Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have read through all of the posts I can find about the teaching job outlook for this upcoming school year. I am still trying to figure out what to do. I am a level IV endorsed math teacher in Utah. I am certified to teach any math class in a secondary setting. I recently attended a job fair and received many job offers from schools in Texas. With the new 4x4 initiative, Texas is searching for math and science teachers high and low. The only problem is that most of the schools attending the fair were inner-city schools. While I think it would be a great experience, I am hesitant to move my young family (wife and two kids) to the inner city of Houston.
We are looking to relocate, but we aren't sure where would be best. It seems like many states are offering math and science teachers stipends. The schools in Texas were even offering $5,000 signing bonuses. Does anyone have any advice for a young family, currently living in Utah, looking for a decent paying math teaching job? My wife doesn't work, so my income needs to be sufficient. We are hoping for warmer weather and to not be too far away from our families in Utah. Texas would probably be about as far east as we would be comfortable going to. Other cities in Texas? New Mexico? Arizona? California? Colorado? Southern Utah? Nevada?
Within each state, are there any districts or schools that you would recommend?
Would target a place with a powerful, well-balanced, growing economy w/many well-educated, affluent professionals who are likely parents willing to pay for academically competent public or private schools
And yet with a low COL, low taxes and high QOL newer, affordable, yet convenient suburbs for teachers and others who support such an economy
Would investigate suburban Dallas...
Would particularly consider leading public schools like HighlandPark and leading pvt schools like StMarks and Hockaday...and lesser (though OK) public schools like Plano
I have read through all of the posts I can find about the teaching job outlook for this upcoming school year. I am still trying to figure out what to do. I am a level IV endorsed math teacher in Utah. I am certified to teach any math class in a secondary setting. I recently attended a job fair and received many job offers from schools in Texas. With the new 4x4 initiative, Texas is searching for math and science teachers high and low. The only problem is that most of the schools attending the fair were inner-city schools. While I think it would be a great experience, I am hesitant to move my young family (wife and two kids) to the inner city of Houston.
We are looking to relocate, but we aren't sure where would be best. It seems like many states are offering math and science teachers stipends. The schools in Texas were even offering $5,000 signing bonuses. Does anyone have any advice for a young family, currently living in Utah, looking for a decent paying math teaching job? My wife doesn't work, so my income needs to be sufficient. We are hoping for warmer weather and to not be too far away from our families in Utah. Texas would probably be about as far east as we would be comfortable going to. Other cities in Texas? New Mexico? Arizona? California? Colorado? Southern Utah? Nevada?
Within each state, are there any districts or schools that you would recommend?
Sorry for such a long post... Thanks!
That doesn't surprise me. In fact, as attractive as such offers are, there's a reason why such schools need to provide such incentives in order to get teachers; most teachers do not want to teach there, or have left, b/c there are so many behavioral problems amongst inner-city students that teaching them is a huge liability, extremely draining and frustrating. In fact, most of the public schools that I see advertising for teachers are inner-city schools b/c teachers are leaving those schools in droves (and with good reason).
As a math teacher, I don't think that you will have any difficulty finding a position. However, I would focus on private schools in any of the states that you mentioned, staying away from those located in urban areas.
Why not teach in inner-city Houston, but live in the Houston suburbs? Perhaps less than ideal, but it's what people have been doing for the better part of 70 years now.
That doesn't surprise me. In fact, as attractive as such offers are, there's a reason why such schools need to provide such incentives in order to get teachers; most teachers do not want to teach there, or have left, b/c there are so many behavioral problems amongst inner-city students that teaching them is a huge liability, extremely draining and frustrating. In fact, most of the public schools that I see advertising for teachers are inner-city schools b/c teachers are leaving those schools in droves (and with good reason).
As a math teacher, I don't think that you will have any difficulty finding a position. However, I would focus on private schools in any of the states that you mentioned, staying away from those located in urban areas.
Agreed. Why would a teacher set him/herself up for perceived failure by working in conditions like these? If the students don't pass, due to any number of outside factors, the teacher will be held responsible. President Obama is even proposing that schools be closed and/or staffs be fired if students don't improve. 100% of the responsibility will be on the classroom teacher. If possible, find a school (public or private) where students bring with them background knowledge, aren't hungry, attend school on a regular basis, and their parents value their education and support what you are doing in the classroom.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...031301137.html He wants a new accountability system within four years, one that would require states to verify that all students by 2020 are on a path toward "college and career readiness" and that would clamp down on the lowest-performing schools as never before. "Schools that achieve excellence or show real progress will be rewarded," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday...
I am assuming you are talking about districts like Aldine or Alief in the Houston area since they are always looking for teachers and have been recruiting out-of-state for years. You would certainly not need to live in those districts in order to teach there. For example, Alief is a reasonable distance from areas such as Sugar Land. Aldine isn't far from Kingwood. There are other communities in the area that would be okay commutes as well. Teacher pay in the Houston area is fairly decent as it is in any major city in Texas. One of the main drawbacks is the emphasis on the TAKS test, and you will tend to find more emphasis placed on it in the inner-city schools (based on my own experience in San Antonio plus friends teaching throughout the state). Texas is moving to a different state test, but I can't imagine the emphasis on test results will go away.
I have not heard about the stipends being offered here in San Antonio and teaching jobs are few and far between here. Having said that, you would be more likely to find a position here in an "inner-city" district as well (ever noticed that "inner-city" schools are rarely in the inner city geographically?) such as Edgewood, SAISD, South San... Again, probably not areas in which you would live but certainly areas within a good driving distance from communities you might find more desirable.
Are you a new teacher or do you have experience? You are endorsed in secondary - how far down does that go? For example, would it allow you to teach middle school or just high school? Endorsements vary quite a bit from state to state, so just checking...
Are you a new teacher or do you have experience? You are endorsed in secondary - how far down does that go? For example, would it allow you to teach middle school or just high school? Endorsements vary quite a bit from state to state, so just checking...
I am a new teacher... yes, and in fact, it was Aldine and Galena Park that I spent the most amount of time with. My endorsement is in Secondary Math level IV, which means I can teach grades 7-12... anything from basic 7th grade math to AP Calculus.
Thanks again for all of your help. I do understand that I can live away from the school... however I was told that the traffic is pretty bad in Houston and you can't live too far away without a long commute each day. I have never even been to Houston so I am just going off of what others tell me... Maybe that is not even the case.
We are looking in to Arizona as well. Does anyone have any insight to teaching in Arizona?
We are looking in to Arizona as well. Does anyone have any insight to teaching in Arizona?
I was a teacher in Arizona and there are no jobs here unless you want to work on an Indian Reservation 100 miles away from the nearest town. Even that might be doubtful. I am elementary certified and can't find a job. A friend of mine is a certified math teacher in a bordertown in AZ and she has given up looking for a teaching job. She decided to go back to school and pursue a new career.
Some of the highschools in AZ have bumped up class sizes to 40 per class because of a severe budget shortfall. A friend of mine who actually managed to keep his teaching job said that he averages anywhere between 35-40 kids in each of his classes. Even subbing in AZ is also doubtful. I know the school I got laid off from was going to split classes instead of calling subs.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
