How CTE instructional materials get funded in Texas

Texas districts have three state funding streams for instructional materials, and they follow different rules. One of them — the $40 per-student SBOE-Approved Instructional Materials Entitlement — can only be spent on materials approved through the state’s IMRA review. Until IMRA Cycle 2026, CTE courses were not part of that review, so that stream was effectively closed to your pathway. That is changing for the 2027–28 school year.

This guide explains the three streams in plain language: what each one buys, when the money lands, what rolls over and what expires, and how the arithmetic works for a district your size. We wrote it because the funding side of this change is the part nobody explained to CTE.

What's inside

  • The three streams side by side — IMTA, the $40 entitlement, the $20 OER entitlement
  • Why the $40 entitlement math favors CTE, with a worked example
  • Where to look up your own district’s current balance
  • What IMTA still covers that the entitlement does not, including PD on materials and LMS costs
  • The full calendar for a 2027–28 adoption
  • A checklist for getting a CTE request through your district’s process
Download the guide (PDF)

or read the full version below

Questions we get most

No. Unused $40 entitlement funds roll over. The August 31 deadline applies to the separate $20 OER entitlement, which does not roll over. The two get conflated constantly.

No — those funds are restricted to IMRA-approved materials listed in EMAT. IMTA is the flexible stream, and it can be used for non-adopted and supplemental materials.

From TSDS/PEIMS enrolment: initially 90% of the prior year’s fall enrolment, with a final adjustment once current-year data is in, usually in May.

No. The entitlement is additive. Perkins V and local CTE budgets are unchanged.

Funding CTE instructional materials in Texas

For the first time, career and technical education courses are part of the state’s instructional materials review. That changes which pots of money your pathway can draw on. Here is a plain-language explanation of the three streams, what each one can and cannot buy, and the dates that matter.

Written for district CTE directors, instructional materials coordinators, and business & marketing department chairs. Current as of September 2026.

What changed

Since House Bill 1605 passed in 2023, Texas has reviewed instructional materials through an annual process called IMRA — Instructional Materials Review and Approval. Materials are evaluated against state rubrics for TEKS coverage, quality, and suitability, and the State Board of Education votes on whether to place them on the List of Approved Instructional Materials.

Until now, that process covered foundation subjects: reading, math, phonics. IMRA Cycle 2026 is the first cycle to include 6–12 CTE courses, starting with a first batch of courses that includes Marketing and Entrepreneurship I. Materials approved in this cycle become available to order in EMAT, the state’s instructional materials ordering system, beginning in the 2027–28 school year.

The practical consequence is a funding one. One of the state’s three instructional materials funding streams can only be spent on IMRA-approved materials. Until this cycle, there was effectively nothing on that list for a CTE pathway to buy. Beginning in 2027–28, there will be.

The three funding streams, side by side

IMTA SBOE-Approved IM Entitlement State-Developed OER Entitlement
Amount Biennial allotment set by the Legislature $40 per enrolled student, annually $20 per enrolled student, annually
What it buys Broad: adopted and non-adopted materials, consumables, technology equipment, software and services, certain technical support salaries Only instructional materials placed on the approved list through IMRA and listed in EMAT Only printing of state-developed, SBOE-approved OER (Bluebonnet Learning) program bundles
How you access it EMAT requisitions and disbursements EMAT requisitions only EMAT requisitions only
Timing Typically available after September 1 of each odd-numbered year Loaded in EMAT after September 1 each year Loaded in EMAT after September 1 each year
Rollover Unused funds roll over to the next fiscal period Unused funds roll over Does not roll over; requisitions must be submitted before August 31
Relevant to CTE? Yes, and always has been Yes, newly, from 2027–28 No

Source: TEA, Instructional Materials Funding. The August 31 expiry is frequently misattributed to the $40 entitlement; it applies to the $20 OER entitlement.

Why the arithmetic favors CTE

The $40 entitlement is calculated on your district’s total enrolment, not on enrolment in any particular course or program. A district’s entitlement is the
same whether it teaches marketing to 40 students or 400.

That means the size of the pool has no relationship to the size of a CTE adoption. Set against a district-wide balance, equipping every marketing and
entrepreneurship section in a high school is a small line item — usually a fraction of one percent of the annual entitlement.

Illustrative example: a 40,000-student district

Annual SBOE-approved entitlement at $40 per enrolled student $1,600,000
Students enrolled in Marketing and Entrepreneurship I, district-wide 600
Share of the annual entitlement needed to cover them, at $30 per seat 1.1%
Entitlement remaining for all other approved materials $1,582,000

The figures above are illustrative, not a quote, and the entitlement is a district-level resource with many claims on it. Core-subject adoptions will and
should take the largest share. The point is narrower than “there is money lying around.” It is that a CTE request out of this stream is small enough that it
rarely has to displace anything, which has not historically been true of CTE requests out of IMTA or the local budget

Look up your own district's balance

TEA publishes district-level balance reports for each stream, updated regularly and open to the public. If you are building a case internally, start with the
actual number rather than an estimate:

What IMTA still covers that the entitlement does not

The entitlement pays for approved materials and nothing else. IMTA remains the stream for everything around them, and several allowable categories are directly useful when standing up a new CTE program:

  • Publisher and vendor training on the use of instructional materials, including implementation professional development. Note that general professional development is not allowable — the training has to be on the materials themselves.
  • Local review and adoption activities, including contracted services to determine TEKS coverage of candidate materials.
  • Learning management systems and other software for storing, managing, and accessing instructional materials, plus single sign-on services and online workspace tools.
  • Printing services, paper, and toner for reproducing materials where the license permits printing — relevant if you run a digital program but want print components for some students.
  • Technology equipment that supports the use of materials: laptops, headphones, charging carts, protective cases.
  • Technical support salaries for staff supporting the technology students learn on, reimbursed by disbursement request.

Travel, office supplies, furniture, and teacher or coordinator salaries are not allowable under IMTA. And your Perkins V allocation and local CTE budget are unaffected by any of this — the entitlement is additive.

The calendar for a 2027–28 adoption

When What happens
May – July 2026 Submitted materials posted for public review; public comment period open
Summer 2026 Educator review panels evaluate materials against the state rubrics
September 2026 SBOE meeting; public testimony on materials under review
November 2026 Final SBOE action expected on IMRA Cycle 2026 materials
Following weeks TEA communicates results to districts by To the Administrator Addressed letter; review reports posted publicly
Spring 2027 District review, pilots, and selection for the coming year
After September 1, 2027 2027–28 entitlement funds loaded in EMAT; approved CTE materials orderable
2027–28 school year Classroom implementation

Dates reflect TEA’s published IMRA Cycle 2026 schedule and should be reconfirmed against TEA communications as the cycle concludes.

A short checklist for CTE directors

Pull your district's current entitlement balance

from the TEA report above, so you are working from a real figure in budget conversations.

Pull your district's current entitlement balance

from the TEA report above, so you are working from a real figure in budget conversations.

Get on the agenda early.

The entitlement is a single pool. Requests that arrive after the core-subject conversation has concluded are competing for a remainder.

Confirm the review reports

for any program you are considering. Rubric scores and reviewer comments for each program are published, and they are the most objective comparison available.

Check what is on the approved list for your specific course.

Approval is course-by-course. A publisher approved for one course is not automatically approved for another.

Separate the materials ask from the surrounding costs.

Materials come from the entitlement; PD on those materials, LMS, and devices come from IMTA. Splitting the request across streams often gets it approved faster.

Subscribe to TEA's GovDelivery updates

so funding amounts and TAA letters reach you directly rather than secondhand.

Common Questions

No. Unused $40 entitlement funds roll over across fiscal years. The August 31 requisition deadline applies to the separate $20 State-Developed OER entitlement, which does not roll over. These two are often conflated.

No. Those funds are restricted to materials approved through IMRA and listed in EMAT. IMTA, by contrast, can be used for non-adopted and supplemental materials, which is how most CTE purchasing has worked to date.

From TSDS/PEIMS enrolment data. The initial figure uses 90% of the prior year’s fall enrolment, with a final adjustment once current-year enrolment is available — typically in May. TEA calls that adjustment the EMAT settle-up process.

Not necessarily. Approval status affects which funding stream can pay for something, not whether you are permitted to teach with it. Many districts run an approved core program alongside supplemental resources purchased with IMTA or Perkins funds.

Yes. TEA’s multi-year plan phases CTE in across several cycles, with additional course batches reviewed in subsequent cycles and all CTE courses in scope by Cycle 2029. If your course is not in the first batch, it is coming.

TEA publishes daily EMAT expenditure reports by publisher, title, and district. They are public and useful for benchmarking.

About this guide

Mujo Learning Systems builds career-ready curriculum for high school CTE and higher education across marketing, business, entrepreneurship, AI, and web design. We submitted two Texas Edition titles for review in IMRA Cycle 2026: Mujo Foundations of Marketing, Texas Edition for the Marketing course, and Mujo Entrepreneurship Fundamentals: In An AI World, Texas Edition for Entrepreneurship I.

We wrote this guide because the funding mechanics are the part of the change that nobody explained to CTE. If something here is unclear or you want the version specific to your district’s numbers, we are happy to talk — whether or not you ever look at our curriculum.

Texas CTE resources at mujo.com/texas

This guide summarizes publicly available TEA and SBOE guidance as of September 2026 and is provided for general information. It is not legal, remainder. Confirm the review reports for any program you are considering. Rubric scores and reviewer comments for each program are published, and they are the most objective comparison available. Check what is on the approved list for your specific course. Approval is course-by-course. A publisher approved for one course is not automatically approved for another. Separate the materials ask from the surrounding costs. Materials come from the entitlement; PD on those materials, LMS, and devices come from IMTA. Splitting the request across streams often gets it approved faster. Subscribe to TEA’s GovDelivery updates so funding amounts and TAA letters reach you directly rather than secondhand. financial, or procurement advice. Funding rules, amounts, and deadlines are set by the Texas Education Agency and the Legislature and can change — confirm current requirements with TEA or your Education Service Center before making purchasing decisions. Sources: TEA Instructional Materials Funding; SBOE Instructional Materials Review and Approval; IMRA Cycle 2026 Request for Instructional Materials.