If you teach in Illinois, you may have noticed that your district’s salary schedule may be different from that of a neighboring district, and options for salary increases depend on the individual school district you work in.
In many districts across Illinois, earning graduate-level credits can help you increase your salary. [https://www.modelteaching.com/teacher-salary-advancement-courses] For every 15 or 30 credits you accumulate beyond your bachelor’s degree or your master’s degree, your district could allow you to trigger a lane change on your salary schedule and add thousands of dollars to your paycheck every year.
How salary advancement works in Illinois
Illinois has a little over 850 school districts, and each district negotiates its own salary.  But despite variation across districts, the framework of a teacher’s salary schedule is often consistent, with steps that correspond to years of experience and lanes that correspond to your education level. Steps advance automatically each year. The longer you work in your district, the higher your salary will be. Lanes are different and require you to take action by advancing your teaching practice through additional degrees or the accumulation of credits related to your teaching practice.
Most Illinois districts that allow for salary advancement use 15-credit increments per lane, where you can change salary lanes after accumulating 15 credits after a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree. To activate a lane change and increase your salary, districts across Illinois generally state that you must earn graduate-level credits, meaning credits that come after your bachelor’s degree, with a grade posted on an official transcript from a regionally accredited university. So, in a state like Illinois, continuing your learning and improving your teaching craft through additional degrees and credits means more money in your pocket.
Some Example Illinois districts
Take a look at just a few Illinois districts to better understand how earning additional credits can improve your salary.
Chicago Public Schools (CPS)
CPS is the third-largest district in the U.S. with approximately 21,000 teachers. CPS uses a salary advancement structure with 6 lanes to advance your salary over your years of service.   You begin at the bachelor’s level, then can advance higher with a master’s degree. After a master’s degree, earning an additional 15 credits moves you up to the next lane, then accumulation of 30 credits, then accumulation of 45 credits, and finally earning a doctorate puts you at the highest lane for your salary schedule.  The salary implications are significant: over a 25-year teaching career, you can earn over an additional $500,000 just by earning credits and changing lanes. CPS Compensation and Pay Plan (Policy 302.8)
Niles Township High School District 219
Let’s take a look at a smaller suburban district next. D219 (Niles North + Niles West) employs about 900 professionals serving 4,600+ students in Skokie, Lincolnwood, and parts of Morton Grove and Niles. The district uses the standard Illinois lane structure where you advance every 15 graduate credits and move from your bachelor’s to a BA +15, then BA +30, and again for a master’s: MA, then MA +15, then MA +30. A lane change in a district like this is very valuable because, since the average salary is already so high here, each lane change step can increase your salary by $3,000- $5,000 mid career, per year. Over the course of your career, you could potentially earn an additional $300,000 just by earning salary advancement credits.  D219 Salary Schedule and Benefits
Naperville Community Unit School District 203
Let’s take a look at Naperville 203 next, since they take a slightly different approach to lane changes compared with many other Illinois districts. Instead of a 15-credit lane change increment, they use a 12-credit lane change, meaning they get a lane change after adding an additional 12 credits. Their lanes look something like this:  BA, BA+12, BA+24, MA, MA+12, MA+24, MA+36, MA+42, and MA+54. Like other districts, the impact on your salary is substantial. Over your teaching career, advancing through the lanes from your BA all the way up to the highest level of a master’s plus 54 additional credits, could put somewhere between $700,000 to $900,000 back into your bank account by the end of your career! The benefits of earning a master’s degree and additional credits are clear here. https://www.naperville203.org/departments-services/human-resources/collective-bargaining-agreements
Acero Charter Schools
Finally, let’s take a look at a charter school example. Acero Charter School is a unionized network of about 15 schools serving 8,000 students with approximately 500 teachers. The lane structure here is a bit simpler, with lanes at a BA, a MA, and then a few additional advanced lanes at the +30 and +60 level. While the base pay increases are typically just a few thousand dollars, over the course of a teacher’s career, that still amounts to over $100,000 in additional salary over your career.  Acero CBA via CTU
How Model Teaching helps Illinois teachers earn lane change credits
Model Teaching offers graduate-level credit courses through regionally accredited university partners, including Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), University of Massachusetts Global, University of the Pacific, Augustana University, and Valley City State University (VCSU). [https://www.modelteaching.com/university-partners] All five are regionally accredited and issue official graduate-level transcripts upon course completion. Courses from one of these regionally accredited institutions provide an official transcript, a letter grade, are taught by an instructor of record with a master’s degree or higher, and include ongoing instructional support and individualized written feedback, essential features of a strong course that are eligible for credits to advance your salary.
Model Teaching’s pay-as-you-go model means you pay a smaller registration fee up front, then only pay for the rest of your credits after you complete each course, and request your transcript right away. No payment plans, no monthly contracts, and no transcripts held until the end of a 12-month payment cycle. Most Illinois teachers can submit transcripts to their district within weeks of completing each course, ensuring you can meet your district’s deadline. While these kinds of credit courses are exactly what most districts typically look for in your lane change requirements, you should still always request pre-approval from your district for your lane change credits, since every district also has its own policies and standards.
