Looking at PA from NZ (Pittsburgh, York: real estate, apartment, rent)

[bradly78]

Hello,

My wife and I are looking at re-locating our family back to the US from New Zealand. As much as we love it here, the housing market is beyond our means, even with a small inheritance. After doing some research on the magical internet, I found that Pennsylvania has one of the best teacher salaries-to COLA ratings in the US, and in a place we'd be interested to live in.

As I said before, I'm a primary school teacher, and my wife in an accountant, but is taking a teaching course here. Most states recognize a NZ teaching license, so I'll be okay in that regard, and my wife and I are both Americans, so that's also not a problem.

We're looking for a small town, quiet, preferably in the moutains and relatively inexpensive housing. By that I mean somewhere around 200K or less for a nice 3 or 4 bedroom home. We're not looking for million dollar views, but something...quaintish.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. We're looking at coming around 2010.

[toobusytoday]

I would check into PA teacher certification a little more closely. It's not very straightforward. Jobs in cities are easier to get but unless you are certified in math or science at the secondary level, teaching jobs outside of the cities are hard to come by. It's no secret to any education graduates that our teachers are well paid, and in the best paid places, there will be a hundred applicants for each job. This is not to say that you won't find a job, but you should be aware that it's not as easy to obtain a teaching job here as you may think. This link should explain what's needed: Teaching in PA: Foreign Educated Teacher Certification Applicants (http://www.teaching.state.pa.us/teaching/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=22571&teachingPNavCtr=|&TNID=2537#2 537 - broken link) As you can see, you will still need to take the certification tests for PA:

There are many pretty areas of PA that might fit the bill as far as pretty, quaint and well priced. I'll let other posters tout their areas.

[lotajoy]

I have been here 3 years and I have found that the schools are pretty good here. I am moving back to Virginia and my biggest concern is my son's education. I enjoyed the schooling system here. I am sorry to hear that you won't be coming until 2010 because I would be offering you my house in a gated community not too far from shopping and skiing. Resort area for skiiers in the winter and summer activities. Good Luck with the job search. I am in the Mount Pocono area in Tobyhanna. bitajoy@yahoo.com

[wanneroo]

My sister works as a teacher in the schools in PA. Inner city teaching jobs are easy to come by, outside of the city pretty much you have to know someone. I know in our area often teaching jobs are advertised because they have to, but in most cases these jobs go to someone in the cliche. You might luck out, but most likely you'll have to start as a sub and work your way in. And pay varies for subs depending on the school district. Also it seems the turnover is low in these small cities and towns. I have heard of some people getting in that were not from the area, so it's not impossible, but don't expect it to be easy going.

Also my sister came from another state and I know she had to jump through some hoops to get PA certification and also had to go in front of the school board, so I'd do some research and find out what it takes.

Real estate is pretty inexpensive compared to other states so if you find a small city or town you like you should be able to get something below 200K.

I noticed you posted in the Colorado forum as well. I lived in CO for 7 years and happily moved back to PA. I find the cost of living is way cheaper and the same outdoor activities are here and in some cases better. Also it's a proper four seasons with more moderate temperature swings. New York and New England are also in easy reach as well. Overall I'm happier here and I figure I can always visit Colorado anytime I want. Incidentally I also spend a month a year in NZ or Australia, often in Christchurch where I rent an apartment sometimes.

[bradly78]

Thank you all for your replies. The forum has been quite a wealth of information, and your replies in regards to teaching has been most appreciated. I'm not toally naive about getting certified and I know that its not a fill-in-the-form and off you go kind of thing. We have the same things here in New Zealand.

It was good to hear about the job issues as well. Seems like its a universal problem. I got extremely lucky with my position, I work in a rural area outside of Christchurch which is usally reserved for those who know someone who's got a cousin who knows this guy's brother et cetera et cetera.

We like the idea of Colorado. I've been to PA a few times, my grandfather was from Hershey, and being from Northern Virginia, we'd take field trips to Gettysburg and for skiing. We used to play Chambersburg in football for reason or another in high school.

We've been most impressed with the Pittsburgh area, and I'm not opposed to inner-city teaching. We'd kind of like to reverse our present situation: live somewhere small and commute to big. Living in Pittsburgh also is not out of the question at all. I know I should post this on the Pittsburgh forum, but what are some good neighbourhoods there?

PS
I know I need to get out of the imperial spelling, I had to get into the habit here and elsewhere overseas, and its a hard habit to break!

[PeterRabbit]

There's several teacher threads in the Pittsburgh section. I think it's got the highest paid teachers in the country. Coming here and getting a teaching job isn't likely to happen.