible prior-year service in this area can be claimed for placement on the 1998-1999 minimum salary schedule.
This also applies to out-of-state substitute teaching experience.
It does not apply to out-of-country substitute experience.
State sick leave balances, days earned, and days used by personnel under the former state's minimum sick leave program and the state's current personal leave program must be recorded on the service record or another similar form containing the same information. State sick leave and state personal leave accumulated in Texas public elementary and secondary schools are transferable among these schools.
State personal leave accrued by an employee of a Texas regional education service center, not to exceed five days per each year of employment, is transferable to a Texas public elementary and secondary school.
State sick leave and state personal leave accrued by an employee of Harris County Department of Education and Dallas County Schools are transferable to Texas public elementary and secondary schools in accordance with the TEC, §22.003(a).
Local leave accrued under the policy of any entity recognized for creditable service under subsection (g) of this section may be transferred to a Texas public elementary or secondary school at the discretion of the employing school district.
The service record shall separately state the number of accumulated state days for which the employee is paid, if any, upon separation from the employing district.