Evergreen Public Schools salary schedule: how teachers move to a higher column

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How is the Evergreen teacher salary schedule organized?

The 2026-2027 EEA Salary Schedule is linked from the Evergreen Education Association section of the district's Human Resources site. It contains three tables with matching grids:

• the Base Salary Schedule;
• a Responsibility Stipend;
• pay for six Professional Development Days.

Each table has 15 steps and the same seven columns. Unlike several Puget Sound districts, Evergreen does not cut its low columns short: BA+0 runs to step 15 just as MA+90/D does. Teachers brand-new to the profession, and those with one year of experience, start on Step 1.

The paired column labels carry the rules. A master's lands you in BA+90/MA+0 even without 90 credits. The sixth column is labeled BA+135*/MA+45, and its footnote reads: "In order to be placed in the BA + 135 column an employee must have earned the 135 credits prior to January 1, 1992." The district adds that this is consistent with existing state S-275 rules, so for current teachers the column means a master's plus 45. The last column pairs MA+90 with a doctorate. Our guide to salary lane names explains slash labels like these.

Article IV ties annual increases to the state's implicit price deflator and adds a TRI (time, responsibility and incentive) mechanism with "COLA banking" when combined increases fall short of inflation. Those clauses change dollar amounts, not the rules for moving across.

Which units count toward an Evergreen column change?

Section C of Article IV adds your highest degree to any academic and in-service credits that did not count toward it. Everything must be earned after your first bachelor's degree. If your degree program required more than 45 credits, the extra credits carry over: the agreement's example is a 60-credit master's that leaves 15 "in-excess" credits for the post-MA columns.

Academic credits need a college accredited under WAC 250-61-050 and a course numbered 100 or above that counts toward a bachelor's or more advanced degree, by transfer or directly. They equal the number of quarter-hour units; semester hours are converted to quarter hours first. The quarter versus semester units article explains that conversion.

Clock hours qualify when a PESB-approved program under WAC 181-85-200 issues them and they postdate both August 31, 1987 and your first bachelor's. For every 10 clock hours you accrue one education credit. A credit can be used only once: hours counted as academic credit cannot also count as in-service credit.

Content matters for anything earned after September 1, 1995. Each course must meet at least one listed criterion, among them consistency with your school's plan for student learning, relevance to your current or expected assignment, a PESB endorsement, advanced certification, a related degree program, or strategies for students with dyslexia, dysgraphia and language disabilities. Once Evergreen or a previous Washington employer has recognized a course, it stays recognized in later years.

Career and technical education teachers convert CTE clock hours at the same 10-to-1 rate. A CTE teacher who held a master's before being hired as a non-degreed vocational employee may submit 450 clock hours, or equivalent credits, to move to the MA 90/D column.

Does Evergreen require approval before you take a course?

Article IV contains no pre-approval step for coursework. Human Resources measures what you submit against the Section C criteria after the fact. Because the decision comes at filing time, a quick question to HR before you enroll is cheap insurance; our article on whether a district will accept a course suggests what to ask.

When are transcripts due, and when does the new column take effect?

Article IV, Section A gives teachers until October 15 each year to submit documentation of completed academic credit or clock hours, or until the last school day before it if October 15 falls on a non-school day. The work itself must be earned by September 30; anything finished after that waits a year. If a transcript is still in transit, tell the Human Resources Office in writing, and remember that ordering transcripts from the college is your job.

All credits submitted by October 15 are used to calculate advancement, the higher salary is paid retroactively to September 1, and any increment earned applies to the whole contract year, paid no later than the November 30 payday. Anyone who starts after the school year opens has 30 days from their first day of work to put college and experience credits on file.

Worked example: a BA+30 teacher finishes a summer course worth 4.5 quarter credits and logs 105 approved clock hours (10.5 credits) by September 30. The total of 45 credits moves them to BA+45, with the raise back-dated to September 1 if documentation reaches HR by October 15. See transcript deadlines for why grade-posting time matters.

Do the same units count toward Washington license renewal?

Largely, since Evergreen requires the same PESB-approved clock hours the state uses for renewal. The state asks for 100 clock hours per five-year certificate, 15 of them on equity-based school practices, and counts a quarter credit as 10 hours. Our Washington state guide sets out the renewal rules step by step.

Where can Evergreen teachers earn graduate-level units?

Every district, Evergreen 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 Evergreen's human resources office is the safest record to have before you pay.

Before you enroll: Pacific describes these professional development units as "not applicable for a degree at Pacific" but transferable "at the discretion of your institution." Whether that meets the transferable-or-degree-applicable test is Evergreen's decision, so ask human resources in writing before you enroll.

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)
• For Teachers By Teachers: self-paced, units through CSU Pueblo or UMass Global; $285 CSU Pueblo for 3 credits (price notes)
• Fresno Pacific University CE: self-paced, up to 1 year, units through Fresno Pacific University; ≈$475 for 3 credits (price notes)
• Graduate Credit Courses: self-paced, units through Cal Poly Humboldt; $570 for 3 credits (price notes)
• Model Teaching: self-paced, 1 year, units through a choice of six universities, including University of the Pacific; $359 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 Evergreen has approved a provider or course; only the district can do that. TeacherPayGuide has commercial relationships with some providers it lists; how listings work.

Sources

1. Collective Bargaining Agreement between Evergreen Public Schools and Evergreen Education Association, 2026-2031, Evergreen Public Schools. Checked November 11, 2026
2. 2026-2027 EEA Salary Schedule, Evergreen Public Schools. Checked November 11, 2026
3. Clock hours, Washington Professional Educator Standards Board. Checked November 11, 2026
4. Human Resources, Salary and Bargaining, Evergreen Public Schools. Checked November 11, 2026

Reviewed November 11, 2026 by TeacherPayGuide editors.Report an error