Looking for a TEACHING job. Somewhere. Anywhere. Any tips?

I live in Ohio. That should pretty much tell you all you need to know about my chances of getting a teaching job next year. Our school districts are either bankrupt, or pretty damn close.

I hear that North Carolina around Charlotte and Raleigh is booming these days. Also heard that Maryland seems to be doing pretty well. I'm partial to blue states, of course. Anyone know what these areas, or say Illinois, Minnesota or New York look like? Any other recommendations?

We need all the Dems (and great teachers) we can get!

:hi:

But what can I do if I can't get a teaching job? Ohio needs help in the worst way possible, and I'd love to help lead the charge to fix it.

But I gotta make ends meet as well and stay sane, neither of which I will be able to do for much longer if I stay where I am, doing what I'm doing now. I need some kind of breakthrough.

children better than will be offered in the bankrupt public education shy stem

or Industrial Arts you could go almost anywhere in Iowa or Minnesota or Illinois. Those are the ones in real demand. Otherwise for teaching jobs such as in Des Moines I've heard of 4-500 applicants for every classroom opening here.

There are tons of teachers here, but no classrooms, and so many are being laid-off.

Unfortunately, I'm not certified Special Ed. That would definitely open doors, but the trade-off would be more room to shine on my scalp. That's one area that will always be in demand everywhere because the burn-out rate is extremely high.

EOM

There pay is a little on the low side, the cost of living is a little on the high side, but small town New England is a great way of life. There is always a big demand for teachers there because teachers wander over to higher paying jobs in Mass and commute.

Yah ha ha.

You will be needed in the Redneck states.

so my friends tell me. And the pay is very good.

Montana is desperate for teachers who are willing to work cheap. We have some great schools (and some great students and teachers)but the pay is almost ridicules and insulting. But the environment and outdoors life style is awesome.

I taught there for eight years, and they hired, on average, 1100 teachers a year. On the other hand, retention is a problem....

I'm currently in Wisconsin, where job opps vary according to location and content certification. What's your area of specialty?

try
Weston Conn
Westport
Darien
Greenwich - wear boat loafers/khakis/oxford shirt and they will believe you grew up in greenwich

there are other rich towns in connecticut
if you are a minority there is a push on getting a few of them into some of the schools in those rich towns

can't be much more snow than ohio gets

Raleigh is a lovely place but teachers are not high paid

you can check out the school site - Wake County Schools

and each town has there own union reps - the negotiating team plays a big part
the big cities pay less and don't belong to the NEA - they belong to the Federation of ......which includes the janitors etc. so their pay is less

cities with low pay and big problems
hartford
new haven
norwalk
bridgeport

I did substitute in east haven back 8 years ago when I lived in West Haven and thought because it was an italin area it would be ok - but the police were at the school every day for girls fighting

Guilford is rich town not sure of teacher pay

Fairfield county has many of those towns I listed but the cost of living up there is really high
but they have the teacher next door program for mortgages but with prices on homes going through the roof you may have to commute

most of the time if it snows you are off unless you were at school first

you can check around - not sure how but maybe there is a connecticut site off the nea site -

they pay very well -

after 15 years with master you are above 70,000 I believe - that was over 10 years ago - so it is probably higher
check weston school pay scale - it is a town and they have their own teacher union

for teaching. I've looked into it recently because we might be moving there next year. If you didn't specifically get an education degree in college, you have to complete their alternative certification program before they will hire you. If you have a non-education degree and have taught in a public school in a different state, you have to have taught for at least twenty months (2 full school years) before they will recognize your experience. Meaning if you taught for one year in another state, but your degree is not an education degree, you have to complete their alternative certification program first before they'll consider hiring you. You could have even obtained a professional certificate in another state, and it won't matter if you haven't got the twenty months of experience to go along with it (if you were a non-ed major). Essentially, if you were an education major in college, you are probably all set. You also need to take whatever certification tests they want you to take. You may have already taken these tests if the state you are currently living uses the same tests. Not every state has the same certification tests, which I find so annoying.

Also, I don't know much about the state as a whole, but I have read that the schools in Hartford are not so good. I did an internet search about the schools in Hartford because we will probably be living near that area. I was thinking of maybe being a substitute for a part time job. After reading this article, I've decided against that idea.

http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid%3A4453

are - there are other options
most of the city teachers do not belong to nea and have lower pay too

and was very successful, and loved it, so don't take this the wrong way.

Find something else.

School districts in many states are being run on the same model as business these days.... the bottom line is EVERYTHING. They hire young teachers because they're cheaper than hiring experienced teachers from other districts. New teachers are not only cheaper, but they're more maleable... more moldable.. for the administrators to create their perfect teaching staff. The perfect teaching staff, of course, is grateful, polite, non-demanding, and willing to teach whatever curriculum is passed down to them.

Administration is not your friend.

If you do get a job, find the most cynical, hardbitten Union person you can, and learn, learn, learn!

Funny (actually not funny)story. We were out of the country for a month and left our little dog at an upscale doggie summer camp. He had to "interview" to make sure he fit in. For $20 a day, our dog got to play with others, have nap time and snack time, and get tucked into bed at 8 pm. I started thinking... there were 19 dogs boarded during that time, and 21 dogs left for "Day Care". That's a LOT of bucks!

I talked to the couple who run this dog paradise.. turns out they were both elementary teachers who couldn't both find jobs at the same time in the same town. Hey, they moved up the evolutionary ladder one step and are making really good money.

I know you want to teach, but I had 12 student teachers over the years, and they were all pretty good. Four were brilliant, and one was the best teacher - not just student teacher - I ever knew. Not one of them is teaching today.

Honestly. But I am still going to try. I guess I'm just stubborn that way. :) I may not stay in it forever since I am planning to run for office someday, but I at least want to be able to say that I did it for awhile.

That, and I'm pretty damn sick of working in the corporate world. I realize that education is hardly much better off these days with NCLB and Dubya around. But working with kids still beats processing widgets to fill some ludicrously rich Republican-contributing CEO's pocket. I'd like to spend the 65% of my waking work hours actually doing something meaningful.

Actually, I almost gave up on teaching once before because of a bad student teaching experience. I took a year off, but developed an entirely different perspective in that time before coming back. I'm definitely better for it now, and won't be so easily shaken.

NCLB means molding kids into widgets. Good luck finding a job. If you haven't begun your work toward your master's yet, consider becoming a school psychologist. The need is great.

That's why I have to go into the system, and learn more about NCLB through personal experience, so I can eventually run for office and help lead the fight back against this kind of garbage!

I never considered getting into psych before, though. Perhaps I will. Thanks!

Check this place out. They pay really well and the schools are really good. I believe they have the best school district in the country. It's where all the Congresspersons and Senators live so you know the districts they send there kids are going to have the best budgets.

Are putting in a law that teachers have to live in the city limits, so there are SOME openings. From experience, the two fastest growing areas in the U.S. right now, for professionals, are the DC suburbs and North Carolina.

if you can stand to live here. You are bound to find tons of jobs in large cities, but then you'd also be teaching at inner city schools.

Here's the website for Orange County Public schools (Orlando area).
You check out the employment opportunities there if you want. Got to "employment information".
http://www.ocps.net

Here's a more direct route to the job listings for teachers.
https://168.184.213.10/pats/pats.nsf/MainWebFrameset?OpenFrameset

There should be lots of jobs listed here by mid/late May to early June.

...there used to be a company called Fairfield Teacher's Agency that placed me in two jobs. You have to pay a fee, but they are very good. I think I went through a guy named Sandy. Also, I live in VA, Chesterfield to be exact, and the cost of living is very, very low. They also need teachers, badly. (As an example for cost of living, my house when we bought it ten years ago was 2400 sq ft, and cost $129,000) Groceries, etc are pretty much the same as New England.

come to where the flavour is. We'll hire you if you havea margianal pulse and no major felonies. schools suck, pay not that bad, but COL sucks.

as a teacher in Ohio. The best she was ever able to find was substitute teaching in Columbus. They've now moved to Florida and she now has to go through the licensing thing again. She hasn't found anything there, the last I heard.

Have you considered Canada? I'm not joking and I'm not talking about leaving the US for political reasons. While teaching positions in the major urban centres are scarce, I hear that positions in rural areas are available. For that matter, have you considered rural areas in Ohio... they could use some liberal Democrat representation from what I've noticed lately.