Might move to Cincy from Tri-Cities TN if I get teaching job (Cincinnati: real estate, subletting)

[SoFresh99]

For a number of elementary teaching positions in my district (Mariemont) this past year there were roughly 120 Masters degreed applicants per job. A few were filled by MEds that had been treading water as teacher's aides in the district for YEARS waiting for a fulltime opening. Given that the there has been some reconfiguring of teacher's union retirement economics from what I understand many teachers nationwide are going to be retiring soon so more openings are bound to appear everywhere.

I can tell you that if you bring something unique to the table you have a better chance. Can you speak/teach an in-demand language and also teach math? Are you willing to double as a health teacher or coach? Anything that lets them eliminate another full-time body when they hire you is going to get their attention. Are you a minority or disabled? A phD? You need some kind of edge in addition to just being a certified teacher.

I can tell you that my Masters+10 friends in Boston city schools make $120k at the high school level. So there may be some urban districts that fit the bill.

[TeacherinTN]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

Male middle school teachers are rare and desirable here. Of course, get a job first, move second. But certainly worth your Ohio certification. Private schools will be requiring advanced degrees and even local teaching references. Public schools not so much.

I would note, however, that you might experience some classroom culture shock. Even in the desirable school districts, the demographic balance is quite different than Johnson City Tn. Cincinnati is a stratified community, with a bi-modal distribution of economic factors whereby the approximately 50% black population is mostly in the lower economic strata and the 50% white population is not. There are many districts in the area that will have close to 100% African American students in a middle school classroom. Many will have very few. Our experience here is that children from lower economic strata are more often unsupported in academics at home and DE-motivated by peers. One would think that children for whom a good education and success in school is the only avenue out of poverty would take school more seriously. they don't.

Thanks Wilson, it seems the big difference is we have just one school system that serves all walks of life here in JC. If I move to Cincy it sounds like I'll miss that. Racism is not an issue down here and we are in the "south". In a typical classroom I'll have 20 white, 5 black, 3 Hispanic, 1 Asian, 1 Indian. I always have several white kids who are less affluent and poorer than everyone else. Also, my minority students are just as friendly and connect with me as much as the white kids, maybe even more. It would be disappointing to lose that up north.

[Rangerred]

Thanks Wilson, it seems the big difference is we have just one school system that serves all walks of life here in JC. If I move to Cincy it sounds like I'll miss that. Racism is not an issue down here and we are in the "south". In a typical classroom I'll have 20 white, 5 black, 3 Hispanic, 1 Asian, 1 Indian. I always have several white kids who are less affluent and poorer than everyone else. Also, my minority students are just as friendly and connect with me as much as the white kids, maybe even more. It would be disappointing to lose that up north

I think you might be surprised at the level of intolerance up there. The diversity in the schools in JC, both ethnically and economically, is quite unique and you will not find that in Cincinnati. As mentioned earlier things are very stratified and not diverse at all.

[Misfit Toy]

@TeacherinTN - Be careful what you wish for. I live in one of the more desirable public school districts and they get a lot of applicants per position. Teachers who were once students in the district seem to get an edge, as there are a lot of homegrown staff.

And especially in the more desirable areas here, there's a "standoffishness" and at times an outright snobbery factor that probably isn't as strong where you are. I grew up in backwater towns and I feel where you're coming from re. wanting to get out of there. But I doubt your area is having a "Grand Experiment" like Cincinnati is having this month, urging people to reach out to people they might not otherwise talk to. There's some discussion about this in another thread here ("Moving Cincy from Friendly to Welcoming" or something like that).

Good luck with whatever course you take.

[Wilson513]

Well, I drew it to your attention because folks from cities like Johnson City, where there are 7.1% blacks in the population and those blacks are properly stratified into all economic groups from poor to prosperous, do not understand the problems of having a huge (~50%) underclass of disaffected minority.

I am always a bit put off by people from areas that have no underclass and a total of 10% minority residents who attribute our problems to "racism" or "intolerance." It is not intolerance of the poor or minorities that causes our minority parents to utterly ignore their childrens' academic failures, or their minority peers to equate succeeding in school as "acting white."

This is not about racism, it is about demographics.

[SoFresh99]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

Well, I drew it to your attention because folks from cities like Johnson City, where there are 7.1% blacks in the population and those blacks are properly stratified into all economic groups from poor to prosperous, do not understand the problems of having a huge (~50%) underclass of disaffected minority.

I am always a bit put off by people from areas that have no underclass and a total of 10% minority residents who attribute our problems to "racism" or "intolerance." It is not intolerance of the poor or minorities that causes our minority parents to utterly ignore their childrens' academic failures, or their minority peers to equate succeeding in school as "acting white."

This is not about racism, it is about demographics.

This is all OT but. . .This phenomenon where education is devalued and mocked is about class rather than race. In Cincinnati this can seem to be about race because rich/poor falls along race lines in the city proper. In more rural areas the same thing happens across a spectrum of rich/poor white people. I imagine that in Atlanta the same thing happens across a economic spectrum of black people. In Boston it was a huge problem. There was this really almost violently charged interpersonal frontier along the lines of old-time-Boston white townies who "didn't need college (even high school in some cases) and did just fine and why would their kids needs college." And the liberal white imports there for college or startups. The two groups rarely intermixed. There would certainly be the same push back against a townie acting like an import.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by SoFresh99

This is all OT but. . .This phenomenon where education is devalued and mocked is about class rather than race. In Cincinnati this can seem to be about race because rich/poor falls along race lines in the city proper. . .

This is exactly on the topic. A person moving from Johnson City TN. to teach in the school systems here needs to know exactly what he is in for.

But I agree completely with what you have said to the extent that demographics (and not class) drives this. Poor immigrants from Africa, India, Thailand, and many other countries value education and strive for success more than upper class residents from wherever. But, there is a demographic where a significant percent of the demographic (here in Cincinnati, it is black persons who are not recent immigrants) mock education and reject economic success achieved through it.

[ohioaninsc]

Originally Posted by TeacherinTN

I checked out Oakley and liked it but the schools didn't look very good. Of course I just go by the ratings on Zillow. Other than Kilgore and Wyoming I don't see 10's for schools in turn of the century neighborhoods.

In Oakley, I think your children at least once in High School can apply to get into Walnut Hills High School which even as part of CPS Schools is the #1 ranked High School in all of Ohio.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by ohioaninsc

In Oakley, I think your children at least once in High School can apply to get into Walnut Hills High School which even as part of CPS Schools is the #1 ranked High School in all of Ohio.

Walnut Hills HS actually starts in the 7th grade and you don't want to miss that or there is a danger of being shut out of the HS itself as those lower grade students have preference.

[Ohio123]

Originally Posted by TeacherinTN

I checked out Oakley and liked it but the schools didn't look very good. Of course I just go by the ratings on Zillow. Other than Kilgore and Wyoming I don't see 10's for schools in turn of the century neighborhoods.

The information on Zillow is, unfortunately, out dated. Hyde Park School reopened for the 2012-2013 school year and serves part of Hyde Park (which used to be at Kilgour), all of Oakley, and a little bit of Evanston. It was rated just as high as Kilgour and many suburban schools on the latest Ohio state report cards.

I can't get the website to come up at the moment but if you google Ohio state report cards you should be able to find all the details.