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I recently graduated with my Master's in Education and am thinking about moving to New York City. I absolutely love it there and think it might be worth it.
With that being said, does anyone know if teaching jobs are easy to get? I've checked out the NY Department of Education website, but would like the advice of those teachers that live in the city. How is it teaching in NYC public schools? Is it worth it? What are some good areas to teach in? I've heard that P.S. 6 and 158 are among the top-ranked.
Any advice to a future teacher moving to the city would be most appreciated! Thanks!
Jobs in hard-to-staff schools aren't that difficult to find, nor are positions in subjects such as math, science and Special Education (especially at the high school level). I'm not familiar with the two schools you mentioned, but I can pretty much guarantee that if they're highly-regarded, your chances of getting hired there are pretty slim. Your best course, really, is to look for one of those harder-to-fill job and then, in a year or two, try to transfer to a better school.
FWIW: the DOE's website is notoriously unreliable when it comes to job postings. This is also a difficult time of year to be job-hunting, as the District's Open Market for current teachers runs through August 7th. Many Principals don't know whether they'll have staff openings until literally a few days before school starts in the Fall.
Finally, be sure to review the Salary Schedule (http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/CD18AE57-CC05-4016-8BC8-B2BACFC82122/38101/2008SalarySchedule.pdf - broken link). I assume, since you're just graduating, that you don't have any classroom experience? Starting salary for a Masters Degree with no experience is $51,425, which doesn't go far in the city.
All that notwithstanding (), there are 1.1 million kids in the NYC public schools, and never enough good teachers to go around. If you'd like to make a real difference in kids' lives, this is a great place to do it.
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I've heard from people who went to the recent job fairs that there were so many applicants and too few openings. Each year there seems to be less and less of a shortage. I was told it wouldn't be difficult finding a teaching job in the city here. I'm extremely lucky I got one, because all other people I know in elementary subbed or moved out of state to get a teaching job. It isn't nearly as easy as you might think it is.
I recently graduated with my Master's in Education and am thinking about moving to New York City. I absolutely love it there and think it might be worth it.
With that being said, does anyone know if teaching jobs are easy to get? I've checked out the NY Department of Education website, but would like the advice of those teachers that live in the city. How is it teaching in NYC public schools? Is it worth it? What are some good areas to teach in? I've heard that P.S. 6 and 158 are among the top-ranked.
Any advice to a future teacher moving to the city would be most appreciated! Thanks!
My mother was a NYC teacher at P.S. 201 in Flushing for 15 years. She has told me it is a very rewarding job (not financially).
Depends on the school but most schools are real strict. But then every public facility in NYC is strict; it's like lock down with tons of rules & regulations. Including police. Especially nowadays, there are a lot of safety measures even in the best schools in the city. 158, 67, 74 are all good schools
Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
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^^ Yeah but the teachers who get jobs there never leave. That's why teachers like me, who are entering their second year, probably wouldn't get a job there until we have like 10 years in the system lol
Thanks for the advice, everyone! I am certified for K-9, but would most likely be teaching elementary grades.
I guess I'm somewhat naive when it comes to NYC, but I assumed it wouldn't be too difficult to get into some schools. I guess it all depends on where the teacher shortage is.
I am actually thinking of teacher for the 2009-2010 school year, not the upcoming one, as I know it is getting close to the wire.
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There's a lot more middle school openings than elementary...but that's because middle school is the worst of the 3 and those with MS certifications tend to go to the HS lol
It might be a good idea to take a tour of a NYC school before you want to teach here. They're not like most schools in the country. Ever see Dangerous Minds? The elementary I teach at is exactly like that, but with 5-11 year olds (even some 14 year old 5th graders) The school is in the south Bronx, which I hate to say is where most of us 1st year teachers have to teach for our first year or 2. I don't mean to scare you, but it's better you know what the schools are like before your first day!
It might be a good idea to take a tour of a NYC school before you want to teach here. They're not like most schools in the country. Ever see Dangerous Minds? The elementary I teach at is exactly like that, but with 5-11 year olds (even some 14 year old 5th graders) The school is in the south Bronx, which I hate to say is where most of us 1st year teachers have to teach for our first year or 2. I don't mean to scare you, but it's better you know what the schools are like before your first day!
Excellent post! Anyone thinking of teaching in NYC should rent Dangerous Minds, Freedom Writers, and every other "white teacher turns around inner city kids' lives" movie. Multiply all that negative behavior by 2x or 3x, and that's CLOSE to what you'll experience. Only without the "turns around lives" part .....
My next-door neighbor teaches 5th grade here in Washington Heights and, when she was pregnant, one of her students threatened to bring a knife to school and stab her.
My Principal (we're in a South Bronx high school) was spat upon by a *PARENT*, who then picked up the carafe from the office coffee maker (full of hot coffee) and threw it at the Principal. Said parent also told her daughter, our student, that she should be attacking the Principal, too. [Fortunately, said student is no longer in attendance at our school.]
That said -- many of the kids are terrific, and you can really effect some positive changes, but it ain't easy.
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Don't forget The Ron Clark story. That's about city elementaries. It's such an amazing movie. It takes place in a Harlem elementary, which is just the same as the south Bronx. I watched that movie before I started teaching, so I knew what I was getting myself into. I learned to be a drill sargaent the first few days of school so the class doesn't get out of hand. It seemed to work, because other teachers tell me my class is really well behaved compared to the other classes.
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), there are 1.1 million kids in the NYC public schools, and never enough good teachers to go around. If you'd like to make a real difference in kids' lives, this is a great place to do it.
