Teacher looking to move to Vermont:

Are there any Vermont teachers checking in here? I live in Texas and am ready to vacate the state for Vermont where NCLB is being contested by the Association of Superintendents. I am seeking more information on Vermont- e.g. cost of living, teacher job satisfaction.
TIA
Callous

thinking the same thing. Brought it up to him in the funk of last Wednesday morning. We live in Texas, too, where I grew up. My mom's 93 and needs help. Hubby grew up in Connecticut and we both lived in Florida 30+ years before coming to Texas. Told him if we moved again the choice would be his and I'm looking for the same info you are. I'm not a teacher, more like "office worker" although taking Paralegal classes right now. Interested in New Hampshire and upstate New York, also, so I'll post some queries on those forums.

I live in a state that went blue, albeit barely.

But I would prefer living a true blue state (or atleast a real blue county/district).

Any state which elected Howard Dean as governor can't be all that bad the way I see it.

Send me a private email and I'll give you her email...

There are lots listed there. Cost of living is reasonable, but you also have to take the winters into account - heating, transportation problems, etc. Chittenden County (Burlington area) is going to be paved over and the cost of housing there is reacting accordingly. Lots of people are willing to commute from surrounding counties, so the Burlington sprawl is taking over much of the northwestern and north central parts of the state. For instance, a lot of people commute to Burlington from Montpelier, straight down the interstate. Housing costs are being driven skyward by people from NY, Boston, etc., moving here with lots of money. Locals are really feeling the pinch for housing, and it's only getting worse. On the other hand, compared to a lot of urban places elsewhere in the country, housing is still affordable.
In general, jobs don't pay much in Vermont. People live here for quality of life, not for income. The money in the state is largely brought in by the "flatlanders" and there is definitely colonization taking place, resulting in socioeconomic stratification and predictable resentment among natives.
Still, the problems in VT aren't as bad as in most other parts of the country. With patience and luck, you can still find a decent house for a fair price. Most people don't lock their cars and a lot of people still don't lock their houses. Pay careful attention to speed limits because a lot of little towns make money from the oblivious city slickers speeding through! And don't be surprised to discover that there are some real bugeyed redneck reactionaries here, too... but they don't run everything.

"Pay careful attention to speed limits because a lot of little towns make money from the oblivious city slickers speeding through!"

When weekend trips to Vermont was part of the package we often joked about how you had to drive five to ten miles per hour under the speed limit if you had Connecticut plates on your car. =)