Might move to Cincy from Tri-Cities TN if I get teaching job (Cincinnati: sales, homes)

[TeacherinTN]

I am from the west coast but spent the last 20 years in Johnson City, TN. I have 4 kids (8 and under) and my wife teaches online courses and some at ETSU. I am a MIddle School teacher and actually like my job. Good diverse group of kids here and respectful. Teacher pay is very good for the cost of living. However, my wife and I want a change. We will continue our careers but want a better way of life with an area that has more to offer than the pretty mountains and the hillbillies that come with it. Looking all over the nation I could not find any place that paid teachers better with a decent cost of living until I came across school systems in northern Cincy. Your teachers are making more than anyone in the nation except maybe New York!!! I'd be getting about $70K at Madeira, Wyoming, Loveland, Princeton etc. Anyway, I figure if I get a job offer this summer Ill move. I just don't want regrets since J actually like it here despite the walmart shopper crowd. Also I have no family here and my brother lives north of Dayton.

My question is what are these schools (not CPS) like for teachers? Where would be a good place for families such as mine? I want out of the vinyl siding suburb look if I can but really don't want to sacrifice the yard or the neighborhood kid environment. Hyde Park, Clifton and Wyoming all appeal to me with the old world homes but the kids need a safe fun neighborhood. $300K's homes. I don't want to commute much more than 20 minutes. The idea of walkability to a little downtown is appealing to me. I'd like to entertain these areas but only Wyoming and Hyde Park appear to offer it with good schools for my kids. Accessibility to chain stores (5-10 min) is also a prerequisite. Any advice you can give would be appreciated. I really don't have to move. So this needs to be an upgrade.

[flashes1]

My kids' elementary school teachers make more than $80K in Mason, but with that kind of salary, the competition for those jobs is fierce. Only the best of the best....and they typically hire from within their student teacher ranks.

[Briolat21]

As far as the 20 min commute, it would really depend where you ended up teaching...

Glendale is a small enclave (the kids go to the Princeton schools I believe -Princeton/Glendale) that has beautiful older historic-type homes, and there are some that sell in the mid 200's (many that sell closer to the half-million mark). It is generally flat, sidewalks, lots of walkers/joggers. Small downtown that doesn't have a lot in it right now (a heavily populated coffee shop and I believe a wine-bar) - but does have festivals,etc. It is easily commutable on I-75 - but of course I-75 itself jams at rush hour, so it would depend which way you were going and when. Shopping close to glendale would be tri-county mall and kemper road (just about everything one needs) or Fairfield and Rt 4 (everything else you need) -- with about a 15 min/20min commute (by freeway) to Kenwood to spend all the rest of the money you didn't spend on necessities.

I'm sure there are other similar options - but it would depend heavily on which district you'd be working in.

I live in lebanon, which is in the northern hinterlands (okay if you were commuting to Mason to work, possibly WestChester/Liberty township) -- but Lebanon becomes sprawl-y if you do not buy right in the downtown area (walkable to shops/a couple of restaurants, etc..).

Glad you're interested in the area - put your application in if you see openings -- after all you can always turn an offer down if you can't find a area to meet your needs.

[ohioaninsc]

Oakley, right next to Hyde Park would be much more in that 300K price range than Hyde Parke...yet its still walkable, w/ a lot of great restaraunts & shopping, as well as having the new Oakley Station for shopping, being close to Rookwood for more shopping, and short drive up to Kenwood Mall...
Oakley is probably a 20-30 min commute to Montgomery, Blue Ash, Mason, and West Chester.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by ohioaninsc

Oakley, right next to Hyde Park would be much more in that 300K price range than Hyde Parke...yet its still walkable, w/ a lot of great restaraunts & shopping, as well as having the new Oakley Station for shopping, being close to Rookwood for more shopping, and short drive up to Kenwood Mall...
Oakley is probably a 20-30 min commute to Montgomery, Blue Ash, Mason, and West Chester.

Oakley is a good choice and will be less than a 20 minute commute to Montgomery. Think of Oakley as I-71 8 mile marker and Blue Ash and Montgomery as 14 mile marker and the daily commute is the opposite of traffic.

[Rangerred]

I am from the west coast but spent the last 20 years in Johnson City, TN. I have 4 kids (8 and under) and my wife teaches online courses and some at ETSU. I am a MIddle School teacher and actually like my job. Good diverse group of kids here and respectful. Teacher pay is very good for the cost of living. However, my wife and I want a change. We will continue our careers but want a better way of life with an area that has more to offer than the pretty mountains and the hillbillies that come with it. Looking all over the nation I could not find any place that paid teachers better with a decent cost of living until I came across school systems in northern Cincy. Your teachers are making more than anyone in the nation except maybe New York!!! I'd be getting about $70K at Madeira, Wyoming, Loveland, Princeton etc. Anyway, I figure if I get a job offer this summer Ill move. I just don't want regrets since J actually like it here despite the walmart shopper crowd. Also I have no family here and my brother lives north of Dayton.

I grew up in the Cincinnati area but moved to Johnson City to attend ETSU 8 years ago and remain in Johnson City. All my family still lives in Cincinnati so I follow the area and this sub-forum pretty closely. My wife is a teacher in Johnson City so I know exactly where you coming from in terms of salaries.

I can tell you the high teacher pay in the Cincinnati area does come at a cost. In particular the horrible way the state funds its schools means property taxes are very high and school funding depends on controversial levies that must be approved by voters every several years. These levy campaigns divide the community and their failures in districts have led to the elimination of busing, extracurriculars, etc. in a number of districts. You can bet on your property taxes anywhere in the Cincinnati area being 3-4 times what you are paying in Johnson City. Add to this the local and state income taxes along with a sales tax only a couple points lower than Johnson City's and you will struggle to see much of a difference in terms of overall income.

When my wife and I were searching for jobs we flirted with the idea of moving back but never really wanted to. Thankfully we were able to find good jobs in Johnson City. You have to do what makes you happy but I can tell you it is hard to beat Johnson City in terms of amenities, scenery, location, and culture for a city of its size. The "hillbillies" and "walmart shopper crowd" are just as present in Cincinnati along with other issues you don't have to worry about here.

[SWOH]

I'll go against the grain, with rangerdd, and say your best move is to stay where you are.

I'm not familiar with teacher salaries around here, but I do know those jobs are extremely competitive. Everyone wants to be a teacher in Wyoming. Additionally, I am from north of Dayton, graduated high school about four years ago from there, and can say all the teachers in my district were paid about $30k to $40k. The $40k was with tenure. So if you don't get one of those padded $80k jobs... The climb down is steep.

Additionally, our region's population is stable, but not growing. So not a ton of job opportunities are out there for teachers. Again, I'll use my small school district as an example, but we didn't have a new teacher come into our district for a five-year span. Didn't have one leave either. Since then, I know of one teacher who was hired, and zero leaving. It's not a good market.

So if you honestly want to move to Cincy because you like it or have family reasons, go for it. Otherwise don't do it.

[TeacherinTN]

Originally Posted by ohioaninsc

Oakley, right next to Hyde Park would be much more in that 300K price range than Hyde Parke...yet its still walkable, w/ a lot of great restaraunts & shopping, as well as having the new Oakley Station for shopping, being close to Rookwood for more shopping, and short drive up to Kenwood Mall...
Oakley is probably a 20-30 min commute to Montgomery, Blue Ash, Mason, and West Chester.

I checked out Oakley and liked it but the schools didn't look very good. Of course I just go by the ratings on Zillow. Other than Kilgore and Wyoming I don't see 10's for schools in turn of the century neighborhoods.

[TeacherinTN]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I make $55K here in JC. The top 15 school systems in Cincy would be about 70K with my degree and experience. Property tax would probably be $6K more (at most) in Cincy from what I've seen. Then income tax. With that said Id still come out on top.

Question is, would someone like me with great credentials, test scores and getting TOTY for my school even have a competitive chance as an "outsider"?

Would I like teaching/living just as much?

If those are a decent probabilities, then paying the $250 for my Ohio licensure is worth a gamble. I want a change but don't want a regretful move.

[Wilson513]

Male middle school teachers are rare and desirable here. Of course, get a job first, move second. But certainly worth your Ohio certification. Private schools will be requiring advanced degrees and even local teaching references. Public schools not so much.

I would note, however, that you might experience some classroom culture shock. Even in the desirable school districts, the demographic balance is quite different than Johnson City Tn. Cincinnati is a stratified community, with a bi-modal distribution of economic factors whereby the approximately 50% black population is mostly in the lower economic strata and the 50% white population is not. There are many districts in the area that will have close to 100% African American students in a middle school classroom. Many will have very few. Our experience here is that children from lower economic strata are more often unsupported in academics at home and DE-motivated by peers. One would think that children for whom a good education and success in school is the only avenue out of poverty would take school more seriously. they don't.