Educator Incentive Programs
Overview
Utah has some educator incentive programs to support educators serving in particular school settings, assignments, or with specific credentials. The program policies are found below as well as additional information on each of the tabs.
Salary Supplement for Highly Needed Educators (SHiNE)
The SHiNE Program was established by the Utah Legislature and Utah State Board of Education (USBE) to allow individual local education agencies (LEAs) to determine which educators are highly needed in their schools. This program replaced the Teacher Salary Supplement Program (TSSP) in the 2025-2026 school year.
Title: 53F-2-504: Salary Supplement for Highly Needed Educators
Utah State Legislature
Salary Supplement for National Board-certified Teachers (SSNBCT)
The SSNBCT Program was established by the Utah Legislature and USBE to reward and retain qualified Utah educators who earn a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification, and to assist with the fees affiliated with obtaining and maintaining this Certification.
Title 53F-2-523: Salary Supplement for National Board-certified Teachers
Utah State Legislature
R277-317: Incentives for National Board Certification
Utah State Board of Education Administrative Rules
Effective Teachers in High Poverty Schools (ETHPS)
The ETHPS was established by the Utah Legislature to reward and retain qualified educators who are employed in a high poverty school and show a Median Growth Percentile (MGP) of 70 or higher in a course for which a standards assessment is administered or teach grades Kindergarten, 1, 2, or 3 and achieve at least 85% of students whose progress is assessed as typical or better.
Title 53F-2-513: Effective Teachers in High Poverty Schools Incentive Program - Salary
bonus - Evaluation
Utah State Legislature
R277-925: Effective Teachers in High Poverty Schools Incentive Program
Utah State Board of Education Administrative Rules
Contact
For additional information and program details, please contact the Program Specialist at tssp@schools.utah.gov.
Salary Supplement for Highly Needed Educators (SHiNE)
In 2024 General Session, SB 173 created the Salary Supplement for Highly Needed Educators (SHiNE) program. This program will take the place of the Teacher Salary Supplement Program (TSSP) in the 2025-2026 school year. The intent of the bill is to allow individual LEAs to determine which teachers are highly needed in their schools. A highly needed educator means a teacher who is filling a position that is challenging to fill or retain. Funds will be allocated to LEAs based on student enrollment count and disbursed to LEAs in 1/12th payments.
Please contact your school district or charter school for SHiNE applications.
LEA Resources:
Salary Supplement for National Board-certified Teachers (SSNBCT)
“National Board Certification was designed to develop, retain and recognize accomplished teachers and to generate ongoing improvement in schools nationwide. It is the most respected professional certification available in K-12 education.”
The SSNBCT Bonus and Pre-payment Programs were established by the Utah Legislature and Utah State Board of Education (USBE) to reward and retain qualified educators who earn a National Board Certification, and to assist with the fees affiliated with obtaining and maintaining this Certification.
NBPTS Program Frequently Asked Questions Educator/Applicant
NBPTS Program Frequently Asked Questions LEA Administrator
NBPTS Program Bonus Program Qualifications
NBPTS Pre-Payment Program Enrollment Steps
Note: Apply between July 1 and January 31 for each program year.
NBPTS Program Terms and Conditions
If you are looking for professional learning resources, the National Board offers the following:
For assistance through the National Board certification process and to join the Utah National Board Coalition (UNBC), please contact them at UtahNBCT@gmail.com. The UNBC offers a MIDAS cohort course (#62537) to assist candidates through the certification process. Please contact them for information and questions.
Contact
For additional information and program details, please contact the Program Specialist at tssp@schools.utah.gov.
Effective Teachers in High Poverty Schools (ETHPS)
The ETHPS was established by the Utah Legislature to reward and retain qualified educators who are employed in a high poverty school and show a Median Growth Percentile (MGP) of 70 or higher in a course for which a standards assessment is administered or teach grades Kindergarten, 1, 2, or 3 and achieve at least 85% of students whose progress is assessed as typical or better.
ETHPS Frequently Asked Questions Local Education Agency (LEA) Administrators
ETHPS Frequently Asked Questions Teachers
School Year (SY) 2024-2025
Contact
For additional information and program details, please contact the Program Specialist at tssp@schools.utah.gov.
Teacher Salary Supplement Program (TSSP)
The 2024-2025 school year was the final funding opportunity under TSSP. The Utah Legislature created the new Salary Supplement for Highly Needed Educators (SHiNE) Program in the 2024 session that went into effect July 1, 2025. Please contact your employing local education agency (LEA) for information about the new salary supplement program qualifications.