Do you see any way to link the two degrees? Sometimes an easy add credential may suddenly create a reason for having the Masters, hence a reason for it to be considered for a pay bump. That doesn't change the message - if in doubt, waiting and experience may make the path clearer and more useful.
My bachelor's degree is in elementary education. My master's is in Teaching English Learners. According to the state's policy, "Teachers that are new to the District or Teachers that are rehired after a break in service may receive pay for advanced degrees provided the degree is held in their teaching certification area." I am not certified in ESL education. I would have to go back to college and take 18 credits, I cannot simply take a test to add this to my license. Right now I can't afford to pay my current students loans, let alone take on more debt.
How much student loans do you have? Have you looked into Teacher Student Loan Forgiveness programs? Have you tried applying for grants or scholarships? 18 credits doesn’t seem like a lot — maybe 5 or 6 classes? You might even try taking like 1-2 classes at a time, which seems more affordable.
I completed 2 master's degrees and regret nothing! I didn't have a bachelor's in education, so my first graduate degree was to complete alternative certification. I went back after 4 years of teaching to get a reading specialist certification because I knew I always wanted to do something with literacy. I'll tell you that my second degree was a very different experience having some teaching under my belt. Classroom discussions were more relevant. Inexperienced peers were also very irritating. The issue of being "too expensive" is completely a case by case basis, here. Hiring is principal driven and some principals are definitely cheap. I've always told myself I don't want to work for anyone who doesn't value good fit over money, anyway, so that's not a problem for me. I work in a district that is high needs enough that finding a job has never been an issue. The biggest downfall of school is sitting on 70K of loans between my 3 degrees. Make sure you get a graduate degree in something you're actually going to use. (I always said your undergrad can be for fun, but playing around in grad school is expensive.)
Here in central Ohio it is hard to get fired with your masters. Though it isn't impossible. If someone is going back to school to become a teacher and needs to keep a job - you pretty much don't have a choice but to do a masters. I did my masters in Educational technology and it added an endorsement for teach computers k-12.
