The Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners has approved a new two-year agreement with the Baltimore Teachers Union (BTU) that provides increased teacher compensation, a new teacher career ladder, and a minimum starting salary that exceeds what is required by the law several years early.
The agreement with the BTU reinforces our efforts to grow our teachers’ skills and abilities while aligning with the goals established in the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future (Kirwan). The keystone is our new teacher career ladder, which provides multiple teacher leadership roles and opportunities for career advancement without leaving the classroom.
The agreement also provides increased teacher compensation, including higher base salary for all teachers, faster interval progression along the salary scale for more teachers, and a starting salary over $60,000.
Highlights of the new agreement include:
Three-percent base increases each year over the next two years
Increased base salary for educators with master’s degrees starting in SY2025-2026
Real-time compensation for additional roles and responsibilities previously compensated through the Achievement Unit (AU) menu and a one-time cash payment for eligible banked AUs
Increased compensation for National Board Certification (dependent on funding from the state)
New teacher leadership positions that provide teachers with increased compensation and opportunities to serve in leadership roles in their schools without leaving the classroom, with parallel positions for related service providers.
Attention BTU members with a master’s degree:
Human Capital will share an update in January about how to ensure your master's degree is on file and that you will be eligible for the new $2,500 increase to base salary for having a conferred master's degree, which goes into effect July 1, 2025. Each BTU member is eligible for one $2,500 master's degree salary increase, regardless of how many master's degrees or other post-graduate degrees you hold.
Learn more about the teacher career ladder and how to advance your career:
More information will be shared in January about implementation of the career ladder, including new teacher career ladder positions planned for SY25-26.