teaching job in Browning

[ericsvibe]

No worries at all. I just wanted to point out the catch 22 of, this is a bad place so I won't try to improve it/this is a bad place, who cares what happens.

To your other questions, you shouldn't have a problem in MT if you like the outdoors. The schools here are very hands on, with much smaller class sizes than you are used to. My sons 4th grade teacher and his wife are both native New Yorkers from Brooklyn. They didn't have any problems moving here, and they love the school system.

However I would NOT live on reservation land if you are not a native american, as thier laws are quite different than our own and there is a real hatred between some native americans and white americans. You do not have any rights if you commit a crime there, real or imagined and the penalties can be quite harsh. (Speeding tickets on some Reservations are huge for non-natives.)

Come visit for a week and check it out, I'm sure you will love it.

[Keim]

Originally Posted by ericsvibe

No worries at all. I just wanted to point out the catch 22 of, this is a bad place so I won't try to improve it/this is a bad place, who cares what happens.

To your other questions, you shouldn't have a problem in MT if you like the outdoors. The schools here are very hands on, with much smaller class sizes than you are used to. My sons 4th grade teacher and his wife are both native New Yorkers from Brooklyn. They didn't have any problems moving here, and they love the school system.

However I would NOT live on reservation land if you are not a native american, as thier laws are quite different than our own and there is a real hatred between some native americans and white americans. You do not have any rights if you commit a crime there, real or imagined and the penalties can be quite harsh. (Speeding tickets on some Reservations are huge for non-natives.)

Come visit for a week and check it out, I'm sure you will love it.

In general I agree with Ericsvibe. I am all about stepping up and improving a place. But, I gotta ask ya EV, have you even been to Browning?

I would be constantly scared for my safety there. And I am a tough looking 6ft 5in guy.

[patches403]

Before you commit, make a visit to see Browning for yourself. Visit the school, meet the staff, find out what your living arrangements would be, etc. If the school can provide you with safe secured housing in or near Browning it might be worth considering. If they don't provide housing, find out what the other non-native teachers there do for housing and how far they have to commute each day if they live off the reservation. The nearest town of any decent size off the reservation is Cut Bank, which is 35 miles away. Consider the fact that the winters can be pretty miserable, not the snow so much since you would be used to snow in NY, but the bitter cold and the near constant wind. Commuting 70 miles round trip in the winter will not be fun any day but can be downright scary when there's blowing snow, high winds and low visibility to deal with. Keep in mind as a non-native there will be little for you to do in the way of leisure activities in Browning and the nearest towns of any significant size are Kalispell or Great Falls, which are both over 100 miles away from Browning.

Something to keep in mind is that few non-natives are willing to live on these reservations; there's reasons for that which will become apparent the second you step foot in town. I grew up in MT and back then Browning was a place you drove thru without stopping unless you absolutely had no choice and then you got out of town as fast as possible. Sounds like based on the other posts here that it might be even worse now than it was 30 years ago.

Are you looking at taking this job for student loan forgiveness or because the salary is much higher than other teaching jobs? I wouldn't do it for any reason if it were me, but if you could teach for 2 or 3 years and get $100k in student loans discharged than it might be worth taking the job. I absolutely wouldn't recommend the job if you don't have student loans or the salary isn't a lot better than non-reservation teaching jobs.

[ericsvibe]

Hey Keim, I've been through a couple of times, but my perspective is allot different than most. I grew up in South Florida in one of the poorest, crime ridden communities you could imagine. I also had allot of Native American friends and spent allot of time as a teenager on the Seminole reservation in South Florida. I know it seems like a world away but trust me they have the same problems there that all Native Americans have.

As I stated, I would NEVER live on a reservation unless you have married into the tribe. You have NO RIGHTS as a non native. For example, a friend was caught speeding. The reservation officer told him the ticket was $300.00 for going 5 mph over the speed limit. When my friend protested, he was advised that they would impound his car and make him walk home, and it would be $500.00 to get it out of impound. His mom had to give him the money. They waited for an hour on the side of the road for her to get there, with my friend in hand cuffs in the back of the truck.

I personally made the mistake as asking a Seminole girl to a high school dance. She was very beautiful and smart. I took her home and got jumped by 5 of her family members. They drug me out of my car and wailed on me. Luckily I could run allot faster than them and kept them off of me long enough for the tribal police to show up and tell me that I could not return to the reservation without an escort for causing "problems". It still cost me my drivers window, and back glass.

I however have a huge soft spot for Native issues, seeing what my friends families went through in high school. In MT I have been mostly to the Crow nation, but again, their issues are similar.

[Keim]

Originally Posted by ericsvibe

Hey Keim, I've been through a couple of times, but my perspective is allot different than most. I grew up in South Florida in one of the poorest, crime ridden communities you could imagine. I also had allot of Native American friends and spent allot of time as a teenager on the Seminole reservation in South Florida. I know it seems like a world away but trust me they have the same problems there that all Native Americans have.

As I stated, I would NEVER live on a reservation unless you have married into the tribe. You have NO RIGHTS as a non native. For example, a friend was caught speeding. The reservation officer told him the ticket was $300.00 for going 5 mph over the speed limit. When my friend protested, he was advised that they would impound his car and make him walk home, and it would be $500.00 to get it out of impound. His mom had to give him the money. They waited for an hour on the side of the road for her to get there, with my friend in hand cuffs in the back of the truck.

I personally made the mistake as asking a Seminole girl to a high school dance. She was very beautiful and smart. I took her home and got jumped by 5 of her family members. They drug me out of my car and wailed on me. Luckily I could run allot faster than them and kept them off of me long enough for the tribal police to show up and tell me that I could not return to the reservation without an escort for causing "problems". It still cost me my drivers window, and back glass.

I however have a huge soft spot for Native issues, seeing what my friends families went through in high school. In MT I have been mostly to the Crow nation, but again, their issues are similar.

Similar issues, only worse. Last I heard the Browning res was one of the poorest in the nation.

[Antonio Montana]

The other posters have done an excellent job summing up how problematic Browning is. I will only add that every year there are TONS of turnover among the Browning school district staff. They can't keep teachers. That should be a red flag.

[Essie11]

Always a red flag when districts are constantly hiring. Unless it's population growth, obviously not the case here.
I never got as far as salary, but I can't imagine it being anything impressive. And no super crazy student loans (well some but a fairly small amount) was just looking to get out of NY. Our education system here is becoming really messy, less and less jobs.

Browning contacted me from a teaching resume/job site. Figured it was worth doing some looking into before going too far in the process. Glad I did

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by Essie11

I don't know much about the Browning area (or MT in general). I know it's a Blackfoot community, but not a whole lot else. How is the community towards outsiders?
I'm a young single white woman from Upstate NY.

I've been considering moving out west, and I like the idea of being so close to Glacier National Park and the mountains.

Any insight would be great, thanks

I would seriously reconsider Browning as well as teaching in Montana in general. Teachers in Montana are some of the lowest paid in the nation. I don't know about Browning's cost of living, but I would still be surprised if the wages got very far. As I've said numerous times on the forum, you can't eat scenery. Browning is also on the Blackfoot Reservation which means lots of crime, alcoholism, and despair. If you want to move out west consider Wyoming instead.