Should I teach in Portland or Austin? (job market, private schools)

[katieann83]

I am currently living in Chicago and am looking to make a move in about a year; a move that I want to be more permanent. I am torn between Austin and Portland. Both have a great music scene, beer, urban life with outdoor things to do, and laid back people. All of the above sound ideal to where I want to live.

Major pros to living in Portland would be the proximity to my family (I grew up in Oregon), snowboarding, and loads of other outdoor activities to do. Cons would be all of the rain and grey, and an awful job market. For Austin the pros would be fantastic economy, sunshine, and a new adventure (I have no issues meeting new people). Cons would be the extreme heat and dryness, no snowboarding, and far away from my family.

The main reason for me moving out of Chicago is that I am growing weary of feeling as though I am in the "Rat Race", the extreme cold, and lack of outdoor activities nearby.

My main priority is being able to find a job as well as being somewhere where I can enjoy the outdoors. My family is important to me so living in Portland would make the most sense, but I don't want to move out there and not be able to find work. At least if I live somewhere like Austin and make a decent salary, I can frequently fly back to Oregon and visit. However, I don't want to move to Austin assuming that I can easily find a job and be in a similar situation I would be in Portland. I have 3 years experience assistant teaching and 4 years experiencing teaching ESL, so my resume is strong, but if there are no jobs then that won't matter. I know I have time to decide on this, but also know that a year can go by fast. Any advice anyone has would be of great help to me!

[christiner81]

i can't speak to the market for teachers here, but if i could get a job in a place i loved that was near family, i'd do it in a heartbeat!

[badalchemist]

I would visit Austin in the summer when it's HOT and ask yourself if it's the kind of weather you'd enjoy with summers off. Also, Texas does not pay its teachers particularly well and has a state government that seems to get off on making cuts to education.

[doggiemama]

Originally Posted by badalchemist

I would visit Austin in the summer when it's HOT and ask yourself if it's the kind of weather you'd enjoy with summers off. Also, Texas does not pay its teachers particularly well and has a state government that seems to get off on making cuts to education.

We moved here from Austin. Yes, it's dry there, in that the grass is often brown and there are frequent droughts. However, it's also stiflingly humid for much of the year. I agree with the above suggestion to visit Austin in oh, say, August, to see if you can handle the humid heat. My hubby is willing to live with rain for 8 months in exchange for never having to endure another Austin summer.

Another good point was made about being close to family--holidays are VERY expensive when you have to fly between Texas and Oregon.

OTOH, Austin is sunny and warm and fun and cheap. I found jobs to be more difficult to find in Austin than in other Texas cities but it certainly seems to be a better job market there than here.

[Sunderpig2]

Just weighing in on the "grass is often brown and there are frequent droughts" comment above. With all due respect, I have to disagree, based on several decades of [unfortunately] living in that state. And by the way, I am looking to move elsewhere where it's cooler and nicer.

Portland's humidity is higher than Austin, but the heat in the latter drives up the unpleasant heat index. With the exception of last year's utterly weird drought though, I don't remember any previous droughts or brown grass episodes of note in Austin. And just to show how things change, so far this year, rain is very much above normal. In fact, it's even erased the drought in many areas of the state. Wildflowers are blooming like I've never seen before.

And as it would be good to visit Austin at it's harshest point (July-August), it would also likewise make sense to visit Portland at it's least hospitable point (January?) Just trying to be fair I agree about the high cost in travel between TX and OR. We have family that moved to Portland last year.

[Blindtom]

Austin has a very large university and the state capitol. Both tend to add to the economy of a city. The weather is a huge difference.

[5cents]

What kind of teacher are you? My wife is a HS teacher. Oregon (and Portland's) public school system is stretched unreasonably thin now. From what we've found, the job market for teachers is pretty terrible - there are lots of applicants for jobs that don't exist because most schools are simply trying not to cut jobs and as a result class sizes are getting very large and non-core subjects are being eliminated. Private schools are an option too, but not that much better. Anyways, I think Portland is mostly great (having lived here for 8 months) and the weather is not as bad as I expected (again, newbie caveat) but you probably should not come here expecting it to be easy to find a teaching job.

[Minervah]

With lay-offs and redistricting, I don't think the teaching idea in Portland is a good one. Some good information on this has appeared on this forum in the past. You can search for it. Also, I would suggest a google search on the Internet to find out about it as well as contacting Portland Public Schools to determine if they are doing any hiring and what your chances for a job with them would be.

[mobilemindstationaryreality]

Originally Posted by badalchemist

I would visit Austin in the summer when it's HOT and ask yourself if it's the kind of weather you'd enjoy with summers off. Also, Texas does not pay its teachers particularly well and has a state government that seems to get off on making cuts to education.

As a teacher, I would say that all you just said applies to Oregon too.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by chocobot18

As a teacher, I would say that all you just said applies to Oregon too.

As do my teacher friends and the many newspaper articles that constantly appear regarding school closures, cutbacks, and layoffs. Recently I read that PPS was considering yet another shortening of the school year.

I don't know anything about Austin's school system but I doubt it could be any worse.