Relocation from KS, how is the teaching job market? (St. Louis: transfer, magnet schools)

[KS to STL]

My wife has received a promotion (which involves a transfer) and will be working at I-270 and Manchester. She will be able to work from here until the end of the current school term (I am a teacher on contract until the end of May 08) so we have a little time to check things out. We are looking to live in St. Louis County anywhere from Maplewood, Shrewsbury, Afton west to Kirkwood, Sunset Hills, etc. We were able to visit some of these areas last month and in general liked the whole area but I know that there is always bad with the good.

I am a high school science teacher currently teaching Chemistry but have experience in Biology and Physics also. Does anyone know what the teaching job market in the St. Louis area is like? (Kansas has been experiencing a shortage of science teachers) I know that there is the dual public/Catholic school system in the St. Louis area. How does Catholic school pay compare to public?

Any information that anyone can provide, about good reasonably priced housing in the above mentioned areas or about prospects for teaching in the area will be greatly appreciated!

[Inoxkeeper]

A good teacher can always find a job in Saint Louis. You should look at public and private schools. My kids went to Rockwood Summit, it's very high in academic rankings. I think they are #1 or #2 in the state for public schools.

I wouldn't touch any Saint Louis City job which will be the easiest to get. Unfortunately the STL City public school district is in shambles and under state control. It's very low pay, very high stress and as a bonus you could get shot by a student.

Vianney and Desmet, MICDS, etc are all great private schools. I am guessing pay at any of them will be higher but they will also be the hardest to get into as everyone wants to work there due to better pay and resources.

[TGS]

Originally Posted by Inoxkeeper

A good teacher can always find a job in Saint Louis. You should look at public and private schools. My kids went to Rockwood Summit, it's very high in academic rankings. I think they are #1 or #2 in the state for public schools.

I wouldn't touch any Saint Louis City job which will be the easiest to get. Unfortunately the STL City public school district is in shambles and under state control. It's very low pay, very high stress and as a bonus you could get shot by a student.

OK, I am going to stick up a little bit for St. Louis City Schools.

St. Louis City schools do have serious problems. However, the highest ranked individual schools in the state are, in fact, St. Louis City schools.

Metro High School is the highest ranked high school in the state. Every year in US News it is ranked much higher than Ladue, Kirkwood, or any well-regarded school in the area. Rockwood Summit doesn't even make the list.

Raw MAP scores also show how good Metro is academically. Here is a list of the top ten highest scoring schools:
http://www.dese.mo.gov/divimprove/as...rforming06.pdf
Metro blows the other schools out of the water. Rockwood Summit isn't on the top ten list. McKinley Middle and Kennard Elementary are also St. Louis City Schools that always show up on the top ten schools in the state for MAP scores. These scores are especially good considering that the schools are dealing primarily with poor, inner-city kids.

Naturally, all of the schools mentioned are magnet schools. There are many other very good magnet schools in the St. Louis City school district. If you are offered a job at a magnet school, then you should be fine. The regular schools do live up to their reputation, though.

The premier public districts in the St. Louis metro area are Ladue, Kirkwood, Webster Groves, and Clayton. Sections of Parkway and Rockwood are also very good.

As far as private schools go, I think that they usually pay less than the public schools. However, the teachers have more freedom to actually teach, instead of worrying about scripts, test scores, and increasing administrative oversight. Most of the teachers I know at the Catholic schools seem happier than the public school teachers. There is a lot of community support for the Catholic schools, especially within the city limits.

Good luck!

[anr_black]

I'm a teacher. As far as the job market goes, I think teaching is one of those professions that's not really affected by the economy. There will always be a need for teachers, to some degree. When we moved here a few years ago, I applied everywhere and had three offers to choose from.
The area you described is centrally located, so you will have a large area to focus on (within a 20-30 min. commute). I have not worked for the city schools, but I wouldn't discount them, depending on the type of person you are. The pay is competitive. As you probably know, you will find discipline issues, lack of parental involvement, financial problems, etc. in every school, public or private. That's the nature of teaching today.
Depending on where you end up living, you could also consider the close-in metro East schools. I live in the city and work on the East side and have a 20-25 min. drive. It's a reverse commute, so you won't hit too much traffic.
And as for the private schools, the Catholic schools do pay less and the benefits are usually not as good (not sure about the 'independent' schools).
Good luck in your search! Since you're looking ahead now, you shouldn't have any problem finding a job.

[KS to STL]

Does anyone know of any education "job boards" other than the "MOREAP" board that I have found?

There really does seem to be a very diverse bunch of schools in greater St. Louis! At least from what I've been able to find on the web.

[TGS]

Here is the job page for the Catholic schools:

Catholic Education

[la_missourienne]

IMHO, MAP scores do nothing to show how good a school is or isn't. Most kids do not give a flip about them because most schools do not count them towards grades, thus they blow them off/fill in bubbles in nice patterns, etc (notice I am not saying all!!). Some schools "cheat" or simply teach the test itself (which to me is pretty much the same thing), thus artificially inflating the scores, because this is one of the major points DESE uses to 'score' how a school is performing and give those numbers over to D.C. so that we can show that MO is NCLB compliant.
If you really want to know how a school is, go tour the school on your own and talk to the teachers there. There are variances within districts, of course, so don't judge an entire district by just one or two of its schools (I speak from experience!)
As for the market, you should find a job easily based on your level of experience; it is a bit competitive, but not horrifyingly so. PM me if you need any help/advice--I currently teach at Hazelwood West.

[aragx6]

MAPs don't have bubbles do they?

Schools do a lot of things to try and make the tests important (ours gave away gift certificates and prizes to kids who got proficient or advanced proficient) but I suspect it doesn't really work at motivating kids.

Maybe someone knows too if they've reinstated some of them? I know that maybe half a dozen years ago they had all these budget cuts and they stopped giving out a lot of the high school ones... I know my senior year (2003) we didn't take any.

[la_missourienne]

I was just generalizing about how the test is treated by students. I don't think MAP tests have bubbles (I was just recalling what kids did when I was in high school over a decade ago *turns red*), so I guess now they must doodle with word patterns on them or something. As for trying to motivate with rewards, the last school I taught in tried to offer that incentive and it only motivated the kids that already performed at 'proficient or above', and barely at that.
Most schools only give the tests that are absolutely required of them, which you are right, was cut down in recent years. DESE is now proposing to change over to "Exit Exams" of some sort, which I heard is supposed to replace MAP.
I didn't mean to sound like I am anti-testing, it's just that I don't think it proves much on the grand scale and shouldn't be used as a 'measuring stick'. Every student is different and will excel at different subjects, at different aspects of certain subjects and at different levels of ability. We need tests that somehow show what students can do with what they have learned rather than what they simply do not know. I don't know how one would go about creating such, but even then, I wouldn't want it used to compare schools. Too many good teachers are leaving the profession now because they are sick of jumping through hoops and teaching tests rather than applications of knowledge. I hope I'll never be one of them * crosses fingers *!

[aragx6]

Honestly I think one of the best ways to judge a school is by asking parents what they think. Parents who do as well as parents who don't like their kids' schools are very open and vocal about it. I like greatschools.net for info like that.