Scheduled pay raises will go into effect for Alabama educators Oct. 1 — and some teachers will get thousands of dollars in additional stipends this school year.

The amount of additional pay depends on a teacher’s contract, school district and field.

Teachers who are granted a TEAMS contract will be bumped from a regular salary scale to a higher salary schedule. Through the TEAMS program, each school district can award one math and one science position for every 105 students in combined grades 6 through 12. The superintendent and local board must approve the contract.

A TEAMs teacher makes $49,530 or more, depending on their qualifications — a 12% increase from Alabama’s regular base pay of $44,226 for a first-year certified teacher. (Many districts offer a higher base pay than the state standard).

Alabama teachers are eligible for some additional bonuses if they have National Board Certification, including:

• $5,000 if they are NBCT-certified,
• $5,000 if they are NBCT-certified and teach certain subjects in a high-poverty school, and
• $5,000 if they are NBCT-certified, on a TEAMS contract and work in a “hard to staff” school.

Those bonuses can stack. More than 200 schools in 63 school districts are on the “hard to staff” list this school year.

Certified Academic Language Therapists employed by school districts are eligible for a $5,000 annual stipend.

Alabama lawmakers have added small stipends for some other types of educators, too.

Early childhood and elementary school teachers who take LETRS training — which aims to improve reading instruction — can earn a one-time $1,000 stipend.

Special education teachers and speech therapists will receive a $1,000 stipend this year.