PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Port Arthur Independent School District is offering hiring incentives to fill teaching positions and dozens of other vacancies within the district.
The district has a variety of high paying positions waiting to be filled, which includes teaching, administration, child nutrition and maintenance.
Last year, PAISD launched their pilot program for the teacher incentive allotment which rewards teachers who have high performing classes with up to an additional $32,000 a year, for over five years.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this article had incorrect information regarding the amount of money teachers could earn)
"And it encompasses teachers from 4th grade to 8th grade, reading and math, and also English 1, and algebra 1 teachers were able to be incentivized based on their student growth performance with their state assessment and their T-TESS evaluations," said PAISD Executive Director of Human Resources Erica Seastrunk.
The Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS) provides feedback to educators so they can improve their practice. The evaluations must be 55% or higher to get an extra $32,000 over a few years.
"They were able to be incentivized higher with money, and also receive a masters distinction on their TEA certification," said Seastrunk.
A number of teaching positions which qualify for the TIA Program still need to be filled. New teachers with no experience start off with a salary of $53,400.
"And so, by adding the TIA incentive to our district, it just rewards the teachers for their hard work, for the big job that they do with our students and we just wanted to give them a big payoff of appreciation," said Seastrunk.
With school already in session, PAISD is hoping to get the positions filled fast.
"We are proud to have the highest paying district in Southeast Texas," said PAISD Human Resource Coordinator Tiffany Johnson.
PAISD need teachers to fill other critical areas and subjects.
"Acute shortage areas and other areas, so math, science, English, social studies we need teachers," said Johnson.
There are many positions available and more incentives.
"We also pay into social security, we offer 100% benefits health insurance as well," said Johnson.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.