Short answer
How do Palm Beach teachers move to a higher column on the salary schedule?
Palm Beach has no degree columns to cross. Salaries sit on two open ranges, Grandfathered and Performance, and four degree supplements ride on top: master's, double master's, specialist and doctorate. You file Form PBSD 2277 with an official transcript. Hires since July 1, 2011 qualify only with a degree in a certification area, excluding Educational Leadership.
Source: CTA Collective Bargaining Agreement 2025-2028, Article VIII.M, School District of Palm Beach County. Checked .
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How is the Palm Beach teacher salary schedule organized?
Appendix A of the 2025-2028 agreement with the Classroom Teachers Association is titled "Open Range Grandfathered and Performance Pay Salary Schedules." Each one is a range with a minimum and maximum rather than a grid of steps. The district's FY26 salary information sheet, effective July 1, 2025, prints the "Performance Salary Schedule – Bachelor Degree" range and a new-hire placement table that credits up to 25 years of prior certified teaching. Degree pay appears below the range as separate supplement lines.
Three points about the two schedules matter for planning:
- Grandfathered is for teachers holding a Professional Service Contract or Continuing Contract. A PSC or CC holder who chooses performance pay gives up that contract for an annual contract and can never return to the Grandfathered schedule.
- Performance raises go only to Highly Effective and Effective ratings, as the FY26 sheet states under state law. For 2025-26, Article VIII.A gave all employees a 3.5% blended increase from July 1, 2025, and capped an Effective teacher's adjustment at no more than 75% of a Highly Effective teacher's.
- Placement waits on paperwork. New hires are paid the beginning salary until Form PBSD 2044 experience verification is approved, and it must arrive within 90 days of hire to be effective from the hire date.
If the idea of a range in place of a grid is new, how to read a salary schedule walks through both formats.
Do graduate-level courses raise pay at Palm Beach?
Hours alone never do, but for one group they can tip a degree into eligibility. Article VIII.M.1 covers teachers hired before July 1, 2011 and continuously employed since. Their degree qualifies if the major is in a certification area, with a major defined as at least 15 graduate hours in the field and no more than 3 hours of practicum or thesis. If the major does not fit, the degree still qualifies when it includes or is followed by 12 graduate hours in one of these:
- a content area on the teacher's certificate;
- Reading, where ESOL, language and linguistics courses count;
- Mathematics, where one statistics course and one computer programming course count;
- Science, Special Education or ESOL.
A Reading Endorsement on the certificate counts as 6 of those hours. Section M.1.f also names majors that qualify outright for this group: Guidance and Counseling, Conflict/Dispute Resolution, Reading, Math, Computer, Technology, Education Technology, Curriculum and Instruction, Teaching and Learning, and ESE. So for a pre-2011 teacher with an off-field master's, a short run of graduate-level coursework in Reading or Math can change the outcome. Units that count explains how districts read course levels on a transcript.
Section M.2 is narrower. A teacher hired on or after July 1, 2011 is paid only for a degree held in a certification area, citing section 1012.22. The 12-hour route is not part of M.2. Both groups share three conditions: the degree has to be awarded by a regionally accredited school the district recognizes, content courses must carry the subject prefix that matches the certificate, and no supplement is paid for Educational Leadership, Administration and Supervision, Administration or School Principal degrees. A supplement is revoked if the certification area it rests on is later dropped from the certificate.
Does Palm Beach require approval before you take a course?
No form approves a program in advance. Form PBSD 2277, "Advanced Degree Pay and Supplement Request for Instructional Employees" (Rev. 6/07/2023), is filed after the degree is posted. You mark the degree, list the major and send official transcripts in the university's sealed envelope or electronically from the school. Diplomas and copies of diplomas are not accepted. The packet goes to Compensation & Employee Information Services, Attention: Advanced Degrees, at 3300 Forest Hill Blvd., A-115, or by district pony to FHESC A-115. The Advanced Degree team reviews it, scans the result into your personnel file and mails a letter. Because eligibility turns on certificate subjects and course prefixes, compare your program's course codes with your certificate before enrolling; will my district accept it? lists the questions to ask.
When are transcripts due, and when does the new column take effect?
The district publishes no yearly cutoff for degree requests. Form 2277 says an approved supplement starts with the first paycheck after the process date, and Payroll handles any retroactive amount. The supplement is prorated across the paychecks in a fiscal year and shows under regular earnings. Until approval, the FY26 sheet says, a teacher stays at the beginning salary for degree purposes, so mailing the form and transcript together as soon as the degree posts shortens the wait. See transcript deadlines for ordering tips.
Do the same units count toward Florida license renewal?
Yes, and here the in-field limits do not apply. Palm Beach teachers renew a Professional Certificate under Florida's Rule 6A-4.0051 by earning, before the five-year validity period ends, either 120 inservice points or six college semester hours (an hour counts as 20 points), spread across every certificate subject, with one hour of it devoted to students with disabilities. A Palm Beach teacher hired in 2015 with a master's in an area outside the certificate draws no supplement, yet two graduate-level courses in the certificate subject still renew the license. One contract detail to plan around: the temporary-duty clause in Article V (Leaves) says that kind of duty may not be used to earn college credit or renew a certificate unless it is part of a Board-approved staff development program. The Florida renewal section has the full point rules, and the Florida state guide compares other districts.
Where can Palm Beach teachers earn graduate-level units?
Every district, Palm Beach included, decides for itself whether a course counts for the purpose a teacher needs it for: a column move, a stipend, license renewal or an added endorsement. No provider, university or website can make that decision, so the rules above come first, and written approval from Palm Beach's human resources office is the safest record to have before you pay.
At Palm Beach, units count toward pay only for some teachers or through a separate award, as units that count explains, so confirm with human resources that the rule applies to you before you enroll. Units can also count toward license renewal; see the renewal section.
| Question | What Palm Beach says | What to look for on the provider's site |
|---|---|---|
| Type of unit | Palm Beach: Advanced degrees; 12 graduate hours can qualify a pre-2011 degree | Semester or quarter units, graduate-level or not, and the university named on the transcript and its accreditor |
| Grade | See units that count | Letter grade or pass/fail on the transcript |
| Deadline | Palm Beach: None published; file when the degree posts | Published grading and transcript-posting time, and any rush option |
| Approval | Palm Beach: None; Form PBSD 2277 after the degree | Course descriptions or syllabi you can attach to an approval form |
| Price | Not set by the district | All-in price per credit, including any university or first-course fee (compare) |
Graduate-level credit providers, listed with the same facts
With those rules in hand, compare providers on the same points. Providers listed on this site, each with the same facts:
- Teacher Friendly: self-paced online, units through University of the Pacific; $336 first course for 3 credits (price notes)
- Credits for Educators: self-paced online, units through University of the Pacific; $297 for 3 credits (price notes)
- CE Credits Online: self-paced, 180 days, units through Valley City State, Augustana, Adams State or Cal Poly Humboldt; from $449 for 3 credits (price notes)
- TLC Graduate Credits: self-paced, units through CSU Pueblo; $425 for 3 credits (price notes)
- Upward Teachers: self-paced, 1 to 6 months, letter grade, units through UMass Global; $240 sale for 3 credits (price notes)
- VESi: self-paced online, 2- or 3-unit courses on special-needs instruction, units through University of the Pacific; $444 for 3 credits (price notes)
The provider directory lists 28 providers and programs by what teachers need them for, and Compare sets published prices for 16 of them side by side, with transcripts from 11 universities. A listing on this site does not mean Palm Beach has approved a provider or course; only the district can do that. TeacherPayGuide has commercial relationships with some providers it lists; how listings work.
Palm Beach salary questions teachers ask
Does Palm Beach pay for an Educational Leadership master's?
No. Article VIII.M excludes Educational Leadership, Administration and Supervision, Administration and School Principal degrees for bargaining unit employees, whatever the hire date.
I was hired in 2009. Does my Curriculum and Instruction master's qualify?
If you have been continuously employed since then, Section M.1.f lists Curriculum and Instruction among degrees that earn a supplement for that group.
Can I send a copy of my diploma with Form PBSD 2277?
No. The form accepts official transcripts only, in the sealed university envelope or sent electronically by the school.
When does Palm Beach start paying the advanced degree supplement?
With the first paycheck after Compensation & Employee Information Services processes the request. Payroll handles any retroactive payment.
Where can Palm Beach teachers take graduate-level courses for salary credit or renewal?
Palm Beach decides which courses count, under the rules on this page, so check with human resources before you enroll. Providers that teachers compare include Teacher Friendly, Credits for Educators, CE Credits Online, TLC Graduate Credits, Upward Teachers and VESi. They differ in format, transcript university, grading time and price; the provider directory and the Compare page list 16 providers with the same facts for each.
Sources
- Collective Bargaining Agreement, July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2028, School District of Palm Beach County and Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association. Checked
- FY26 Instructional Salary Information, effective July 1, 2025, School District of Palm Beach County. Checked
- Form PBSD 2277, Advanced Degree Pay and Supplement Request (Rev. 6/07/2023), School District of Palm Beach County. Checked
- Instructional (CTA) salary schedules, School District of Palm Beach County. Checked
- Section 1012.22, F.S. (2026 text). Checked
- F.A.C. Rule 6A-4.0051, educator certificate renewal. Checked
Reviewed November 11, 2026 by TeacherPayGuide editors.Report an error