teaching in Rio Rancho (how much, elementary school, salary)

[long island pat]

I am an elementary school teacher on Long Island, NY. I own an acre of land in Rio Rancho area. Long Island has become an over taxed, crazy place to live and I am looking for a change to an area that I can retire in. I would like to continue teaching for a few more years so I am interested in any teaching experiences you have had out there. Is the system easy to enter? How much test prep time do you spend with your students? Does the Rio Rancho school system value creative teachers or are they only interested in student scores? Are students evaluated with portfolios or just test scores? I am burned out up here on Long Island where every district is only interested in test scores, not true student learning. Any thoughts, experiences???

[nmguy]

Pat,

I'm a retired teacher living near Rio Rancho.

I would guess that RR salaries are considerably lower than NY salaries. Isn't your retirement based in part on your last year's salary?

If this is so, you might be better staying where you are until you actually retire, then head out for the land of enchantment.

The city of Rio Rancho is growing rapidly, and the schools are having trouble accommodating all the students, i.e., large classes. OTH, the stress level is much lower in RR than it is where you are.

Good luck with your decision.

[elmies]

Hello,
I taught in RR and then we moved to Raleigh, NC so my husband could attend seminary here. I actually miss RR really bad! My family lives there. It was EASY for me to get my NM teaching license. I came in on a level two, which starts at $40,000 (I moved there from TX originally). If you have over 3 years of teaching experience you can most likely come in as a level 2 teacher. Level 3 teachers make $50K to begin. IN Rio Rancho, I had a wonderful class, taught with great teachers. (I taught upper elementary). Good luck!