Edmond or Norman (Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Moore: best schools, universities, teacher salaries)

[peggydavis]

One set of our kids is moving to Maryland right after Christmas. We don't like it much, but our son has his dreams (navy flying) so we can't say too much. Of course, they all griped a lot about us moving from Edmond to Holdenville! Of course, we are just the parents and we are supposed to do what they want, LOL.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by peggydavis

This is one of the worst ice storms we have ever had in this state. What makes it so bad is that it hit the most populated areas of our state. This is definitely not normal. The people of Tulsa and OKC will be OK.

If you look at our news, you see people working at cleaning everything up and doing the best they can and helping their neighbors, not crying for handouts or looting stores.

My heart and prayers go out to you all affected. The ice damage to the trees in the OKC and Tulsa areas look worse than the ice storm Stillwater had in 2003. Fortunately, Stillwater escaped the current ice storm by just a matter of miles.

[peggydavis]

Well, this is one time OSU has it way better than OU. I felt sorry for those poor students I saw today picking their way through the sidewalks and streets full of branches. Glad to hear Stillwater escaped the damage.

[calitook]

Hey hazel eyes, not sure if you're still checking this thread. My husband and I moved from socal (Orange County) to Edmond in September. WE LOVE IT HERE, ice storms and all. Really that was a minor, temporary inconvenience, but it is worth it to have affordable living and no traffic. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about the transition

[Hazel Eyes]

Originally Posted by calitook

Hey hazel eyes, not sure if you're still checking this thread. My husband and I moved from socal (Orange County) to Edmond in September. WE LOVE IT HERE, ice storms and all. Really that was a minor, temporary inconvenience, but it is worth it to have affordable living and no traffic. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about the transition

I try and check all the threads I've posted on, but I forget sometimes where I've been on this thing...I guess I could check the "search' part for my posts..LOL
We live out in the IE and hate it out here. We thought Edmond would be nice as it reminded me of Rancho Cucamonga/Alta Loma in some areas. If my husband doesn't score a job soon, we'll have no choice but to look out of state. And from what I've read on the Oklahoma board, I can't think of a better place to move. I'm quite shocked at some of the attitudes on the other state forums about us "Californians" moving to their states...Oklahoma has been so sweet and helpful...
Did you have a job lined up, or found one once you got back there? Lots for us to consider and it won't be easy leaving family and friends..

[calitook]

My husband had a job lined up (transferred with his same company). This definitely put us at an advantage because he was able to retain his salary, and they helped with moving expenses. I'm a teacher, and we moved here about two weeks after school had started. For now, I'm subbing. The pay is awful, but we're still WAY better off than we were in California. OK does NOT require a bachelor's degree to sub, so that's always something that anyone can do pretty much immediately while figuring stuff out. Most districts pay $55 a day for non-certified and $70 a day for certified.
Moving here was the best decision we made- the prices, crowding, and traffic in CA certainly weren't getting any better, and we were miserable.

[happytown]

Its terrible that people are able to hold classes w/o a college degree even if it is just subbing...

[calitook]

I somewhat agree with you.. I'm a certified teacher, and most of the teachers I've talked to said the non-certs aren't that great. However I think if they required a degree, they wouldn't be able to fill all the positions unless they HUGELY improved the pay, and OK isn't exactly known for great teacher pay to begin with...

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by happytown

Its terrible that people are able to hold classes w/o a college degree even if it is just subbing...

I disagree. There are a lot of very intelligent people out there that don't hold degrees. IMO, if they have the knowledge and excel at communicating that knowledge to others, they should not only be allowed to sub, but to teach (if they are qualified). I have a degree, but I've know a lot of degreed people that, knowledge wise and the ability to impart that knowledge to others, are horribly deficient in both.

[happytown]

I would obviously agree that many people who are considered "self taught", in other words just as intelligent or more as anyone with a degree, should be able to teach. But there has to be a standard and unfortunately that requires a college degree, even by people who are "self taught", in most states. Also, even the people that are self taught (I assume) would generally not know classroom academic structure/management because they never had a chance to witness the process on a high level. Most states, with great public schools, have teachers with college degrees to teach or sub. The states that have this requirement are far ahead of Oklahoma in their public school systems, that is why OK has a stereotype for bad public schools. You will always find that private schools in Oklahoma require a college degree to even sub a classroom. This is just my opinion and is not intended to sound like an arguement.