A member must reinstate all eligible withdrawn service if more than one account has been withdrawn. Military service includes both voluntary active duty and duty rendered during the school years in which the military draft was in effect. To be eligible to purchase up to five years of military service, the member must have been a member of TRS for five years. A member receiving credit under these provisions may not receive military service credit for the same military service. In 1937, when TRS was established, members could waive their right to participate in the retirement system, as could auxiliary employees in 1949.
Membership is now a condition of employment.
Waiver service may be purchased by members who opted out of the system between 1937 and 1949. A person currently employed in a TRS-covered position may revoke the waiver by making payments for the years of waived service. A TRS member with five years of service may apply for the purchase of up to two years of credit for developmental leave . Developmental leave credit cannot be used toward computing retirement benefits until the member has at least 10 years of actual Texas public school service. A maximum of 10 years may be purchased.