Georgia Pre-K teachers are paid from a state salary schedule, so a Georgia Pre-K teacher salary follows the figures the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) publishes for the school year.
In FY2027 (July 2026 through June 2027), a lead teacher with an early childhood education bachelor's starts at $41,717 and rises with experience to $56,812.
Assistant teachers are funded at $25,741.35 a year, at private and public sites alike.
The current salary scale
Georgia sets Pre-K lead teacher pay on a state salary schedule, published by DECAL, and the schedule varies with a teacher's certification level and years of experience.
The figures in force now are the FY2027 schedule, which covers July 2026 through June 2027.
| Line on the FY2027 schedule | Figure |
|---|---|
| Lead teacher, ECE bachelor's (T-1) — base | $41,717 |
| Lead teacher, ECE bachelor's (T-1) — after experience steps | $56,812 |
| Lead teacher, T-7 certification at step L6 (21+ years) | $83,480 |
| Lead teacher, grandfathered associate-degree credential — start | $30,949.86 |
| Assistant teacher, private and public providers | $25,741.35 |
Read the schedule the way a school district's works: your certification level decides where you enter, and the experience steps move you along it.
A lead teacher with an ECE bachelor's (T-1) enters at $41,717 and rises with experience to $56,812.
The schedule tops out at $83,480 for T-7 certification at step L6, the line DECAL ties to 21 or more years.
Below the bachelor's rung sit two other funded lines: lead teachers on a grandfathered associate-degree credential start at $30,949.86 and assistant teachers are funded at $25,741.35 for 2026-27 — both covered in the sections below.
The figures move every school year
Lead vs assistant pay
The two roles sit on different pay mechanics.
Lead teachers are on the stepped salary schedule, where an ECE bachelor's (T-1) starts at $41,717 and climbs with experience; assistant teachers are funded at $25,741.35 for 2026-27, and DECAL applies that same amount at private and public providers alike.
The assistant rate also has a second meaning on the schedule: $25,741.35 is the same figure the scale assigns to a lead teacher whose credential does not yet meet the program's requirement — the "insufficient credential" lead rate.
The practical upshot is that the schedule's amounts turn on the credential a lead teacher holds, not just the lead or assistant title — the ECE-bachelor's, grandfathered-associate and insufficient-credential lines each carry their own figure.
One numbers warning while you research: older posts and search snippets still quote $16,190.35 as the Georgia Pre-K assistant salary.
That figure is outdated — DECAL's 2026-27 rate chart shows $25,741.35.
How credentials and years change pay
The schedule is credential-first because it is a school scale.
DECAL reports that Georgia's Pre-K lead teachers transitioned to the K-12 salary scale in state fiscal year 2025 — a move it credits with a 16% raise for lead teachers, while assistant pay rose by $5,551.
That transition is why the figures read like a district's: certification level places you on the schedule, and experience steps move you along it.
The spread the two inputs create is wide.
From the $41,717 T-1 bachelor's base, experience steps alone carry a teacher to $56,812.
At the top of the schedule, T-7 certification at step L6 (21+ years) reaches $83,480.
For the associate route, the schedule carries a separate grandfathered line: associate-degree leads start at $30,949.86.
For how teachers actually earn the certification that places them on scales like this one, the pre-K teacher certification guide walks through certificate levels and the paths to them.
Georgia's move is also pre-K pay parity working in a state pay schedule — that guide covers where else the idea exists and what each version actually requires.
School-site vs private-site pay
Georgia Pre-K classrooms operate at public and private providers, and the salary schedule follows the program into both settings.
DECAL calculates private providers' lead and assistant pay from the same state salary scale; in its example it prorates the figures on a 190-day calendar — 180 instructional days plus 10 planning days.
One line is identical everywhere: the assistant rate is $25,741.35 at private and public providers alike.
What changes across settings is the employer.
Georgia's Pre-K personnel are employees of the Pre-K provider they work for — not of DECAL or the state — so the paycheck comes from the provider they work for, with the state scale behind the calculation.
Funding reaches the private-site classroom too.
For private providers, DECAL's Pre-K funding includes benefits at 23.76% of salary, and the 2026-27 rate chart adds $300 per classroom to support at least five days of paid time off for lead and assistant teachers.
Because DECAL's private-provider example prorates the scale on a 190-day calendar, the number on a private-site offer may not match the schedule's headline amounts.
Ask a hiring provider where your credential places you and how the site prorates the figure, then compare offers on the worked-out number, not the schedule's top line.
How to find these jobs
Georgia Pre-K openings are posted by the organizations that employ the teachers — the public and private providers DECAL names as the employer.
Since the provider is the employer, the listing you answer is the provider's, and the published scale is the benchmark behind the pay it offers.
Before you compare offers, work out where you land on the schedule.
The questions that locate you on it:
- Which role the posting fills — lead teacher or assistant teacher — and which funded rate it pays
- Where your certification level places you on the FY2027 schedule ($41,717 bachelor's base; $83,480 at T-7, step L6)
- How the site calculates private-site pay from the scale — DECAL's example prorates on a 190-day calendar (180 instructional + 10 planning)
- How paid time off is handled — for private providers, 2026-27 funding adds $300 per classroom toward at least five PTO days
When you are ready to look, our pre-K teacher jobs board lists open pre-K positions, and the pre-K teacher career guide covers the role itself — duties, settings and the credential routes that set your rung on a scale like Georgia's.
Our page on pre-K salary in this state reports federal BLS wage data in Georgia for preschool teachers, the broader occupation that contains the pre-K teacher title.
It measures something different from DECAL's schedule — a statewide occupation wage, not a program pay scale — so don't set one figure against the other.
Career information, not licensing or legal advice. The pay figures on this page come from DECAL's published Georgia Pre-K salary schedule and rate charts for FY2027 and 2026-27, amounts published for that school year — confirm the figures in force today with the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning before you rely on them.