So, a potential opportunity came up and I'd like some opinions.
First, I work in the public school systems, I have a decent job and I make a median income salary. I contribute to two retirement accounts, the state pension plan, and I max out my 403(b). These two retirement accounts are all I have access to right now, and they constitute about 40% of my pre-tax savings.
During my last performance evaluation of the year last week, my supervisor asked me if I'd ever considered going into administration, and told me to think about it. I already have an advanced degree, and the extra work for an administration certification would consist of about 16 more graduate credits, with fees, totaling approximately $4200-4500 through my local university. This could be done part time over the course of about one year with night classes, so I would not need to take time off of work. However, to pay for the classes, I would likely need to stop contributing to my 403(b), but then I would lose maybe 8 months to 1 year of retirement contributions (roughly 18k). I already owe 51k in student loans, so if I decide to get more schooling, I'd prefer to pay cash. My living expenses are relatively low (much room for improvement), and following in the mustachian tradition, I'm avoiding substantial lifestyle inflation.
The job prospects for administrators are OK, probably average, but my salary would double from about 50 to 100k per year. My current per-diem rate is about $285 for a 190 day contract, administrators per diem is around $450-500 for about 210-240 day contracts (no summers off like I get currently).
Any math-smart people please feel free to chime in, but would the investment in extra schooling and potential salary increase outweigh a loss in about 1 year of retirement savings? I'm at the beginning of my career, I'm only 29. I'd like to be FI in 10 years, and retire comfortable maybe a few after that.