Preparing and Retaining Educators through Partnerships Program (PREP) Allotment
House Bill 2, passed by the 89th Texas Legislature and signed into law in June 2025, established the PREP Program Allotment to strengthen the quality of teacher recruitment, preparation, and mentorship across the state. Participation in the PREP Program Allotment is optional for eligible districts and open-enrollment charters.
The PREP Program Allotment provides funding for five partnership types, PREP Mentorship, PREP Grow Your Own, PREP Preservice Residence, PREP Preservice Traditional, and PREP Preservice Alternative Certification. Districts and open-enrollment charter schools applied for school year 2026-27 funding for the PREP Preservice Residency Program, Grow Your Own Program, and the Mentorship Program through the LASO Cycle 4 process. Applications for each of these programs plus the PREP Traditional and Alternative Preservice Programs will be available through LASO Cycle 5 in fall 2026. Funding is provided via foundation school program formulas and is available for every school system in the state. Each PREP Program type includes a specific funding formula structure in statute and provides funding for up to a specific number of supported teacher candidates or employees per year per school system. For PREP Preservice Programs, the exact funding a school system would receive for an individual depends on whether the school at which the teacher works is rural and the level of socio-economic need at the school where the individual is placed. There are certain statutory requirements related to allotment spending.
New Resources!
PREP Financial Planning Tool
The PREP Allotment Planning Tool provides school systems with preliminary estimates of the allotments associated with participating in one or more PREP programs. This tool is designed to support local planning by allowing districts to model potential funding scenarios based on district‑entered assumptions, participation selections, and cohort year. Download the tool and watch the walkthrough video to get started!
Verification of Participation Preview
This document explains the Verification of Participation (VoP) process and provides a preview of the types of information and documentation that will need to be submitted during the VoP window. Open the VoP Preview.
PREP Program Allotment FAQ and Overviews
Select a section header below to see the existing general FAQ or program-specific overviews.
The links below connect to the PREP FAQ from the LASO application process. Updated FAQ for each program will be posted with their respective sections as they become available.
Overview
The PREP Grow Your Own Program provides funding through which participating school systems support (1) school system employees who do not hold a teaching certificate in completing a bachelor’s degree and enrolling in a preparation program to ultimately become a certified teacher while employed by the school system and (2) high school students in completing career and technical education courses that help prepare the students to become classroom teachers. Funding may be used to implement the PREP Grow Your Own Program and pay tuition and fees for participating students or employees. For the LASO Cycle 4 application, school systems may only participate if they have been approved to participate in a PREP Residency Preservice Program.
Overview
The PREP Residency Preservice Program empowers school systems to fund paid preservice teacher residency programs, providing candidates with extensive, yearlong clinical practice under the supervision of a host teacher. The program’s allotment funding flows directly to school systems and EPPs to fund the program implementation, including candidate pay, mentor stipends, and training and administrative costs.
Overview
The PREP Mentorship Program provides districts interested in implementing high-quality new teacher mentorship programs with funding to (1) provide, at a minimum, $1,000 to the mentor teacher, (2) train all required district mentorship staff via the Texas Mentorship Training, and (3) provide release time for mentor teacher and beginning teacher mentoring activities. Any remaining funds may be used on strategic staffing training.
Primary Audiences for Resources: school systems, educator preparation programs, and institutes of higher education
Resources |
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| PREP Program Overviews, Presentation Decks, and Webinar Recordings on LASO IV Resource Page |
| PREP Kickoff Webinar #1 Recording |
| PREP Kickoff Webinar #1 Slides |
| March 13 Newsletter --- March 31 Newsletter |
| PREP Residency MOU Template --- PREP GYO MOU Template |
| PREP Financial Planning Tool and Supporting Video Walkthrough |
| Verification of Participation Preview |
| PREP Program Allotment Guidebook (available April 24th) |
| PREP Office Hour #2 (Wednesday, April 29th @ 2pm) Registration Link |
Date available is an estimate based on current timelines.
Questions?
Submit all questions through the PREP Support Portal.