Your Money
Your Salary
How Much Will I Earn?
The amount of your paycheck depends on:
- The salary schedule that the union and the city negotiates in the contract.
- How long you have been teaching.
- Credits and degrees you earn beyond your bachelor’s degree.
The salary schedule is complex. It allows you to increase your earnings as you gain experience and accumulate graduate credits and a master’s degree. New teachers with different educational credentials and amounts of prior experience may start at different rates of pay.
The chart shows three common examples of starting annual salaries.
Teacher |
Salary Step |
Differential |
Annual pay as of May 19, 2008 |
| BA degree, no experience | 1A | C1 | $45,530 |
| Master's degree, no experience | 1A | C2+PD | $51,425 |
| Master's degree,plus 30 credits or 7 1/2 years credited experience |
8B | C6+PD | $74,797 |
How to Read Your Pay Stub
It’s important to check your pay stub to be sure you are getting the correct salary with the proper deductions.
To verify that you are getting the right amount on each paycheck, look for the words “REGULAR PAY” and multiply that number by 24 (the total number of pay periods each year).
- That number should equal the gross amount you expect based on your years of service (salary step) and approved differentials.
- If you think this annual salary is incorrect, talk to your payroll secretary, then check with a salary rep in your UFT borough office.
Common Deduction Codes
Of course, the net salary on your check or pay stub reflects a lower amount than your gross salary. The DOE makes deductions for federal, state and local income taxes, Social Security taxes and other items.
Your pay stub will indicate the amount deducted for each item during that pay period and will also show you a cumulative total for the calendar year.
Here are some abbreviations for deductions that everyone will have on the pay stub:
Health insurance: If you enrolled in a cost-free health plan, the stub will say, for example, HIP or GHI, with no amount. If you are paying for additional benefits, there would be a charge; for example, the stub might say GHI-CBP.
Pension contribution: Look for TRS 414H to make sure you are enrolled in the Teachers’ Retirement System pension plan.
UFT dues: Look for “UFT” followed by “–U.” (Without the “–U” you are not a member because you have not filed a union membership card. In that case, the deduction reflects an “agency fee” which, by state law, everyone protected by a contract must pay for representation. See your chapter leader if you need clarification or to sign a membership card.)
Optional Deductions and Codes
In addition, you can choose to have other deductions taken from your salary:
UFT COPE. This is a contribution you volunteered to make to support the union’s lobbying and political action program. The code is UFT COPE.
Flexible Spending Account. Pre-tax deductions for dependent care expenses and uncovered medical costs.
NYSUT insurance plans. You can opt to pay for certain benefits, such as insurance against catastrophic illness, through our state affiliate, New York State United Teachers. Any options that you select from the NYSUT Member Benefits Trust will show up on the pay stub as “UFT insurance.”
Tax-deferred annuity: Look for TRS TDA after you have enrolled.
TransitChek. City employees can save on public transportation by participating in cost-saving TransitChek. Employees can enroll, update and cancel their participation through the DOE’s Payroll Employee Self-Service Application Web site. The pay stub code is TRBN.
How to Read the Salary Schedule
The UFT salary schedule allows you to earn more money — thousands of dollars more each year — as you spend more time on the job (in what are called steps) and as you earn more education credits (in what are called differentials).
- You will automatically get pay increases based on steps.
- You must apply for pay increases based on differentials.
- You must apply within six months for both salary step and salary differential in order to receive retroactive arrears to your eligibility date.
- You may be entitled to more than one differential at a time. These combinations are shown in the top row of the salary schedule.
- Before applying for these differentials, speak to your chapter leader or to a salary expert at your UFT borough office.
Here’s how to read the salary schedule:
Steps: If you teach without interruption, you can move through the steps at the rate of two steps per year (e.g. 1A and 1B) for each year you work, increasing your earnings up to Step 8B.
- You will automatically receive pay increases based on your anniversary/equated date of hire and on March 1.
- After your fifth year and at intervals thereafter, you will receive “longevity” increments — also called “longevities.” These come after you have taught in New York City for 5, 10, 13, 15, 18, 20 and 22 years. (The five-year longevity is a recent addition to the contract which the UFT demanded to help retain newer teachers in the system.) These are indicated along the vertical axis of the schedule.
Differentials: Salary differentials are granted for credits you earn beyond your bachelor’s degree including CLEP exams. These are shown along the horizontal axis. Each differential can add thousands of dollars to your annual earnings — permanently — and cumulative differentials can make a big difference in your earning power. Here is a brief summary of the differentials:
C1: This is the basic salary for those who have only a bachelor’s degree.
C1+PD: This column applies only to teachers hired before 1970.
C2: This is called the first differential. It requires 30 credits beyond the bachelor’s degree requirement. These may be all excess undergraduate credits, all graduate credits, or a combination of both.
C2+ID: This column, the intermediate differential (ID), applies to people who have earned their first differential and in addition have 60 credits beyond the bachelor’s.
C2+PD: This is called the promotional differential or PD. It requires 36 credits in an approved subject matter area; those 36 credits may be undergraduate, graduate, or a combination. Generally speaking, you qualify when you get your master’s degree.
C2+ID+PD: This is for people who have met the requirements for the first differential, the intermediate differential and the promotional differential.
C6+PD: This is the second differential. It can be achieved in several ways:
- With a master’s degree plus another 30 credits that were taken after the date of your bachelor’s but not as part of your master’s credits. The credits can be from undergraduate or graduate courses.
- With professional development courses and/or activities approved by the chancellor.
- By getting National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification.
Differentials are not automatically awarded. You must apply for them within six months of completing your coursework.
- Differentials are paid as of Feb. 1, July 1 and Sept. 1, respectively, for work you’ve completed in the previous fall, spring and summer semesters.
- For example, if you complete your coursework by Jan. 31 and file by July 31, the DOE will pay your differential in the fall semester with arrears back to Feb. 1.
Apply for prior service salary credit. If you taught in another school system, worked as a regular or per diem substitute in the New York City system or, for certain licenses, had nonteaching experience related to your license area, you may qualify for salary credit and placement on a step above 1A. You must apply for credit within six months. At the UFT’s urging, the DOE increased the amount of credit you can receive for prior experience. Now you can start at anywhere up to Step 8B. That means that as of May 2008, someone with eight years of credited experience and 30 credits above a master’s degree would start at $74,797.
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