The state has tightened its rules on higher salaries for teachers who earn advanced degrees. No longer will just any advanced degree put them into an upper salary range.

Until now teachers could ‘up’ their salary with any masters degree. It did not have to be in their field of instruction. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the state spends $800 million on advanced degree salary for teachers. The average bump equates to about $6,500.

Officials with the Georgia Professional Standards Commission now want advanced degrees to be those that have relevance to what teachers teach in the classroom.

Tim Callahan with the Professional Association of Georgia Educators says the group supports the change:

“We don’t have a problem with that line of thinking. Our concern was that we treat fairly those who are in the pipeline toward degrees, and those who have already played by the rules—‘grandfathering’ those two groups in.”

The new rule will allow a grace period into next summer for teachers already underway with masters’ coursework.

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