Baltimore City School System (school districts, living, cost of living)

[lms400]

I am moving to Baltimore(21209) in a couple of weeks and I have applied to many school districts for teaching. I have my Masters in Special Education and I am licensed in the state of Massachusetts. I applied to the Baltimore City Public Schools and I have worked in an urban setting before but not as urban as Baltimore. I like diversity and challenges(I'm a SPED teacher) I have two years of teaching experience. How is the school system in general? The pay is better than in MA and if anyone can speak about the benefits, that would helpful.

I actually caught a tv special on NCLB and they featured the BCPSS, Fredrick Douglas HS.

[kinkytoes]

Hi one of my friends is a SPED teacher in Baltimore. She actually likes it a lot. Crazy, huh? My personal impression of the public school system is that it rots and the principals are inept and undereducated. Having said that, there's room for improvement. If you have specific questions about the benefits, I can ask her for you.

[oneworld25]

If you like challenges then the Baltimore City public schools are the place to go, as the city schools are infamous for being very dysfunctional. Also while most of the schools are majority-minority, I'm not sure you could call them diverse because many of the schools are almost completely African-American. However, I do believe some of the schools may be more racially integrated. Financially, working at the city schools will probably work out for you very well. The Baltimore area has a much lower cost of living than Boston.

[Meloney]

I saw the same NCLB documentary on HBO. Make sure to do your research on the schools and the areas in which they are located.

I am not certain if either of the following schools still needs SpEd, but Digital Harbor High in Federal Hill (nice area, big, clean school w/ approximately 800 students and LOTS of technology) had a position available and they utilize a more typical SpEd method regarding in class support. On the other side of the city, Vivien Thomas Medical Arts Academy (approximately 400 students) has fully embraced a co-teaching model in all of their core curriculum classes. The area (Franklin Square) is less desirable, though really close to downtown, but the people at Vivien Thomas are incredibly nice.

Keep in mind that no matter at what school you are teaching, the school system works on a lottery. Just because you may teach in a nice area like Federal Hill does not mean that your students will be from Federal Hill.

Best wishes on your decision!

[Be More]

Originally Posted by lms400

I am moving to Baltimore(21209) in a couple of weeks and I have applied to many school districts for teaching. I have my Masters in Special Education and I am licensed in the state of Massachusetts. I applied to the Baltimore City Public Schools and I have worked in an urban setting before but not as urban as Baltimore. I like diversity and challenges(I'm a SPED teacher) I have two years of teaching experience. How is the school system in general? The pay is better than in MA and if anyone can speak about the benefits, that would helpful.

I actually caught a tv special on NCLB and they featured the BCPSS, Fredrick Douglas HS.

What grade levels are you looking at?

[lms400]

My license is for Pre K-8. I prefer elementary but I can do middle school as well.

[Be More]

I teach in a K-8 and love it to death. PM me if you want info. I actually think they were looking for a SPED teacher...not sure if they have hired one in the last couple of weeks.