Is it uncommon for DFW schools to hire out of state teachers? (also posted Dallas Forum) (Fort Worth: find a job)

[padad1]

My family and I have been looking to move to TX for about a year now. I am a teacher and my wife is in public health. My job is the harder of the two to come across (pay difference, years invested) so once I find a job her transition will be easier.
I have applied for 7 DFW area H/PE teaching jobs in the last year and have not even received an interview call. I have 14 years experience, Coach multiple sports, Have all AED/CPR/Lifesaving training, A masters degree, Spotless record, Technology teacher of the year awards, Great references, Honors GPA from undergrad and grad school, Supervise student teachers, K-12 certifications and a lifetime permanent certification.
Is it nothing more than not wanting to pay someone a masters equivalent or do they see I am from out of state and completely disregard?
Just curious because I know if I received one interview I would land the job hands down. Just looking for opinions as I am getting frustrated with the job prospects in the great state of TX.

[hypocore]

It's very challenging to land a teaching job when you are not local, especially in areas where the schools have so many candidates to choose from.

It also tends to be all about the networking unless the district/school has a specialized need they are trying to fill and need to expand their search area. While some districts do recruit from other states, I think much of that tends to be limited to recent college graduates.

One of my daughters teaches at a high school and tells me they have 15 new hires this year, down by at least 5 for the last couple of years. They have at least 20 teachers on staff if I remember correctly.

[NoClueWho]

No offense, but it sounds like it's the subject you teach that is the problem. Even with all your years of experience and what sounds like a great resume, PE/Gym/Health teachers aren't exactly in high demand.

To further prove my point, you say you are having trouble finding a teaching position on the Fort Worth side, but I just went to a DFW teacher fair in Arlington three months ago with plenty of people from out of state; since everybody wanted to live and work on the Dallas side, most of the tables for the ISDs on the Fort Worth side were practically empty, and the representatives from those tables were going out into the crowd practically begging people to come to their tables and apply to work at the schools on the Fort Worth side. So if anything, it should be pretty easy to get a teaching job in DFW, on the Fort Worth side in particular.

I am an educator myself and I just moved to DFW from out of state for a teaching job. But I also teach a high need subject (Spanish), so after I attended that that very same job fair and applied for different schools and ISDs online, even though I only applied for positions with ISDs on the more competitive Dallas side, I got about 50 or 60 calls and emails from different principals around DFW who were interested in me, did about 20 different phone and Skype interviews, and chose and accepted a teaching job just one month after I attended the job fair.

So to sum up the answer to your question, no, it's not uncommon at all for DFW schools to hire out of state teachers. But having your Texas State Certification already taken care of and teaching a subject that is in high demand certaibly increases your chances of getting a teaching job in DFW and puts you way ahead of the pack of other out of town (and many local) candidates. I don't know if you are bilingual or not, but that certainly helps as well. Don't give up, though. Keep trying! I'm sure someone in DFW will need a PE/Health teacher eventually.

[padad1]

Mentallect-
Very interesting read on the job fairs. Here in PA those are non existent for the most part as districts want everything hand delivered so it seems like you are searching them out. In my county teaching jobs are scarce and like most places go to individuals who have some sort of "in" within the district. If you don't mind me asking, why do you think the FW side had such low attendance in numbers? Is it more of a prestige thing to say you work in the Dallas area? Is the pay higher, benefits better in Dallas? Thank you. Just curious as to why that may be

[padad1]

Also if it is not too much to ask, do you happen to have a list or a place that lists the FW area ISD's. Just so I know which ones are considered FW and which are considered Dallas?
Thank you

[NoClueWho]

Originally Posted by padad1

Mentallect-
Very interesting read on the job fairs. Here in PA those are non existent for the most part as districts want everything hand delivered so it seems like you are searching them out. In my county teaching jobs are scarce and like most places go to individuals who have some sort of "in" within the district. If you don't mind me asking, why do you think the FW side had such low attendance in numbers? Is it more of a prestige thing to say you work in the Dallas area? Is the pay higher, benefits better in Dallas? Thank you. Just curious as to why that may be

The Dallas side is just more fast paced and has more amenities, so more people live on the Dallas side. Also, many of the teachers at the job fair were young, so you can understand why they would want to live in and work in Dallas versus Fort Worth, which is a slower and quieter. Ironically, I actually think more of the better school districts are probably on the Fort Worth side, though...

[NoClueWho]

Originally Posted by padad1

Also if it is not too much to ask, do you happen to have a list or a place that lists the FW area ISD's. Just so I know which ones are considered FW and which are considered Dallas?
Thank you

I don't have a list handy, but you can probably just google "Fort Worth area ISDs," or even google a map of Fort Worth and look at the cities and towns surrounding Fort Worth; a lot of them, like Keller and Burleson for example, are going to have their own ISDs.

[padad1]

Originally Posted by Mentallect

I don't have a list handy, but you can probably just google "Fort Worth area ISDs," or even google a map of Fort Worth and look at the cities and towns surrounding Fort Worth; a lot of them, like Keller and Burleson for example, are going to have their own ISDs.

Actually found a great list and was able to separate the FW from Dallas side. As a family we like the FW side more for the exact reasons you listed. Just applied at Lewisville for a PE elementary position which was listed. Do you happen to know if PE is state mandated in TX like it is in PA? Also do you your PE teachers teach Health as well like we do?
Thanks

[loves2read]

Google TEA Region 11--that is area w/Tarrant county ISDs and others in this area--as well as charter schools since the state pays for attendance at those schools

there is also a web link at that site which lists employment openings with any district

the problem is that in TX kids don't have to take health/pe each year in high school--
the coaches usually take all the PE vacancies and then also spill over into teaching real classes--history, science, English--
in elementary--PE is a rotating class--depending on the school district--
they might alternate PE w/art or music--no speech in elementary--
and health only in junior high/9th grade I think now
check the state requirements at the TEA site...

if you are technology certified then IMO you need to push your qualifications there--
unless you have a very high profile in some sport that makes you better option than someone within the district or a district nearby who has a local history you can't really beat out a known quantity...

the districts are penalized by the state's rating system when they hire teachers who are not state certified--no matter how great you are, if you aren't state certified, you give the district a hickey on its report card...
there might be some non-certified teachers hired each year in special circumstances--
like physics which is really hard to come by---or in a district that is not really that desirable to teach in---bad demographics, state minimum pay, poor ratings--

good luck
you are going to need it--

and word of advice--
most district's employment forms are on-line and go to the human resources data bank--
their search criteria are designed to hunt for specific key words--so that they don't waste time reading hundreds of submissions with a human's time...

Around here principals do probably 90% of all hiring choices in districts that I know about--
getting to a principal is the key to getting hired--some people are recommended by teachers they know, some were student teachers in that school or district,

even if you send a letter/resume to individual principals there is no guarantee they will read them or act on them...

this is the nitty gritty time because there are likely to be one or two vacancies that show up at any given school prior to start day--maybe not in your field though--
so some people that maybe wouldn't have gotten an interview will be asked because another job offer fell through...