Teaching/Living near Ann Arbor

[jaynarie]

Even subbing is highly competitive. I subbed for two years, fully certified and didn't even come close to getting a long term job. I moved to North Carolina, because it really isn't getting better, only worse. My friend is still in MI (she chickened out in the move). She has subbed for 4 years now, for the same two districts (one she went to school in herself and the other she student taught in) and she still has not even gotten an interview OR a long term job. And, she is certified in middle school science! All of her certifications are Elem Ed, Science K-8 and Lang Arts K-8.

I have 5 certifications: early childhood ed, elem ed, K-8 math, K-8 Lang Arts and K-8 Social Studies. I received ONE interview in 3 interviewing seasons. I went to job fairs (and yes, each line is hours long. You will get to see 3 schools max in one day, 4 if you are really lucky) and everything. And, there are literally THOUSANDS of applicants per position. Not tens, not hundreds, thousands.

I hate to sound so pessimistic, but unless you are Special Ed or a foreign language teacher, you have a 0.00001% chance of finding a job. New teachers keep graduating, plus they are laying off experienced teachers. So, there are new teachers competing with people with years of experience who no longer have jobs due to budget cuts and/or enrollment decline.

[4WDGreg]

Ann Arbor is not cheap though, but like anywhere else, it has more and less expensive places to live. There are plenty of nice places to live in the city. I'd recommend the "Old West Side", which is pretty close to downtown.
AA is opening a new High School next year. They'll have only 9th graders in 2008, 9th & 10th in 2009 and so on, adding one grade each year
That may help with the job opportunities. Plus, AA schools are very highly rated in general.
People have mentioned all the nice communities near AA. Dexter is probably best, followed by Chelsea and Saline. Generally, west of AA is where the more wealthy/safer communities lie, and the opposite is to the east.
Personally, I wouldn't want to live anywhere east of Ann Arbor, including the entire metro Detroit area. Ann Arbor is just that nice of a community. Plus, Washtenaw County has had the lowest unemployment rate in Michigan for about 40 years running now.

[starsmaycollide]

Ann Arbor is an awesome place to live, and I have loved my time here in the past 8 years.

But, as the others have said, good luck finding a teaching job, especially in the field of history. I am also endorsed in secondary social studies, and thankfully my husband does not ask me to work more than occasional subbing because there are simply no jobs.

I graduated college in '05 and from my entire group of "teacher friends", only 2 got jobs. My husband was one of them, and he was up against nearly two thousand applicants for his position in English. It's a nightmare.