[nina4216]

Hey, I've been reading a few of these posts for a while now to try to get a feel for Florida. I live in PA and I'll be graduating from college soon with a degree in elementary education/early childhood education. I've heard it's easier to find a job for teaching in Florida and I was recently there for a friend's wedding and i LOVED it. I really want to move down there.. I was thinking around Pinellas Park, Sarasota, St. Petersburg... Any tips on where to move? I'll be by myself, and I'm 22.. so affordable apartments and a good, fun place to meet people more my age would be great. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!

[daedalo]

Gainesville, or Tallahassee. Harder to get a job, but more progressive and lots of student age people. Sarasota is, well, higher end and higher aged. There has to be a database somewhere surveying teachers salaries. Florida is way down on the food-chain in this regard. And it is becoming much more expensive to live here on those low salaries. You should get an educator's input on this. Get a Masters degree and demand a higher step in pay immediately. Surely the NEA has info you can access.

[ex-floridian]

The areas you are considering are not good for young people. By brother is single, 32, lives in that area. He's had 2 dates in many, many years and isn't exactly the reclusive type.

Those areas look fun when you're visiting but turn on you very quickly after you move there. Spend a couple of weeks there first, and for goodness sakes don't move without securing a job first. Jobs are very difficult to get around here. I made that costly mistake.

I would stay in PA, especially if you have family there. You probably don't know how lonely it gets living away from your established support group. But if you must take the plunge, Gainesville or Tallahassee are OK for young teachers. There are some nice small towns around Gainesville too.

[chocomom]

Originally Posted by nina4216

Hey, I've been reading a few of these posts for a while now to try to get a feel for Florida. I live in PA and I'll be graduating from college soon with a degree in elementary education/early childhood education. I've heard it's easier to find a job for teaching in Florida and I was recently there for a friend's wedding and i LOVED it. I really want to move down there.. I was thinking around Pinellas Park, Sarasota, St. Petersburg... Any tips on where to move? I'll be by myself, and I'm 22.. so affordable apartments and a good, fun place to meet people more my age would be great. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!

The reason it's easier to find a job is because the pay sucks. I usually try to mediate the negativity, but I ain't gonna cut corners with you. The pay and the FCAT drives many new teachers out of the profession and/or state within 2 years.

Visit again. Stay at least a week or more. Look around. Mingle with the locals and then make a decision. RESEARCH the school systems like a thesis paper. Finding a job won't be hard, that's for sure. But surviving on the salary will be a whole other story. Do you have student loans or substantial credit card debt to pay off? If so, get your Master's and then think about relocating here. You won't need to struggle as hard.

[ex-floridian]

My father was a teacher in Jacksonville, then a small town in north central Florida. It almost killed him. Literally. In Jax his students almost killed him when he was gang beaten. He was so fearful for his life he got a concealed weapon license and carried a gun. His next job was so stressful he developed macular degeneration.

Enough good news, here's a site he recommends for jobs and information:

http://www.teachers-teachers.com/florida.cfm

[pslOldTimer]

I can't comment expertly on the pay scale or how difficult it is to get a job, but I do know that that St. Lucie County school system (Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce) are making a serious effort to find good, affordable housing for new teachers. They have established a list of landlords friendly to teachers and have instituted a database of new, single teachers looking for roommates in the school system; they try to find a good match.

The neat thing is, if you concentrate on public schools, there are only 67 school systems in the state (each school system is county wide, and there are 67 conties). Google "Florida School Districts". There are several sites that list the schools, show maps, etc. The most valuable would be the one from fldoe.org, the Florida Dept of Education. It's complete with lists of schools and links to each district's web site. The web sites usually have a job list and most have maps of the school locations.

It wouldn't be very difficult to set up a mailng list so you could apply to all 67 districts and see what kind of offers you get. Then, you can do some research on the specific areas and see where you'd like to live. Of course, if there's a specific area you like over others, you canlimit your applications.

In any event, you will have to sit for a certification exam in Florida. There is a reciprocity process if you have passed certification in another state, but I'm told it can be tough.

[pianogal]

You would not have a problem finding a job in Orlando. The Orange County School District has a severe shortage of teachers. They were holding meetings during the summer and helping anyone with a degree in any field learn how they could get certified to teach. I know they started the year with positions still open. Also, with the new UCF Medical University opening and now the Burnham Medical Institute relocating here, there a several new schools slated to be built in south east Orlando over the next few years. These schools will serve upper middle to high income neighborhoods and will have the latest in technology. There should be some great teaching opportunities here.

In the southeast area where I live, I am very centrally located, only 25 miles to the east coast beaches - Cocoa Beach is the closest to me, I can leave my home and be on a cruise ship at Port Canaveral in 30-40 minutes. I am 12 miles from downtown, 5 miles from the international airport, 8 miles from Universal/Sea World and 15 miles from Disney. I live 1-2 miles from several major superhighways that allows me to be anywhere in the central florida area within a half hour at most.

There are MANY young people here. In fact, a couple of neighbors in my new subdivision are single, young people who have just purchased their first new home. Lots of opportunities for social life abound...Pleasure Island, City Walk, etc. If you choose the right areas you shouldn't have any problems with crime, etc. Check out the City Beautiful - you may like it!

[simplistic007]

Would you say that Sarasota County is not good for young people like 19 year olds?

[backtofla]

what??? what is starting pay for a teacher in fla (avg.)???

[Fodder]

Teacher pay scales are public knowledge and are generally posted on the various county school district websites. The starting pay in Duval County for a teacher with no previous experience and only a BA is about $35K.