How To Get Paid More, Without Doing Much

Learning objective: Teachers will be able to (TWBAT) take small steps towards getting a big raise.

Did you know that as teachers, we can be proactive about how much we get paid? Here is a brief breakdown of how the teaching salary schedule works. A teacher’s salary is based on two things: 1) years of teaching experience and 2) number of postgraduate units you accumulate. Now we cannot control our years of teaching experience, but we can be proactive about our unit count--and the sooner you take action, the better! Why wait until you have time? You are losing money by waiting.

On average, in the Bay Area, the difference in pay between maxing out on units and the base level is $6,000. Imagine putting away that extra $6,000 each year and having it compound over time in a savings account. Smart move, I say.

You are probably thinking, “Well, what do I have to do to get that money? It’s a lot of cash, so I probably have to do a lot.” People, this is the EASIEST way to give yourself a raise:

Courses4Teachers and University of the Pacific partnered together to help teachers get credits by simply keeping a log of the work they are doing. This includes reading classroom management books, making handouts, developing systems for your classroom; anything you are doing to improve your teaching that you are not getting paid for! We all do these things, why not get paid for it! Here are the logistics. For each semester unit, you must document 15 hours and pay $93 dollars. (That is pretty cheap compared to paying for units through other means.)

Student teachers, you have an extra advantage, so listen up! You know those long faculty meetings and professional development trainings you attend to network with teachers at your school? Well, since you aren’t getting paid for them, you can log them! So what are you waiting for? Log those hours now so when school rolls around, the extra cash will roll in too. Be that student teacher who maxes out on his/her units before even clearing your teaching credential!

Here is where to sign up and get all the information. Let's get ready for school together! :)

"Success will never be a big step in the future; success is a small step taken just now."