A brief introductory overview of career ladder programs in Tennessee, Utah, and North Carolina precedes a description of the California Mentor Teacher Program. The California Mentor Teacher Program was one of the reforms provided for in the comprehensive California Educational Reform Act of 1983. This fastback describes one such program, the Chula Vista City School School District Mentor Teacher Program. Salient points covered are: (1) how mentor teachers are selected; (2) the goals and objectives of the Chula Vista Mentor Program; (3) how the program works; (4) teacher reactions to the program; and (5) mentor teacher reactions to the program. (JD)