Texas districts showed overwhelming demand for new educator pipeline investments.
In the first year of the Preparing and Retaining Educators through Partnership (PREP) Program Allotment, 575 school districts chose to receive new state funding to support Grow Your Own, Mentorship, and Preservice Residency programs.
This level of participation signals strong district interest in building sustainable educator pathways and validates the Legislature’s decision to make a significant investment in teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention through House Bill 2.
What Is the PREP Program Allotment?
During the last legislative session, Texas made substantial changes to how the state is investing in strengthening teacher recruitment, preparation, and long-term retention. The PREP Program Allotment is one of the key levers for this new strategy. Established by the 89th Texas Legislature through House Bill 2, the PREP Program provides funding to school systems to support high-quality educator routes and improve overall educator effectiveness.
Funding for the PREP Program Allotment is distributed through Foundation School Program formulas as an entitlement and is available to every school system in the state. Through LASO Cycle 4, the Texas Education Agency’s unified grant application system, districts shared interest in the programs and opted into funding for three PREP components:
- Grow Your Own (GYO) Program
- Mentorship Program
- Preservice Residency Program
While there is no limit to the number of districts that can draw down funding under each of these components, each one has a distinct statutory funding structure and caps the number of teacher candidates or employees that may be supported per district each year.
Below is a high-level summary of the PREP Program Allotments:
PREP Program | First year for which funding is available | Funding per qualifying individual |
Cap of individuals |
PREP Grow Your Own Program | 2026-27 | $8,000- $12,000 | 40 |
PREP Mentorship Program | 2026-27 | $3,000 per beginning teacher | 40 |
PREP Preservice Residency Program | 2026-27 | $24,000- $39,500* | 40** |
What District Participation Tells Us
Earlier this month, TEA released the list of districts that applied and were accepted to receive funding through each of the different PREP program allotment components.
Key findings:
- 575 school districts have been approved for one or more of the three PREP allotment components
- 299 districts were approved for all three PREP components
- 349 districts were approved for the Grow Your Own program
- 488 districts were approved for the Mentorship Allotment
- 436 districts were approved for the Preservice Residency Program
Out of Texas’s 1,216 school systems, we analyzed how many districts applied and were selected for each individual component of the PREP Program Allotment (GYO, Mentorship, and Residency).
District participation across all three PREP components was strong. For the Grow Your Own program, 349 districts, or nearly 29 percent of all Texas districts, applied and were selected for funding. Importantly, PREP Grow Your Own participation is statutorily connected to preservice residency pathways, meaning districts pursuing GYO funding must also partner to support residency experiences as part of a comprehensive educator pipeline strategy.
Participation was even higher for the Mentorship and Preservice Residency components. Forty percent of districts opted into the PREP Mentorship Allotment. Similarly, nearly 36 percent of districts opted into the PREP Preservice Residency Program. Taken together, these patterns highlight strong district demand across PREP pathways and underscore the importance of readiness for high-quality implementation as these programs move forward.
What does this mean?
The Texas Education Agency and the State Board for Educator Certification are currently developing the rules that will govern PREP programs and establish the requirements districts must meet to implement these programs and ultimately draw down funds. The commissioner rules administered by TEA are currently open for public comment, while SBEC reviewed its portion of the rules in a public meeting on February 13, 2026.
If you’d like to better understand your districts’ selections or identify ways to provide targeted support, reach out to the Philanthropy Advocates team at philanthropyadvocates@philanthropyadvocates.org.
Note:
One district applied and was not approved for the PREP Mentorship Allotment. Two districts applied and were not approved for the PREP Residency Allotment.
Sources:
Texas Education Agency. LASO Cycle 4: PREP Program Overview. https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/health-safety-discipline/laso-cycle-4-prep-overview.pdf
Texas Education Agency. LASO Cycle 4 Grant and Allotment Programs. https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/health-safety-discipline/laso-cycle-4-grant-and-allotment-programs
Texas Education Agency. LASO Cycle 4 Selection List. https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/health-safety-discipline/laso-cycle-4-selection-list
The PREP Program provides funding to school systems to support high-quality educator routes and improve overall educator effectiveness.
