Teaching in florida (sales, how much, teaching jobs)

[marcia lee ann]

i AM FROM TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO AND WANTS TO MIGRATE TO FLORIDA IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS I AM IN POSSESSION OF A EDUCATION DEGREE IN READING AND WOULD BE SEEKING EMPLOYMENT THERE WHEN I ARRIVE WHAT ARE THE BEST DISTRICTS TO WORK IN AND WHAT DISTRICTS PAY THE HIGHEST SALARIES. DO YOU GET A SIGNING ON BONUS AND SUPPLEMENTARIES ON YOUR SALARY IF SO HOW MUCH.
I UNDERSTAND THAT I ALSO HAVE TO GET A LICENCE TO TEACH THERE HOW DO I GO ABOUT DOING THAT
NEED EARLY RESPONSE

[fauve]

Employment Opportunities

[Boats]

No, there wouldn't be any signing bonus. With declining enrollment and budget cuts, you would be very lucky to even get a job right now in Broward county. My wife's school is letting 2 to 3 teachers go next month. I would look to growth areas in GA, TN or NC for teaching jobs.

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by Boats

No, there wouldn't be any signing bonus. With declining enrollment and budget cuts, you would be very lucky to even get a job right now in Broward county. My wife's school is letting 2 to 3 teachers go next month. I would look to growth areas in GA, TN or NC for teaching jobs.

Are these teachers being let go in critical shortage areas or what? Just curious to see how bad things are.

[Boats]

Originally Posted by Wild Style

Are these teachers being let go in critical shortage areas or what? Just curious to see how bad things are.

Not sure about critical shortage areas. Its very low numbers in 4th and 5th grades so they are shuffling classes around. Also admin is warning of serious cuts to come if amend 5 passes.

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by Boats

Not sure about critical shortage areas. Its very low numbers in 4th and 5th grades so they are shuffling classes around. Also admin is warning of serious cuts to come if amend 5 passes.

excuse my stupidity but what is amendment 5?

I would imagine a lot of teachers will lose their jobs going into the next few years. Read a report that puts unemployment at or around 11% in another year. If that happens, the out pour of people in broward could dwarf last years exodus. Means even fewer students etc.

Hope all goes well for you and your wife.

[fauve]

At American Heritage, a private school, enrollment is down this year in elementary and middle school, but up in high school.

Texas - Dallas/Fort Worth is also recruiting teachers from Florida with sign-on bonuses.

[Boats]

Originally Posted by Wild Style

excuse my stupidity but what is amendment 5?

I would imagine a lot of teachers will lose their jobs going into the next few years. Read a report that puts unemployment at or around 11% in another year. If that happens, the out pour of people in broward could dwarf last years exodus. Means even fewer students etc.

Hope all goes well for you and your wife.

From the Broward Schools website:

"This proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution would effectively eliminate state required school property taxes that provide a substantial portion of the funding for public education. While this measure does stipulate that public education would be “held harmless” from a funding perspective, it does not identify a definitive and secure funding source to make up for this major loss of secure revenues for public education. A provision in the measure to raise state sales taxes and eliminate certain tax exemptions to compensate for these lost revenues would not make up the total funding – amounting to billions of dollars -- that would be lost to public education by elimination of the property tax."

[fauve]

Teachers in Dade wore black on the first day of school this year to protest that they weren't receiving the raise they had been promised.

[planetsurf]

My sister-in-law has a Masters specializing in reading. She had worked for a now defunct Charter school so she had to spend the summer finding a new position.

She got called literally the Friday before school was supposed to start and accepted a position for 4th or 5th (not sure which) in Dade.
Of course, she then got 2 more calls for schools she was more interested in, but oh well.

There ARE some jobs in Dade at least, but I think her Masters Degree helps a lot (but I have no way of knowing for sure).

I would call the school boards in the places you're interested in and see if someone there will give you a realistic opinion as to how to get hired and what additional schooling (if any) would help your cause (and maybe get your teaching certificate at the same time).

Good luck.