Teaching in Texas (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio: find a job, high school, college)
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Either that or maybe some farm state 15-20 hours away in the middle of nowhere, that sounds like a great alternative!
Well the truth of it is that this is the wrong time to be picky, especially when you're talking about relocating which almost always gives you a disadvantage if you don't have connections or special skills (which your GF doesn't if we're talking about music ed--Texas is one of the most popular states for music ed and is flooded with experienced teachers and new grads.) Those cushy jobs near fun places and popular cities always have more competition, even in a good economy, and you'd better believe they're harder to get now. If something comes open in "some farm state 15-20 hours away in the middle of nowhere" then your GF should jump on it. She can always teach there for a few years, gain some experience and then look to relocate when the economy improves in a few years. Many people have to do that when they're first starting out.
The thing is she already has experience at 2 different schools, and we live in a rural area which we are trying to get away from not go to another one unless its remotely close to a big area. I dont see it as a good thing, you really do have to consider everything when you accept a job and alot of people that move away like that hate where they live and end up quitting their job anyway if they dont want to be there or hate going to work every day. I cant picture being in a town of a couple hundred or couple thousand in a flat cold farm state for a few years, I guess if that was the last job then yeah maybe but I mean there has to be something out there in the few states that I mentioned, Texas, Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida, or Utah. Besides if she gets a job in one of those rural areas, theres probably no chance of me getting hired anyway, I need to be in a larger area for my business degree, not a town of a few hundred. From what people in Texas have told me at least on here, its almost impossible but I guess you dont know until you try. What I had in mind was to network in Texas from out of state, but how can you do that?
Last edited by chris0681; 01-06-2011 at 06:28 AM..
What I had in mind was to network in Texas from out of state, but how can you do that?
You can't really. When schools find out they have openings for the next year (usually around May 1st when contracts need to be signed), they want to be able to call applicants up and interview them within a few days. If you have to wait a few weeks to fly in because you don't want to pay $900 for a last-minute plane ticket, ISDs are not going to wait for you.
Is your girlfriend qualified to teach private music lessons- say, piano, voice, etc? Good private teachers are usually in demand and can make $50-75/hour depending on the area and going rate. Of course, she'd have company paid health insurance or retirement....
I guess the only thing to do would be to relocate first, and it doesnt seem practical at this time to do that, since we are going to be trying to apply in other states from Michigan first. She has taught piano and voice lessons in the past, and could maybe get by on doing that and subbing until she found more of a permament position, but Texas wasnt even really our first choice to find a job in, its a great place that seemed to be doing better then Michigan economically, but it seems to be in the same job category as Florida (nice beaches and weather), Colorado (the rockies), or Illinois (close to Michigan), from people in this forum, which we'd rather live there, not saying Texas isnt great but we do like other states as well. I guess I shouldnt believe the hype as far as all the suveys done that says Austin in particular is growing a lot and a great place to land a job.
I guess the only thing to do would be to relocate first, and it doesnt seem practical at this time to do that, since we are going to be trying to apply in other states from Michigan first. She has taught piano and voice lessons in the past, and could maybe get by on doing that and subbing until she found more of a permament position, but Texas wasnt even really our first choice to find a job in, its a great place that seemed to be doing better then Michigan economically, but it seems to be in the same job category as Florida (nice beaches and weather), Colorado (the rockies), or Illinois (close to Michigan), from people in this forum, which we'd rather live there, not saying Texas isnt great but we do like other states as well. I guess I shouldnt believe the hype as far as all the suveys done that says Austin in particular is growing a lot and a great place to land a job.
Hype = BINGO!
The Texas economy is stable and doing better than most states. There has just been a FLOOD of people moving here from out-of-state since 2008. Something like 1,000 people A DAY are moving into Texas- that's over 1 million people since the "Great Recession" began. Our economy is good....not good enough to create 1 Million jobs in the worst economy in 70 years. But good enough to still be a bit below the US unemployment rate DESPITE having an additional 1 million residents move from out of state. Think about the magnitude of that.
If you worked in other fields, it may be easier. But any government funded jobs (TEACHING, etc) are going to be under then gun with the MASSIVE BUDGET CRISIS LOOMING in the 2011-2013 state budget.
Bottom line- moving somewhere without a job is a very very risky move right now. If you're unemployed currently, the risk is probably worth it. If you are employed, STAY WHERE YOU ARE!! And be realistic- even though your girlfriend has taught music for 2 years, the world has changed and she may need to be open to different career paths if she wants to move and keep working.
The Texas economy is stable and doing better than most states. There has just been a FLOOD of people moving here from out-of-state since 2008. Something like 1,000 people A DAY are moving into Texas- that's over 1 million people since the "Great Recession" began. Our economy is good....not good enough to create 1 Million jobs in the worst economy in 70 years. But good enough to still be a bit below the US unemployment rate DESPITE having an additional 1 million residents move from out of state. Think about the magnitude of that.
If you worked in other fields, it may be easier. But any government funded jobs (TEACHING, etc) are going to be under then gun with the MASSIVE BUDGET CRISIS LOOMING in the 2011-2013 state budget.
Bottom line- moving somewhere without a job is a very very risky move right now. If you're unemployed currently, the risk is probably worth it. If you are employed, STAY WHERE YOU ARE!! And be realistic- even though your girlfriend has taught music for 2 years, the world has changed and she may need to be open to different career paths if she wants to move and keep working.
Listen to Turtle. Turtle espouses the wisest words I've seen on this board in quite some time, especially with respect to Texas (and Austin in particular) and the hype around the purported job creation here.
You could probably move here (to Austin) and land jobs waiting tables, bar tending, dish washing, store clerking, or taxi driving until the economy picks back up. And you might get paid up to $8 an hour in some of those positions. Titillating, yes? If you already have a job I would just stick it out. I've been looking for decent work for almost two years now, with nothing to show for my efforts. It sucks here.
Yeah relocating and waiting tables until the economy turns around isnt an option, I hate where I am in Michigan but I think we will try other states first before we just move to Texas. Id rather just move to Florida if I just move somewhere. I realize that alot of people are moving to Texas, but doesnt that create more teaching oppurtunities because of more residents, or is Texas just going to have a big student to teacher ratio instead of hiring the teachers that they really need?
Yeah relocating and waiting tables until the economy turns around isnt an option, I hate where I am in Michigan but I think we will try other states first before we just move to Texas. Id rather just move to Florida if I just move somewhere. I realize that alot of people are moving to Texas, but doesnt that create more teaching oppurtunities because of more residents, or is Texas just going to have a big student to teacher ratio instead of hiring the teachers that they really need?
I have about 6 good friends that are experienced teachers that live in Texas. They graduated from college, got a job teaching and taught until they had kids and quit to stay home w/ them. Now that their kids are older and in school (middle school being the youngest out of the whole bunch) all of them have been TRYING to get a job teaching in the same districts where they taught and their kids go to school for over THREE YEARS! One has been a substitute teacher for the last 7 years since her youngest started kindergarten and she has been told by 4 different principals at the schools she subs the most at that IF they ever do get an opening they will hire her on the spot. The others gave up last year and started doing other jobs and still keeping their eyes and ears open for teacher openings.
As for the GF that is a music teacher........ good luck. As someone else already said, those are "cush" jobs and the people in them very rarely leave till they retire.
Most districts did have job fairs but have since stopped. I know one district in my area stopped 3 years ago after they had one and 1000's of prospective teachers showed up for all of about a dozen openings.
I'm in my daughters middle school every week several times volunteering and I see the job postings in the front office. Unlike a few years ago when it would possibly be several pages long (I'm in a big district) it is now half a page and most are not even for teachers.
Don't mean to be so discouraging but just trying to give you a better understanding that teaching jobs here are not plentiful at all. My sister is a teacher as are several of my friends. They are all staying put and not moving around like some used to.
Yeah relocating and waiting tables until the economy turns around isnt an option, I hate where I am in Michigan but I think we will try other states first before we just move to Texas. Id rather just move to Florida if I just move somewhere. I realize that alot of people are moving to Texas, but doesnt that create more teaching oppurtunities because of more residents, or is Texas just going to have a big student to teacher ratio instead of hiring the teachers that they really need?
Yes, some districts in outer suburbs of Dallas, Austin, and Houston are still building schools because those are the areas relos love (big, cheap, brand new homes). However, the jobs are filled quickly because:
1. Major colleges in TX graduated hundreds if not thousands of education majors each year.
2. There are many unemployed teachers already in TX due to relocating without jobs and the number of layoffs districts have already done (Dallas ISD fired over 600 teachers 2 years ago).
Beyond that, music teachers are just not in demand. A friend of mine is THE middle school music teacher for a DFW- area distrct. She is only one person but works in 6 (!!!!!) schools. So even though districts are growing, there may not be additional specialty teachers hired.
Lastly, the TX legislature is expected to vote to raise the elementary school class size cap from 22 to 25 to 1) accomodate bigger populations and 2) justify teacher salary budget (and therefore job) cuts.
Yes, some districts in outer suburbs of Dallas, Austin, and Houston are still building schools because those are the areas relos love (big, cheap, brand new homes). However, the jobs are filled quickly because:
1. Major colleges in TX graduated hundreds if not thousands of education majors each year.
2. There are many unemployed teachers already in TX due to relocating without jobs and the number of layoffs districts have already done (Dallas ISD fired over 600 teachers 2 years ago).
Beyond that, music teachers are just not in demand. A friend of mine is THE middle school music teacher for a DFW- area distrct. She is only one person but works in 6 (!!!!!) schools. So even though districts are growing, there may not be additional specialty teachers hired.
Lastly, the TX legislature is expected to vote to raise the elementary school class size cap from 22 to 25 to 1) accomodate bigger populations and 2) justify teacher salary budget (and therefore job) cuts.
To add to this:
Some school districts promise high school grads that if they get an education degree they will gaurantee them a job upon graduation.
Fine Arts have been cut to the bone in many districts. Some elementary school PTA's are the ones funding any art or music teachers they may have. I am a huge proponent of the Fine Arts and my childs school band even went to Austin to play in the state capital just when they were going to be voting on Arts in Education. I give to the cause all the time as do several local dining establishments in my area and we support them. The reason all of this is having to be done is due to the lack of funding for the fine arts. We are doing everything we can to keep it in the schools even if it means donations above and beyond what our property tax dollars go towards.
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