Rule Number:160-5-2-.05

Experience for Salary Purposes

Code: GBA(5) 160-5-2-.05

EXPERIENCE FOR SALARY PURPOSES.

DEFINITIONS.
1. Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) –program of study featuring concentrations developed to provide students rigorous core elements, performance standards, and skills necessary after high school graduation to go straight into the workforce or postsecondary educational programs. (This may include programs such as agriculture, construction, business and computer, culinary arts, healthcare science, transportation and others.)
2. Certified Personnel –individuals trained in education who hold Teaching (T), Leadership (L), Service (S), Technical Specialist (TS), or Permit (P) certification issued by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.
3. Charter school – a public school that is operating under the terms of a charter, including, but not limited to, charter schools authorized by the Georgia Charter School Commission and charter schools not operating under a local board of education.
4. Clear Renewable Certificate – the certificate issued by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission which indicates all Special Georgia Requirements and other conditions have been met.
5. Creditable Year of Experience – a year of experience that meets the requirements of this rule.
6. Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) – the state agency charged with the fiscal and administrative management of certain aspects of K-12 public education, including the implementation of federal and state mandates. Such management is subject to supervision and oversight by the State Board of Education.
7. Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC) – the state agency created by O.C.G.A. § 20-2-983 and authorized to assume full responsibility for the certification, preparation and conduct of certified, licensed or permitted personnel employed in Georgia, and the development and administration of teacher certification testing.
8. Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) – the state agency mandated by O.C.G.A. § 20-14-26 to create a uniform performance-based accountability system for K-12 public schools that incorporates both state and federal mandates, including student and school performance standards.
9. Investing in Educational Excellence (IE2) – local education agency that contracts for flexibility, and accountability that allows LEAs to request increased flexibility from certain state laws, rules, and regulations in exchange for increased accountability and defined consequences through a contractual agreement with the State Board of Education under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-80.
10. Leadership Position – a position in which an individual has the authority and/or responsibility, in a supervisory role, for LUA approved educational programs and/or personnel required to hold certification for their assigned job as determined by Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC).
11. Local Educational Agency (LEA) – local school system pursuant to local board of education control and management.
12. Local Unit of Administration (LUA) – a local education agency or a regional educational service agency.
13. Recognized Accrediting Agency – an entity, recognized by the U.S.Department of Education (US ED), responsible for granting accreditation to public and private schools and school districts throughout the United States, or the Georgia Accrediting Commission (GAC).
14. Regional Educational Service Agencies (RESAs) - an agency established under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-270 to provide shared services to improve the effectiveness of educational programs and services of LEAs and to provide direct instructional programs to selected public school students.
15. Salary Schedule Categories BT and T – The two categories on the State Salary Schedule referred to as BT and T that correspond to the certified personnel’s certificate title held. Placement in the BT category is determined by certificate titles where content requirements have been completed for the field but pedagogy requirements have not been completed, with the exception of Special Georgia Requirements. An example of an educator who would be placed on the BT category of the State Salary Schedule would be a teacher who had a Bachelor’s degree in Math (met content requirement) but had not yet completed their teacher preparation program through either a college or any of the alternate routes (not met pedagogy requirement).All other certificate titles issued by the PSC shall be paid according to the T category of the State Salary Schedule. Certified personnel holding at least one category T certificate title are paid according to the T category. It should be noted that the “B” in the BT column was the letter used to represent the former “provisional” certificate title that is not currently used.
16. Salary Step – The column on the State Salary Schedule that corresponds to certified personnel’s creditable years of experience.
17. State Board of Education (SBOE) – constitutional authority which defines education policy for public K-12 education agencies in Georgia.
18. State Salary Schedule – the document developed pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 20-2-212 that details the minimum state salary for certified personnel that has been approved by the State Board of Education and funded by the Georgia General Assembly.
19. State Supplement – any salary enhancement or stipend that certified personnel are to receive by state law or State Board of Education rule in addition to the salary the certified personnel are entitled to receive as set by the State Salary Schedule.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR VERIFYING AND AWARDING EXPERIENCE.
1. LUAs are responsible for evaluating, verifying, documenting and awarding experience for placement of certified personnel on the State Salary Schedule in accordance with this rule. The LUA may require the employee to submit any documentation the LUA deems necessary to verify, evaluate, and award employee experience. The chairperson of the local board of education shall verify and document the experience of the district superintendent. The chairperson of the Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA) board of control shall verify and document the experience of the RESA director.
2. Employees may contest the LUA, evaluation, verification and award of experience under the provisions of O.C.G.A. § 20-2-1160.
3. LUAs shall adopt policies to provide for the consistent identification and definitions of certified positions and how such definitions are applied to employees. The policy must be consistent with reporting requirements established by GaDOE.
REQUIREMENTS FOR VERIFYING AND AWARDING EXPERIENCE.
1. The LUA shall place each employee holding a renewable certificate or nonrenewable certificate on the State Salary Schedule that corresponds to the employee’s creditable years of experience.
2. Certified personnel shall earn one creditable year of experience for each year in which the employee worked full time in a position listed in paragraph (4)(a), (4)(b), and (4)(c) of this rule.
  1. For the purpose of crediting years of experience for work in an LUA, a full time year is defined as a minimum of 63% of the LUA defined school year for certified personnel.
  2. For the purpose of crediting years of experience in a college or university, full time is defined as teaching 15 quarter hours each quarter for three consecutive quarters or nine semester hours each semester for two consecutive semesters or holding a fulltime contract for a professional position from the institution.
  3. For the purpose of crediting years of experience for all other prior service listed in paragraph (4)(c) of this rule as eligible experience that is not service in an LUA, charter school, school operating under an IE2 partnership contract, college or university, full time shall have the meaning as defined by the LUA.
3. Certified personnel shall earn one creditable year of experience for each period the certified personnel’s prior half-time experience met all of the following conditions:
  1. The employee worked in an LUA, charter school, or school operating under an IE2 partnership contract.
  2. The employee worked at least the equivalent of 63% of full-time employment in two consecutive academic years. The equivalent of 63% of full-time employment may be composed of the sum of the number of full-time days plus the number of halftime days (half-time day equates to 50 - 99% of the LUA defined workday.)
  3. The combination of full-time and half-time experience shall have been earned during a period of continuous, uninterrupted service, either within the same academic year or in consecutive years.
  4. The employee was under contract for service if the experience was earned in an LUA. The employee need not have been under contract for service if the experience was earned in a charter school or school operating under an IE2 partnership contract.
4. Certified personnel shall not earn creditable years of experience for any half-time experience that does not meet the requirements of paragraph (3)(c).
5. No more than one creditable year of experience shall be earned or attributed during any 12-month period, unless provided by law or this rule.
6. Creditable years of experience earned during one school year shall be credited at the beginning of the next contracted school year.
7. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this rule, certified personnel shall not earn a creditable year of experience for any year the employee received an unsatisfactory performance evaluation as determined by the evaluation system approved by GaDOE or an LUA.
REQUIREMENTS FOR PLACEMENT ON THE STATE SALARY SCHEDULE.
1. Under any of the following conditions, each LUA shall recognize experience in a professional position for which a state-issued certificate or a state/national license is required. (In all conditions listed, the individual held a valid, in-field state education certificate or state/national professional license related to the field of employment and was under contract during the period in which the experience was earned.)
  1. Serving in a professional position in an LUA in the United States.
  2. Serving in a professional position in a private elementary, middle, or high school that was accredited by a recognized accrediting agency at the time the experience was earned.
  3. Serving as a teacher or educational administrator in a foreign country, provided the individual held a U.S. equivalent of a bachelor’s degree or higher and held educator credentials or other legal authorization for teaching in the foreign country during the time the experience was earned.
  4. Serving in a professional position in kindergarten, prekindergarten, or Head Start programs provided they are under the legal jurisdiction of an LUA, the state department of education or was accredited by a recognized accrediting agency at the time the experience was earned.
  5. Teaching elementary and secondary school subjects and vocational subjects to children or to adults, including veterans, provided the teaching was on a full-time basis and was under the direction of an LUA, the state department of education, or any other state agency authorized to provide educational services to children in grades prekindergarten through 12th grade or authorized to teach elementary and secondary subjects to adults.
  6. Serving in a professional position in a clinical situation or in any special education center, including speech, reading, hearing, and psychological education centers.
  7. Serving as a professional librarian in a bookmobile, public library, Department of Defense library, or public school library shall be counted as experience for media specialists.
  8. Serving in a professional position in the U.S. Department of Education or in a state department of education.
  9. Serving in a professional position in the Georgia Professional Standards Commission or Professional Practices Commission in Georgia or in their counterparts in any other state.
  10. Serving in a professional position, such as teacher, social worker, psychologist, counselor, media specialist, nurse or administrator, in any government agency authorized to provide services to children in grades prekindergarten through twelfth grade or in a private entity sponsored by the U.S. or a state department of education provided the individual was under contract at the time the experience was earned.
  11. Serving a full-time, year-long internship sponsored cooperatively by an institution of higher education and an LUA or in conjunction with an approved staff development program.
  12. Serving as a full-time cooperative extension service agent may be used for a maximum of three years’ creditable years of experience provided the experience is earned after July 1, 1995.
2. Under any of the following conditions, each LUA shall recognize experience in a professional position for which a certificate or state/national license is not required, provided that the individual held a degree from a college/university accredited by a recognized accrediting agency when the experience was earned.
  1. Serving in a professional position in a college/university accredited by a recognized accrediting agency; e.g., as a teacher, counselor, librarian, dean, president, provided the experience was full-time and the individual held academic/professional rank or the equivalent such as instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, professor. Individuals receiving experience credit shall have held a master’s degree, at a minimum, and/or shall have been on a tenured track when the experience was earned.
  2. Serving in a teaching, supervisory, or leadership position in schools under the direction of the Technical College System of Georgia, provided the experience was full-time and the individual held academic/professional rank or the equivalent.
  3. Teaching in the Peace Corps.
  4. Serving in a professional position in the U.S. Department of Education or in a state department of education.
  5. Serving in a professional position in a private elementary, middle, or high school that was accredited by a recognized accrediting agency at the time the experience was earned.
  6. Serving in any LUA in a professional leadership position that does not require a certificate , such as school business manager, school personnel director, school facilities director/planner; school/community coordinator.
  7. Serving full-time as a food service director, manager/supervisor in a public or private organization, including, but not limited to, administrative experience in the Child Nutrition Program in the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the American Dietetic Association approved internship, provided the internship was taken after the degree was earned.
  8. Serving in a professional position in the Georgia Professional Standards Commission or Professional Practices Commission in Georgia or in their counterparts in any other state.
  9. Serving in a professional position in private industry that is job-related to the position the individual is entering in the LUA. In this case, a maximum of three years’ credit shall be granted for experience earned after July 1, 1995, and the individual shall be placed on the State Salary Schedule at the appropriate step to reflect three years of creditable experience. Years of Creditable Experience 3, Salary Step 1.
3. Under any of the following limited conditions, each LUA shall recognize experience for which a degree is not required.
  1. Serving on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States. Service in the Reserves shall not be counted unless the individual is called to active duty.
    1. A maximum of three years’ credit shall be allowed for military service according to the following schedule:
      
      8 full months = 1 year
      
      20 full months = 2 years
      
      32 full months = 3 years
    2. Six months of active military service combined with two or more months of teaching experience in an LUA shall be counted as a full year for granting creditable years of experience, provided the military service interrupts continuous teaching or prevents entrance into teaching immediately following college graduation.
    3. A maximum of three creditable years of experience shall be granted for military service unless teaching experience was a part of military duty, or unless otherwise required by law.
    4. Three years of military experience shall place an individual on the State Salary Schedule at the appropriate step representing three years of experience. Other creditable experience beyond this military experience shall be counted from this step.
    5. Fewer than three years of creditable military experience shall place the individual on State Salary Schedule at the appropriate step representing less than three years creditable service. In this case, after a year of creditable experience in a Georgia LUA, the individual shall move on the State Salary Schedule to the appropriate step representing three years of creditable service.
  2. An LUA shall grant creditable years of experience for work in a vocational field included in Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE).
    1. A maximum of three years’ work experience in vocational fields is acceptable for salary purposes provided that it is beyond the first two years of work experience required to receive certification from the PSC. i.e., to receive three years’ experience credit, the individual must have a minimum of five years’ work experience.
    2. Three years of creditable work experience shall place the individual on the State Salary Schedule on the appropriate step to represent three years of creditable service. All other creditable experience for such an individual shall be counted from this step.
    3. Fewer than three years of creditable work experience shall place the individual on State Salary Schedule at the appropriate step representing less than three years creditable service. In the latter case, after a year of creditable experience in a Georgia LUA, the individual shall move to State Salary Schedule step representing three years of creditable service.
4. Each LUA shall NOT recognize the following experience for advancement on the State Salary Schedule:
  1. Experience as a cooperative extension service agent earned prior to July 1, 1995.
  2. Supply/substitute teaching.
  3. Clerical or nonprofessional experience in an education institution.
  4. Service as a member of a board of education.
  5. Experience in private elementary, middle or secondary schools not holding accreditation from a recognized accrediting agency.
  6. Experience in a college/university not holding accreditation from a recognized accrediting agency.
  7. Experience in any college/university as an adjunct faculty member, graduate assistant, athletic coach (without teaching responsibilities), or office staff member.
  8. Occupational experience required for the issuance of a teaching certificate.
  9. Experience as a teacher aide, paraprofessional, or teaching assistant.
5. Each LUA shall place educators on the State Salary Schedule according to the following requirements:
  1. An individual holding a category T certificate and having zero years of experience shall be placed on Salary Step E. After one year of creditable experience in a Georgia LUA, that individual shall be advanced (i.e., skip years one and two) to Salary Step 1 as if he or she had three years of creditable experience.
  2. An individual holding a category T certificate and having one or two years of experience that was not earned in a Georgia LUA shall be placed on Salary Step E until a year of experience has been earned in a Georgia LUA, at which time the individual shall be advanced to Salary Step 1 (three years of creditable experience) on the State Salary Schedule.
  3. An individual holding a category T certificate and having three or more years of experience who has not taught previously in a Georgia LUA, shall be placed on the Salary Step that corresponds to the individual’s years of creditable experience; e.g., an individual with three years of creditable experience not in a Georgia LUA shall be placed on Salary Step 1; an individual with four years of creditable experience shall be placed on Salary Step 2, etc.
  4. If an employee holding a category BT certificate has zero, one, or two creditable years of experience, the employee shall be placed on Salary Step E and shall not advance on the State Salary Schedule until the employee earns three creditable years of experience or obtains a clear renewable certificate.
6. From Salary Step 1, each certified personnel shall advance one step on the State Salary Schedule for each year of creditable experience earned.
7. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this rule, on and after July 1, 2010, and until such date as may be determined by the State Board of Education that mathematics, science, or both are no longer areas in which there is an insufficient supply of teachers, a secondary (grades 6-12) teacher in a local school system who is or becomes certified in mathematics or science by the PSC and teaches secondary mathematics or science any portion of the work day shall be moved to the Salary Step on the State Salary Schedule that is applicable to a teacher with six creditable years of experience subject to appropriation by the Georgia General Assembly. From such Salary Step, the teacher shall be attributed one additional creditable year of experience for each creditable year of experience the teacher earns for the next five years. After five years, such teacher may continue to be attributed one additional creditable year of experience for each creditable year of experience earned if he or she meets or exceeds student achievement criteria in mathematics or science as established by GOSA. If such teacher does not meet or exceed the student achievement criteria in mathematics or science as established by GOSA after five years, or any year thereafter, such teacher shall be moved to the Salary Step applicable to the actual number of creditable years of experience that the teacher accumulated.
8. On and after July 1, 2010 the LUA shall pay a supplement of $1000.00, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly, per endorsement to individuals who hold a PSC teaching certificate grades K-5 with endorsement in mathematics, science or both for each year such endorsement is in effect up to a maximum of five years.
9. After five years, such individual shall continue to receive the $1000.00, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly, supplement provided he or she meets or exceeds student achievement criteria established by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA).
10. Upon expiration of five years or any year thereafter, that the individual does not meet or exceed student achievement as required the LUA shall cease payment of the supplement.
11. An individual holding a renewable or non-renewable leadership certificate issued on and after July 1, 2010 shall only be placed on the salary level of the State Salary Schedule attributed to the leadership degree if the individual is employed by the LUA and serves in a leadership position. This shall not apply, regardless of whether or not the individual is in a leadership position, to the following:
  1. An educator who possessed a leadership degree prior to July 1, 2010 or
  2. An educator who possessed:
    1. A master’s level leadership degree prior to July 1, 2012;
    2. A specialist level leadership degree prior to July 1, 2013; or
    3. A doctoral level leadership degree prior to July 1, 2014, As long as the individual was enrolled in such leadership preparation program on or before April 1, 2009.
12. Each LUA shall pay to full and half time certified employees the salary prescribed by the State Salary Schedule adopted annually by the State Board of Education.
  1. Each LUA shall pay certified personnel based on the validity date of the individual’s certificate within the contract year.
  2. Unless otherwise specified in this rule, each LUA shall pay individuals holding at least one valid professional certificate in any field the professional salary at the certificate level held, regardless of the field of assignment, provided that a valid certificate is held in the field of assignment. Certificate validity, type and level are determined by the PSC.
13. Each LUA shall pay to 11 and 12 month employed certified personnel and to superintendents and RESA directors at least the daily rate based on the state minimum salary schedule in effect for the preceding fiscal year for the number of days worked beyond the LUA defined school year.
14. In accordance with state law, Each LUA may supplement the minimum salaries of certified personnel. In determining the amount of local supplement, the LUA may take into consideration the nature of duties to be performed, the responsibility of the position held, the subject matter or grades taught, and experience and performance of the employee whose salary is being supplemented. In any fiscal year in which such personnel receive an increase under the State Salary Schedule, the LUA shall not decrease any local supplement for such personnel below the local supplement received in the immediately preceding fiscal year unless the LUA has conducted at least two public hearings regarding the decrease and followed hearing requirements as specified in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-212.
15. In accordance with state law, each LUA shall pay state supplements to specified personnel listed on the state schedule of minimum salaries, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly.
16. Each LUA shall pay beginning classroom teachers the first salary payment for the number of days worked at the end of the first month of the school year in which service is rendered.

Authority: O.C.G.A. § 20-2-200; 20-2-212; 20-2-240

Adopted: March 9, 2011 Effective: March 30, 2011

Georgia Department Of Education

Adopted Date:	3/9/2011
Effective Date:	3/30/2011

NOTE: The State of Georgia has moved the Georgia Code. This new environment no longer allows us to link directly to the Georgia Code. For example enter 20-02-0211 in the search window and the Georgia Code will appear.

Policy Code	Description
GBA	Professional Personnel Compensation Guides and Contracts
Georgia Code	Description
O.C.G.A § 20-02-0200	Regulation by Professional Standards Commission (PSC); certification requirements
O.C.G.A § 20-02-0212	Salary schedules

These references are not intended to be part of the rule itself, nor do they indicate the basis or authority for the board to enact this rule. Instead, they are provided as additional resources for those interested in the subject matter of the rule.

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Experience for Salary Purposes

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