Las Vegas teachers to Austin? (Houston, Dallas: sales, house, neighborhood)

[lava5000]

My husband and I are considering a move to Austin. We are both art teachers, and are wondering what the need for art teachers is in Austin. We both are K-12, so we could teach at any level. My husband would also like to get his masters at the University of Texas. We are also looking into Austin because we think it would be a better place to start a family, and are looking for a place we could grow old in. The only thing we wish Austin had was a professional team, we really miss that being in Vegas.

Does Austin have a need for teachers? Art teachers?

What is the cost of living compared to Las Vegas? It seems like housing is less expensive, but is the difference made up in property tax, sales tax, etc.?

Those of you that moved from Las Vegas, how would you compare and contrast Las Vegas to Austin? For example, I keep reading about how bad Austin traffic is. Is the traffic about the same as Las Vegas, less, more?

We love music. Is there always someone in town? We are rock and alternative rock fans.

How easy is it to visit other cities (other than texas cities) from Austin? Driving or plane? I think this may be the one plus about Vegas being so close to California, Arizona, and Utah.

Thank you so much in advance for your help. We plan on visiting Austin this fall, but want to make sure the trip is worth it.

[love roses]

Lets see. I'll try and answer some of these in order if I can.

1)As for professional teams, there's a thread on here about that. I think the opinion is kind of mixed. Austin isn't large enough I don't think. San Antonio has the spurs, but I think SA is bigger than Austin. There's also not a ton of interest quite yet. We do have the Express (minor league), the ice bats, and Toros.
2)Teachers: More schools opening every year, so I don't really see this as a massive problem.
3)Property taxes almost equal it out, but it also depends on your housing budget.
4)Austin is the music capital of the world (or at least the US), so yes, there are shows every day of the week in Austin and surrounding towns.
5)Texas is very large, so driving wise, the easiest places to go would be Oklahoma, maybe Arkansas, Louisiana. Everywhere else would be 8 hrs. +. I haven't found it hard to get on a plane to go anywhere else. Nevada is "close" to those other states because it's smaller and doesn't take as long to drive through. I'm saying that because we lived in Colorado for a few years, and it was so easy to go to Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, or Nevada.

[texastea]

Does Austin have a need for teachers? Art teachers?

Leander ISD has a full-time art teacher on each campus including its elementaries and its fast-growing, opening 2 new elementaries a year.

Leander Independent School District

How easy is it to visit other cities (other than texas cities) from Austin? Driving or plane? I think this may be the one plus about Vegas being so close to California, Arizona, and Utah.

San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, Dallas, Fort Worth, Tyler, Houston, Galveston, are so different they might as well be in another state

[lava5000]

Thank you for your replies.

Thank you also for the information on Leander School District. I looked at Round Rock, and Austin School Districts, but did not know Leander was another option.

[love roses]

Leander, Cedar Park, Georgetown (may be a little too far for you; don't know), Pflugerfville, Manor, Dripping Springs, Kyle, Hutto, (Travis, Eanes,), Manor, Elgin and Bastrop ISD's are all around Austin as well and would also give you some different places to look at.

[atxcio]

Also Lake Travis ISD, that should be growing too...

[lava5000]

I did not realize there are so many school districts around Austin. Thanks for the info.

It would be nice to be close enough to the University, but far enough away (maybe about 30 minutes away). We would love a house with a pool that is in a great neighborhood with awesome schools, and a community feel. A place that is fun for kids, and adults.

[love roses]

That's just about every neighborhood in and around Austin If you want to be close to the University, somewhere in South Austin or South OF Austin would probably be better.

[ohio2texas]

I don't think you will have a hard time finding art positions. In fact, Round Rock (where I teach music) has a posting right now for art teachers at "various locations" and school starts Monday! I would suggest, as soon as you decide on moving, to submit all your transcripts/Nevada teaching certificate to SBEC for a credential review. That will get you a one year, temporary certificate. You'll have to pass two tests within the year to get your Texas teaching certificate.

Welcome to the State Board for Educator Certification (http://www.sbec.state.tx.us/ - broken link)

If you do a search on teachers, you'll find many threads on this topic.

Let me know if you have any questions. I did all this a year ago.

[lava5000]

Originally Posted by love roses

That's just about every neighborhood in and around Austin If you want to be close to the University, somewhere in South Austin or South OF Austin would probably be better.

Great! Thanks, I did not know that.