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Steps compound. Lanes multiply. Plan both.
Teacher salaries are a grid: steps move you down (annual increases), lanes move you across (degree and credit bumps). This calculator projects your salary to any year with both movements, then shows what that salary means per paycheck on a 10-month versus 12-month schedule — including exactly what to set aside each check if you are paid over 10 months.
Teachers use it to plan the master's-degree lane change (the biggest raise lever in the profession) and to survive the 10-month paycheck schedule without a broke August. Career changers use it to see year 10 before signing up for year 1.
Steps are annual raises for each year of service (often 1.5–3%); lanes are jumps for education credits or degrees (commonly 3–8%). They compound: a 5% lane bump increases every future step's value. A $48,000 start with 2% steps and a 5% lane at year 5 reaches about $60,233 by year 10.
Same money, different timing. 10-month checks are bigger ($6,023 vs $5,019 on a $60,233 salary) but June and August pay nothing. If you choose 10-month, set aside the difference — about $1,004 per check — into a summer account. Disciplined savers can even earn interest on the set-aside; everyone else should take the 12-month spread.
Lane changes, by far. A master's degree or credit threshold often adds 5%+ permanently and compounds with every step after it. Run the degree cost against the projected salary difference here — most lane changes pay back within a few years and keep paying for a career.