A Question for/about Teachers (Indianapolis, Gary: health insurance, daycare, teaching jobs)

[ravinlunachick]

We will be moving to Peru later this week, from SC. I am SHOCKED that of 4 school corps around that area, NONE have an elementary job posting.

Is it REALLY that hard to get into a school in central Indiana?

I've taught for 8 years in a Title One school, and really feel I have a great deal to offer, but I'm not sure how to feel about the lack of jobs. Around here, districts are hiring like crazy now; everyone wants to avoid scrambling around in August to fill positions.

I've heard that there's typically a flurry of hiring in August, but I'd really like to have an idea where I'll be, because I'm also going to have to find a good daycare for my 2 children.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Ronzou]

I don't know about Central Indiana, but in Northern Indiana, they hire year round, if they need a position filled they fill it. (At least in my school district) However up here it is very hard to find teaching jobs, which is why a lot of people are moving out of state mainly to NC, because of the major population growth that state has had.

It is hard to find some sorts of jobs in Indiana.

[FritzIam4IU]

Teaching jobs are much harder to come by in most of Indiana right now. Most of the recent college grads new to the field, are leaving Indiana for other states, many to North Carolina/Virginia area. There are still needs for special ed teachers, and maybe math/science, but it is pretty tough in other areas in Indiana. There is also the "It's who you know not what you know" factor in many districts. Good luck to you!

[ShadowCaver]

From my brief knowledge via talking w/ my boys' teachers, positions here are obtained and then help onto, w/o much turnover - when a position is available, most times people are moved via tenure, etc. One teacher, for example, drives 1 hour from farm in OH to teach, as she loves the school district so much here. Here being NE Indiana area, northwest of Ft Wayne.

FWIW, here is an example of one local school district's openings:
Central Noble School Corporation (broken link)

Best of luck to you!


btw, ravinlunachick, that is one very moniker you have there... lol'd quite heavily after reading it a couple times...

[rrah]

About a month ago, someone asked a similar question about the Indianapolis area. I've C/Ped my response to them below. Obviously some of it is particular to that question, but the info is basically the same.

"This link will take you to a state website. School corp sites are listed. Most school corp sites have info regarding vacancies.

Indiana K-12 Web Sites (http://ideanet.doe.state.in.us/htmls/k12.html - broken link)

You will also find info here on the licensing requirements--if your spouse does not already have an IN license.

The experiences of myself and a couple of family members in finding teaching employment in IN has been discouraging. Competition is stiff, and it helps to know the right people. A long time ago I looked for a job in Lake County. Never did get one there. The day I started at a private high school in IL I received a call from the Gary school corp to start the next day--no interview, nothing. Needless to say I did not take the job.

A few years after that a cousin looked for a job in Lake County--it took her a couple of years of subbing before she found a permanant position.

Just a couple of years ago my SIL--new graduate, looked for employment in Indy area. She became a permanant sub for a year. She would have received a job the following year except she and my brother moved to Tennessee. She found a job quickly and is happily finishing up her first year.

I hate to be so discouraging about this, but the fact is that IN public schools generally hire the cheapest teachers possible. This means people like your wife, with experience, or people like myself, with a masters degree, end up frustrated and jobless. It's one of the few professions where experience and education count against you when looking for employment. That's not to say there are not exceptions, but there are lots of new grads out there looking for jobs. An exception might be if your wife could/would teach special education.


Your wife might consider looking into the numerous Catholic schools in the area. (you don't have to be Catholic to teach there!) It could just be my experience, but they tend to hire more experienced teachers than public schools."

Best wishes

[rrah]

From everything I've heard, parts of SC are growing rapidly, thus the need for new teachers. Most of Indiana does not experience those kind of "booms." Our growth tends to be slow and steady.

[amyfw]

Oh ya, teaching positions are VERY hard to find in Indiana . I went to Tenn. last week to look for teaching jobs, but I felt that it wasn't the right place for me.

It is true that most who get in, hang on until old age . It is very discouraging esp, when you love to teach. Because I have waited and subbed for three years, I have been looking into a different career of maybe truck driving.

Relocating to a diif. state is not possible at this time for me. I do hope that you find what you are looking for. Do use the Indiana dept. of education and go to jobs info (left hand side, bottom). It really shows you where the jobs are. Warning...jobs that are available in the middle and end of Aug. can be positions that no one else wanted . Do your research .

[jaynarie]

Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and most of Illinois (all but Chicago) are very tough markets for teachers. In Michigan, they estimated 25% of ed grads would get a job, but I would bet it is more like 5-10% because no one I know has gotten a job. We are laying off more teachers than we are hiring. 99.99% of the ones who get hired have "connections". My mom was talking to my old 1st grade teacher the other day, and she hates how they hire. There are a lot of people getting hired who are not the best for the job. I know 2 teachers who got hired last year that are hated among the staff. One's father is the DARE police officer and the other is the assistant superintendant's niece.
The only way to get a job is to be SpEd. Or a foreign language teacher (and not Spanish/French. I'm talking more like Mandarin Chinese). In MI, you can get an emergency special ed certificate by simply enrolling in classes. You actually have to go through with the coursework, but it is an easy way to get a job.

[bluebelt1234]

I have the same question about teaching jobs in Indiana. I have been teaching in Arizona and want to return to Indiana desperately. I want a teaching job but I would be willing to look into another career if I couldn't find one. I have thought about occupational therapy or speech pathology if I couldn't find a teaching job. Although I have no idea how I would pay my expenses if I went back to school. I like teaching but don't like Arizona, especially Yuma. They don't provide you with any support. You are given a key to a classroom, then expected to teach a class full of ESL students with no guidance. Then, if you do need help, the administrators tell you to do it yourself or just fire you because you are a new teacher. I also lost my health insurance and had to go on sub pay for awhile because I had no idea that I was missing one course for my certification. I am finally off sub pay and maybe one of these days I will get my health insurance back.