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I am a recent college graduate and I am looking for somewhere to start my teaching career in August of 2010. I am certified to be a math teacher, and seeing as how math is a big shortage area in schools, I should be able to get a job in just about any city I choose.
I am young, single, and willing to move literally anywhere in the United States. I am from Texas and I am therefore a little hesitant to move too far North to the cold, but cold weather isn't necessarily a deal-breaker.
Also, I do realize that a it will be difficult to live on a teacher's salary in most cities. From my understanding, the cost of living is going to be higher in any urban area, so that doesn't scare me. I don't have a family to support at this point in my life, so I can live pretty cheaply.
I am wide open to any suggestions and would love input of any kind. Thanks.
Your criteria is a bit general, so you're going to get tons of suggestions. However, I'll share a few of mine.
Why not a place like New York City? What better place to be single and young? Other great options would be San Francisco or Boston... sure they're both expensive, but the teaching salaries reflect the cost of living (I had high school teachers in the Boston area making over 100k, but most start nearer to $35-40k). I, too, am young and unmarried and I can't imagine not living in a large metro area. I'm an urban planning student, so I'll likely remain in an urban area for a long time, but you can start in one and move out when you're ready to settle down.
It's also worth noting that while there are some "tough" schools in any urban area, The major cities like Boston, NYC, San Francisco, etc have quite a good blend. If you're in Boston, look at Boston Latin or Boston English.
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There's a hiring freeze where I teach in NYC. There's no freeze in Special ed though. But since it's mid-year, it's still possible to call individual schools to see if there are any math openings. Still worth a try.
Washington DC no doubt about it. Great city, not as expensive as NYC and not as cold. Lots of young educated people around. Also lots of schools if you want to get a graduate degree and lots of jobs in the area with government agencies for people who studied math.
What really sucks is that teaching endorsements from one state aren't necessarily interchangeable amongst other states.
While you have much leeway due to being in a high-needs field some states would require you to return and to school and take additional classes so that you could be certified to teach in that state.
It's just another way various states can get your $$$ in my opinion.
What really sucks is that teaching endorsements from one state aren't necessarily interchangeable amongst other states.
While you have much leeway due to being in a high-needs field some states would require you to return and to school and take additional classes so that you could be certified to teach in that state.
It's just another way various states can get your $$$ in my opinion.
Bingo...to the OP, districts throughout the nation are currently under hiring freezes and it's overall tough for ANYBODY to land a position no matter what your field is. There really isn't a "shortage" anymore in any given area under current circumstances. Apply, apply, apply...you're not going to get into any district in any city like you think. Take a walk over to the education forum and read up on what people are saying.
I can say this much though, my PA certificate is reciprocal or damn near close to it with just about anywhere due to specific certification methods consisting of tough college requirements and procedures followed up by PRAXIS testing and half a year's worth of student teaching.....except for Texas and California. My suggestion to the OP is to focus on Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio....why are you even asking when you have these options at your finger tips anyway? Check into Texas college towns too like Lubbock, College Station, Waco, El Paso if you speak Spanish, etc....you may not have a start in a city district but there's no harm in being 20 something and stuck in a large college town for a while. You want to consider salary vs cost of living as a teacher, and any somewhat populated area in Texas will fit the bill nicely compared to most other options throughout the south and south west. You can find salary schedules posted online on district websites. I'd also suggest the Tempe area of Phoenix, but it's expensive. Oklahoma City is nice, but Texas cities trump it easily in my oppinion.
But your certificate will probably carry over into Oklahoma/Kansas/Colorado/Arizona/New Mexico/Nevada/FLorida/Georgia/etc without much of a problem. Mainly areas throughout the South and South West are where you can jump around a bit. You'll probably have to take the PRAXIS exam and complete additional coursework if you want to look into the west coast, midwest, north central, and north east. The union/collective bargaining states all have strict requirements that align within themselves only and make it difficult for lateral entry from most southern states. I think Texas, California, and FLorida are the only states that aren't based on the PRAXIS and have their own form of certification testing, so that's definately going to be a factor to consider. You also need individual state clearances and other such forms completed...it ain't easy to jump from state to state, let alone region to region.
Last edited by TelecasterBlues; 01-06-2010 at 02:08 PM..
Check into Texas college towns too like Lubbock, College Station, Waco, El Paso if you speak Spanish, etc....you may not have a start in a city district but there's no harm in being 20 something and stuck in a large college town for a while.
He's done with college, so he has no reason to live in a college town, especially for a school he didn't go to. College Station and Lubbock are two of the worst places to live in Texas if you're over 24, single, and out of college. Everything is geared towards the undergrads.
If he's almost to his mid 20s and single, he should live around other single people in their mid 20s. Students in College Station and Lubbock generally don't stick around once they graduate.
I don't know your budget, but overall your not going to find much under $900/mo for a one bedroom apartment in BC... I think Bergen counties has more towns/municipalities congested into one area than anywhere else in the US (one county - 70 towns) so the amount of schools will be a plus for you and your job opportunities.
Bergen County have good teacher salaries, I'm sure it will provide for your cost of living.
Affordable towns I'd recommend are Lodi, Hackensack, the Rutherfords, Lyndhurst, Bergenfield.. It's worth looking into.
And cost of living is similar to (actually slightly less than) Houston, Austin, and Dallas. St. Louis COL is just slightly higher than San Antonio.
And St. Louis has fairly cold winters, but it's pretty warm in April and October. From my understanding, if you can handle Texas summers, you should be alright in St. Louis.
There are great suburban and private and magnet schools. You could look into it anyway.
And, browsing Craigslist, you should be able to find a one bedroom in a decent area for less than $800. If you work in the suburbs, you may want to live in the city or an inner ring suburb (University City, Clayton) and drive to the county. But during the morning most traffic apparently comes from the suburbs into the city.
From my understanding, Central West End is kind of the hip place to be. There are a lot of college students from Washington University and Saint Louis University.
Last edited by STLCardsBlues1989; 01-11-2010 at 08:33 PM..
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