Special School Teacher Salary

If you happen to come across teachers who have some whooping 30 or more years of teaching experience in the US, be it in public schools or private schools, you'll notice that these teachers command salaries to the tune of $100K or more. But these teachers in the age group 55 to 60, had to wait for long to earn such high salaries. Now, when they're about to retire, perks, bonuses and pension schemes are making them eligible for retirement money amounting to millions. Special education teacher salary, just like other type of teacher salaries, has been looked forward to with oodles of optimism, thanks to huge potential of growth in this field. The average salary of a special education teacher in the United States falls anywhere in the range of $30,000 to $60,000. Now this trend, is just one facet of the picture. Depending on several factors, special education teachers salary can vary.

Special Education Teacher Average Salary

School teacher salaries saw a jump in the 1980s and since then salary prospects have improved for teachers. Every now and then, debate about better school teacher salary gains prominence in educational spheres. Nonetheless, salaries and added benefits have certainly improved for teachers in the past couple of decades and so, being positive about this profession is the key to growth. Special education teacher salary depends largely on four factors; educational qualifications, work experience, type of employer and location of job.

Type of Employer
The type of special school; elementary, middle and high school, a teacher is working in, determines the earning potential of a special school teacher. Teachers working in elementary schools; kindergartens and preschools can earn anywhere between $34,000 to $50,000 yearly. Bonuses in the range of US$450 to US$2000 are also granted to teachers. Special education teacher salary for those working in middle school is between $36,000 to $51,000. Those teaching children with learning disabilities in high school can earn anywhere from $35,000 to $55,000.

Educational Qualifications
Educational qualifications can create a major difference in the earning of special education teachers. This is an observation that you can decipher while looking at numerous salary ranges for jobs. Visiting the website of BLS can help you to know exact educational requirements to become a special education teacher in any U.S. state.

Work Experience
Chances are very high that you may command high special education teacher salary, if you have advanced qualifications and degrees. However, in professional field, work experience is looked upon with great value. The significant difference in work experience is seen in wages of employees. While a fresher in special education teaching profession may start from $30,000, an individual with 5 or more years of work experience has the potential to attract salaries in the range of $70,000 (obviously, earning 70K does demand at par qualifications and a good employer)

Location of Job
Mostly, when we look at the salary figures of teaching jobs, we're indirectly looking at an average national data which may, or may not, include vital parameters like cost of living in a city. The special education teacher salary in high cost of living cities like Los Angeles, California and New York is around $60,000. Special education teacher salary in cities like Chicago is between $30,000 to $50,000.

This information on special education teacher salary has been presented before you after research from several sources. It is essential for you to understand that these parameters fluctuate owing to nature of market and economy. These are just rough figures and what a special education teacher may get in hand, can be slightly less or more than the figures mentioned here. Besides salaries, teachers are also entitled to perks and benefits.