Teacher Pay Supplements in
Opportunity Culture Sites 2022–23
| Highest Opportunity Culture (OC) Supplement | $25,000 |
| Average Multi-Classroom Leader (MCL) Supplement | $12,268 |
| Average MCL Supplement as Percentage of Average Teacher Salary1 | 21% |
| Average OC Supplement Paid to Teachers2 | $9,658 |
| Range of OC Supplements for All Teachers | $1,400 – $25,000 |
| Range of Reach Associate OC Supplement3 | $1,000 – $5,000 |
| Range of Salaries Paid to OC Teacher Residents4 | $18,000 – $25,000 |
| Approximate $ Reallocated to Higher Pay in 2022–233 | $16.4 million |
| Approximate $ Reallocated to Higher Pay Since OC Launch3 | $57.9 million |
1Average is calculated using state average teacher salary in states implementing Opportunity Culture models, weighted by the number of MCLs per state. Source: NEA Research. (2023). Rankings of the States 2022 and Estimates of School Statistics 2023. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/
2Teachers in advanced roles include Multi-Classroom Leader (MCL), Master Team Reach Teacher, and Team Reach Teacher roles. See Teachers page for descriptions of these roles.
3 Reach Associate (RA) role range and totals reallocated include only extra RA pay received in the form of fixed dollar supplements. Some RAs also earn extra pay by being placed in a higher step on the assistant pay scale.
4Teacher resident salaries are not included in the reallocated totals.
Figure 1. Cumulative Reallocated to Higher Pay Since Opportunity Culture Launch, in Millions
Each Opportunity Culture school forms a design team, which includes teachers, to plan its Opportunity Culture implementation to fit the needs of the school. The team determines what roles to include on Multi-Classroom Leader teams, and it reallocates the school’s budget to fund supplements to teachers’ pay that are sustainable within the regular budget. Pay levels for roles are set by each district.
These sustainable pay supplements encourage teachers to stay in teaching roles so they can extend their reach to more students, and, in the case of those in Multi-Classroom Leader roles, provide support and on-the-job development to small teaching teams. Research shows that these teams achieve significantly higher student learning growth on average.
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