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Can anybody give a quick list as to the pros and cons of teaching in Charlotte or Union County? I am a language arts/social studies certified teacher from MI hoping for an opportunity to teach middle school.
Can anybody give a quick list as to the pros and cons of teaching in Charlotte or Union County? I am a language arts/social studies certified teacher from MI hoping for an opportunity to teach middle school.
Not a teacher, but what I will say is Charlotte has more struggling inner city type schools while Union County has more rural struggling schools. Of course, they both have some great schools too - but as a new teacher it would not be very likely your first job here would be in those. So, pick rural poor or inner city - both offer great opportunities for a truly gifted teacher
Depends on what you are looking for. I taught MS in Charlotte and loved it, but jumped at the chance to get into Union County because of the rep of the system. Union County pays a little less, but the "quality of life" in teaching was much better imo. They both have great schools. CMS is HUGE and Union County School System is not (compared to them anyway). If you want a fluff job there are plenty, but if you want to make a difference, then look for schools that need your help. PM me if you have specific questions that I can help you with. Otherwise, best of luck to you on your search!
Yes, it seems as though most of the jobs available in NC are those in urban areas. I teach in Detroit, and although I enjoy it, Im looking for a more diverse student body. In your opinion, are there jobs readily available once I look to teach in the fall of 09?
From a parents spin I wanted to tell you how we choose the school we did. We knew we were being transferred from Canada to NC for my husbands works. We were up there for a few years. Anyway, I have two boys. One is 6 and the other is 3. My 6 yr is dx with Autism and requires different types of resources. My youngest is under the spectrum radar. So what does that have to do with the teaching job? Let me explain...
I began calling in the spring about schools. I could live anywhere in the area but we centered our location around the type of school we wanted our kids to go to. After calling the Educational Boards, getting written and verbal reviews, talking to the NC Autism Society, researching funding for different things and parents. We were amazed at how much more Union Provided, did, rated, so on with what we were needed. Something that the others could not compare with.
Once we narrowed down a district we zoned into the different schools. Same scene, research!
We bought a house near the school we liked. We are pleased, and I do mean greatly pleased. So from a parent I can say that the research we found fit us.
As a teacher you can decide what it is you like and do just as a parent can. Do some research and take it from there.
Run as fast as you can from CMS! I taught there one year and could not wait to get out. There's a reason for the mass exodus of teachers from CMS. You couldn't pay me a million dollars to teach there again. In any case, here is my take after having worked in both counties. These are my experiences so others may have better or worse experiences. I know there are good schools and bad schools in both counties and I know teachers who are happy in both counties and would never cross back over to the other one. Just make sure as you interview at a school no matter where it is to interview them as much as they are interviewing you and check out the school report card, teacher ratings from survey, speak with teachers, parents, students, anybody else in the community so you can make an informed decision.
Pros of CMS
CMS has a much higher supplement than Union County.
Much more diversity. I taught students from all over the country and world. At my school it wasn’t all white or all black. It was a balanced mix of white, black, Indian, Asian, Hispanic, European, etc. Students were less sheltered and a little more open-minded. I loved the diversity and found the students of all different cultures to be a wonderful addition to my classroom and loved hearing what they had to say.
Colleagues were great and there was no small-town mentality or cattiness going on at my school or at least in my department. All the colleagues in which I came in contact were great!
Cons of CMS
Unsupportive administrators. In my case, administrators always sided with the parents and blamed me for students’ misbehavior. If little Johnny cursed, it was my fault. If little Johnny started a fight, it was my fault. If little Johnny failed to turn in any of his homework and refused to participate in class, it was my fault. In fact, the administrators would go behind my back and change students’ grades if the parents complained to them. I’m sure not every school is like this but my school was and since the administrators don’t receive much support themselves, they side with the parents/students and teachers are left with their hands tied. Anytime I would try to discipline a student I would get in trouble. I wasn’t allowed to make students write as a punishment, I couldn’t keep them after class or school (although there was detention but you had to take certain steps for that), I wasn’t allowed to lecture a student on his/her misbehavior or the students would go crying to the administrators, I wasn’t allowed to let students use the restroom (although many times I did as long as I wasn’t in the middle of teaching and provided that students had completed their work or were working hard and not goofing off), so basically my hands were tied. Lunch detention didn’t work neither did after school detention. If I moved students or removed a privilege they just laughed. They knew they could do whatever they wanted and that the principals had their backs, not mine! I’m sure not every school is like this though so even if the administrators promise you the sun, moon, and stars talk to other teachers and people in the community before signing a contract.
Large schools (so large that they are hard to keep under control)
Unruly students who knew they could get away with murder.
Inability to deviate from pacing guide or teaching methods dictated by school and district.
Pros of Union County
I taught in Union County and it was like night and day from CMS. The students were well-behaved, administrators supported me and I was free to teach how I wanted as long as students learned the material. Even though there was a pacing guide, I was still allowed more flexibility in how I taught and was never in trouble if I deviated even a little if students needed extra work with certain concepts they couldn't grasp. It didn't matter how I got there as long as I covered the required material and students had high scores.
Schools and class sizes were much smaller and it was much easier to teach. The school was under control.
Students were more polite than their CMS counterparts. They would generally address me with a yes ma’am or no ma’am. For those of you from other parts of the country, don’t be offended. Down south, this is a very polite form of address so allow students to speak to you in this respectful way and thank your lucky stars that you have some students who show respect. Obviously students from other parts of the country didn’t say ma’am but that’s ok because they were still very polite and for the most part seemed happy with their school and friends in Union County. I did have a few students from other countries but not as many as I did in CMS. Parents cared about their students’ education for the most part and were more involved in their kids’ lives. Many students regularly attended church so giving homework on Wednesday nights was an unwritten rule of the school. Students didn’t seem as exposed to gangs, drugs, etc. as their CMS counterparts although I would be lying if I said that didn’t go on in my middle school. I don’t know about gangs at my school but we did have drugs and other problems like any other school. It was just a lesser degree and many students were caught. Cons of Union County
You may find that small town mentality and cattiness of coworkers and when you are new in the district some parents may give you a hard time in the beginning. I had this problem and some of the teachers explained that it was because I was new to the district. Colleagues at school were in my business all the time and were more prone to more gossiping than I experienced in CMS.
In my case students were less open-minded and since I taught Spanish many were unmotivated to learn it and always asked why they had to learn “Mexican”. While my students in CMS were unruly and apathetic it wasn’t because of the subject because many actually kinda liked Spanish and many students had friends who spoke Spanish or worked with Spanish-speakers so they were always asking how to say things and would tell me about speaking Spanish and I never got those complaints about having to learn “Mexican”. They were unruly because they just didn’t care about school and were more interested in partying and their friends.
Lower supplement.
I am not a teacher but my sons schools Marvin Ridge Middle was looking for an 8th grade language arts teacher, from a parents point of a view and the daughter of a teacher who taught in NYC, we are more than thrilled with this school...I do have some relationships in the school my son goes too and do speak with a few teachers and they love working there...good luck
That's a really good school. Most teachers I know who work in Union County love it as well and as for me I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I started working in Union County.
Thanks for the input. I will do my homework on Charlotte and Union County.
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