I wanted to let anyone who happens to be a Texas Teacher know about this option I took advantage of because I don't think they are making it very well known: If you are a Texas Teacher who substituted before becoming a teacher, you can buy those years of substitute service from TRS. Better yet, they will give you payments up to 5 years. To buy one year of service, you must have subbed 90 days or more in one year. And, the cost of the year of service is usually minimal because it is based on your salary when subbing! To find out what you qualify for, go to your school district where you subbed and ask personnel (for me, my info was in the sub center) to fill out the form for TRS purchase of service. They should know what it is. They will fill it out and give it to you. You mail it to TRS who sends you the cost and the # of years you can buy. Note: Because this isn't made very public, the school districts don't get a lot of requests for this and may seem like they don't know what to do. You can always call TRS for the form if you need to. Hey, if I can get some more years towards retirement, why not? Hope this helps somebody!
