another relocater to md/va - help and advice needed and greatly appreciated (to rent)

[mlbeamer]

last night my wife and i decided that we, along with our 3 young boys, will relocate back to the east coast in early august...i am a secondary teacher and figure it will be simple to get an urban job in DC or baltimore or even PGC (dont worry i have mostly successful teaching experience in philly and ghetto phx)...DC apparently pays teachers about 10k more thank balt, so this certainly is a huge plus...we will look to rent a house with a decent sized yard...i saw a cbs morning show program about kentlands and we have interest in living there...other than this we are open to living west of DC or Balt, depending upon where i get hired...i despise commute by car so trains are pretty important...i will be making 2 brief trips back in july to investigate...we currently live in phoenix...thanks for taking the time to read and respond.

[Zippy7fo]

Originally Posted by mlbeamer

last night my wife and i decided that we, along with our 3 young boys, will relocate back to the east coast in early august...i am a secondary teacher and figure it will be simple to get an urban job in DC or baltimore or even PGC (dont worry i have mostly successful teaching experience in philly and ghetto phx)...DC apparently pays teachers about 10k more thank balt, so this certainly is a huge plus...we will look to rent a house with a decent sized yard...i saw a cbs morning show program about kentlands and we have interest in living there...other than this we are open to living west of DC or Balt, depending upon where i get hired...i despise commute by car so trains are pretty important...i will be making 2 brief trips back in july to investigate...we currently live in phoenix...thanks for taking the time to read and respond.

Lmao, i'm not knocking you but the reason for the pay disparity is that DC has a huge retention problem due to that 10 grand difference still not being enough to live in the area and teachers not getting certified on time. I would recommend trying to get into Howard County or Fairfax/Loudon county's because they pay more and the problems with the school districts are much less, especially when it comes to resources. Until DC Gov't/Congress take education serious I would not work in the school system.

Your best bet now for affordable housing would be Baltimore though and now's a good time to get in on a good home...

[mlbeamer]

glad i could provide a laugh, the sad reality is that public education in this country is comparable to a bad comedian...i am certain you are correct with your description of the DC system, but i cant i imagine it being worse than 2 of the 3 districts i have taught in, but i dont want to wager on it...i checked into housing in dc area after i posted last night and saw that costs were not very affordable (why did i become a teacher?)...i will look into housing in the balt. area and also into the other school districts you mentioned...needless to say, my wife (and her mother) are very stressed that we are moving and i dont have a job.

[dullnboring]

I was going to ask about the amount you were looking to spend on housing as that's an important detail, but it appears you've figured that one out. If public transport is of the utmost importance, and concentrating on the Baltimore area, I would check those areas closest to MARC and light rail stations.

Maryland Transit Administration