The hard-to-staff (HTS) salary differential is designed to target employees in designated teaching licenses and/or other UFT-represented titles within specific schools. The HTS salary differential is part of the Bronx Plan – a joint initiative between the DOE and the UFT to support historically underserved schools in targeted neighborhoods throughout the city.

If a teacher or other pedagogue earning a hard-to-staff salary differential is rated Ineffective or Unsatisfactory after the completion of their first school year, and they remain in an eligible position, the differential shall be frozen for the following school year.

If the teacher or other pedagogue then receives an Ineffective or Unsatisfactory the following school year, they will not receive any part of the HTS salary differential for the previous school year. If the teacher receives a rating other than Unsatisfactory or Ineffective, they shall receive the full HTS salary differential payment in the fall of the next school year.

UFT instructional employees who are rated via the Advance system may have their pay frozen if they received an Ineffective/I rating for the previous school year. Employees paid below Step 8B and who received an Ineffective rating for a particular school year will have their pay frozen on a future paycheck. You should have received prior notification from the DOE to your school email. If there have been overpayments, payroll will notify you and those will be recovered.

However, if you were previously frozen due to an Ineffective rating in a prior school year, but received a recent rating of Highly Effective, Effective or Developing, your pay will be unfrozen and restored on a later paycheck. The check will include any arrears due.

If a paper check is lost, stolen or mutilated, a stop payment must be placed on it. To report a stolen, mutilated or lost check contact the DOE Check Management Unit at 718-935-2219 or send an email to CheckManagement@schools.nyc.gov. You must include your name, file/EIS/EID number, mailing address, phone number and personal email address.

The DOE will stop the check and you will receive an affidavit from OPA-FISA that you must complete, have notarized and return to OPA-FISA. Once OPA-FISA determines the check has not been cashed, a replacement check will be issued. This process may take up to six weeks.

In-service DOE employees can access their W-2, 1127 waiver and 1095-C tax forms online on the NYCAPS Employee Self Service web page. DOE employees must choose the option for electronic delivery of their tax forms through NYCAPS and then will receive them via email by the end of January. The tax forms will be mailed to all other employees at the address on file at the DOE. Read the DOE Payroll Memorandum for instructions and guidance. 

CTE teachers can now apply for salary differentials through the DOE's salary application system (DOE login required). Learn more about how to qualify for CTE differentials and areas of specialization. »

The DOE school year payroll calendar  lists pay periods for different payroll banks. Different job titles are paid through different banks: 

• H-bank: Full-time school nurses, therapists, audiologists, sign language interpreters, education analysts/officers, associate education analysts/officers and administrative analysts/officers.
• Z-bank: All job titles listed above, but Z-bank is for hourly workers, not full-time.
• Q-bank: Full time pedagogues (teachers, secretaries, guidance counselors, psychologists, social workers, lab specialists), paraprofessionals and substitute paraprofessionals.
• Per-session/per diem: per session pedagogues and substitutes, including F-status employees.

Eligible educators can deduct from their federal income taxes up to $300 of unreimbursed expenses for books, supplies, computer equipment (including related software and services), other equipment and supplementary materials they use in the classroom, according to the IRS. The educator expense deduction is an "adjustment to gross income," so you can use it whether or not you use the standard deduction or itemize deductions. 

To be eligible for this deduction, you must work for at least 900 hours during a school year at a school that provides elementary or secondary education as a teacher, instructor, counselor, principal or aide. See more about educator deductions via the IRS. 

The agency raised the deduction from $250 to $300 for tax year 2022, the first time the deduction had increased since its enactment in 2002. If you are married, filing jointly, and both spouses are educators, you can deduct up to $600, but not more than $300 each. For courses in health and physical education, expenses for supplies are qualified expenses only if they are related to athletics. You should keep documentation, such as receipts or canceled checks, for any deductions you take.

You may also deduct your union dues from your state income taxes if you itemize deductions on your state tax return form, but not on your federal taxes, as a result of the 2017 federal tax law changes.

To apply for salary credit for prior work experience, CTE teachers must fill out the DOE’s credit for prior experience form and email it to SalaryDifferentialApplications@schools.nyc.gov
See more about salary differentials and prior work experience credit for CTE teachers.

If you started working on the first day of school (for example, on 9/4), your first check (for example, distributed on 9/14), will be less than the regular, full amount. This is because there are days in the pay cycle (in this example, 9/1 through 9/3) which you did not work.  These non-working days may be shown on your paycheck as a negative adjustment.

This only affects new hires on payroll banks Q742 (pedagogues) and Q744 (paraprofessionals), who are paid semi-monthly.

Your second paycheck will reflect a full pay period.