Teacher Compensation & Benefits

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Teaching is Important…

Really important!

We know you didn’t get into education to get rich, but we believe you deserve to make a respectable living. And, it shouldn’t take decades to get to that living wage – it should be within your first several years!

Recognizing how hard it is to be an educator and a ‘game-changing’ educator at that, the last thing our teachers need to be doing is worrying about how they are going to make ends meet. That’s why U Prep has created our industry-leading compensation program to ensure that you, our valued educators, can stay focused on doing your best in the classroom without having to worry about the necessities of life like paying your bills and affording rent or a mortgage.

Base Salary For TeachersThe above scenario demonstrates the growth of a teacher’s base salary over a 10 year period, starting as a lead teacher with 4 years experience before joining U Prep against the district’s salary progression for a lead teacher with a BA. It assumes the example teacher is rated as effective or greater on their annual evaluation.

Our Belief In You is

Ambitious

We have worked with teachers and outside stakeholders to develop a compensation structure that is:

Competitive: At University Prep public school no teacher earns less than $50,000 as a base salary. For those that choose to master their craft with U Prep, we accelerate your earnings between your 2nd and 6th years with us so that you can make real money sooner. And we make additional compensation accessible in other ways so that you have the opportunity you deserve to earn even more when you take on additional responsibilities. In practical terms, this means, during those 5 years with us of accelerated pay, you can increase your base earnings by $20,000 while staying in the classroom.

Transparent, equitable, and predictable in nature: While being aligned to the organization’s definitions of diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism along with our core values, the goal of U Prep’s compensation structure is to provide transparency so that every teacher can see where they are placed within the structure, how they move through the structure, and how their base salary increases over time.

Aligned to our belief that performance matters: As an organization that provides non-traditional pathways into teaching, we recognize that not everyone has access to a Master’s degree or wants to choose that path – be it for financial reasons or otherwise. We believe that if you’re a great teacher your salary should not be solely dependent on your access to further education or how many years you’ve done, but rather the level of performance you provide in the classroom and with our team. When you perform well in the classroom, driving strong student learning, your compensation will grow faster than is standard in the industry – even outpacing compensation growth seen by those who have chosen to obtain a Master’s degree or may have more years of experience.

Industry-Leading

Benefits Package

Beyond a highly competitive compensation system and a significant investment in professional growth and development, U Prep also invests in you as a person. Those benefits include, but are not limited to:

  • Coverage of 100% of the health benefits costs for each employee
  • Access to up to $600 in a personal wellness account
  • Home purchasing assistance through our partner organization, Landed, which supports educators in reaching a 20% down payment through its shared equity down payment program (Landed can co-invest up to 15%, and a maximum of $120,000, toward your downpayment when the homebuyer contributes at least 5%)
  • 7 days of PTO with 1 additional day added each year (up to 10 days), and $300/day in PTO payout for unused days
  • Access to the State of Colorado Teacher Pension Scheme (PERA) and 401K accounts (retirement)
  • Monthly half-day flex windows (additional time away that does not impact PTO, but gives all team members space to take care of their personal needs)

Join Our Team