Deciding between Cities (Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder: neighborhoods, school, universities)

[Katarina Witt]

There are areas in Denver that are as expensive as Boulder, if not moreso. There are some moderately priced areas of Boulder. As for the liberal/conservative dichotomy, I believe it's been pretty well covered.

I would be the last person on this forum to tell anyone to avoid certain school districts. What is good for one kid can be awful for another. If you locate in a middle-class area, you'll find good schools.

[amanda200]

Originally Posted by delta07

I definitely agree with Mike to either look in the Denver area or Boulder, steering clear of Colorado Springs. It's just too conservative for someone who is very liberal. Medical marijuana is everywhere from what I can gather, so that shouldn't be a problem unless you don't like it. In the Metro area, I'm sure any of the suburbs can offer your son a GT program. Will you need employment as a teacher though? If so, I would start there and move where the job takes you. It's difficult to find any teaching jobs right now that are stable.

Are the school districts hiring substitute teachers?

[delta07]

Originally Posted by amanda200

Are the school districts hiring substitute teachers?

I have no idea, as I no longer live in Colorado. I know where I am now in Oregon, I was one of the last people to get on the sub list. It's been closed now for 2 years. Not an easy time to relocate as a teacher.

[gmm_24]

Originally Posted by amanda200

Are the school districts hiring substitute teachers?

You get called when they have a job, at least that is how my friend gets work. She does not work everyday. Not sure if they have a more steady type of set up for some subs. She gets called if a teacher calls in sick and goes to which ever school needs her. I think she said it paid $70 per day so about $10 an hour.

There are not many teaching jobs available right now. Our schools use to get new teachers every year since they pay poop. But since the economy tanked we have not gotten in any new faces. They have a job, it might not pay so great, but by damn they have a job

[amanda200]

Originally Posted by gmm_24

You get called when they have a job, at least that is how my friend gets work. She does not work everyday. Not sure if they have a more steady type of set up for some subs. She gets called if a teacher calls in sick and goes to which ever school needs her. I think she said it paid $70 per day so about $10 an hour.

There are not many teaching jobs available right now. Our schools use to get new teachers every year since they pay poop. But since the economy tanked we have not gotten in any new faces. They have a job, it might not pay so great, but by damn they have a job

I currently do subbing. In my district, the pay seems to be MUCH better than most places, including the more expensive of NorCal areas to live. I got into subbing as a way to get back into working after recovering from my illness and surgery. Time to get out but like you said, it's a job though I am hoping not to have to rely on subbing .... soon.

[amanda200]

Originally Posted by delta07

I have no idea, as I no longer live in Colorado. I know where I am now in Oregon, I was one of the last people to get on the sub list. It's been closed now for 2 years. Not an easy time to relocate as a teacher.

Sounds like CA is better in that regard.

[davidv]

Here are answers to your questions regarding employment as a teacher/substitute teacher.

Most education jobs are filled by June 1. Coming in this late is hard, but sometimes a person will resign over the summer. Sometimes schools will have to hire a couple of new teachers right after the year begins because of higher than anticipated enrollment warrants hiring more personnel.

There are always openings, because teachers retire, resign, take leaves of absence, or their contracts are not renewed. Because of budget cutbacks, some positions have remained unfilled.

Salary is based on your education level and years of experience (up to 5 years). In my district a teacher with a BA and no experience starts at $35k, and a teacher with a Ph. D and 5 years or more of experience will start at $55k. The top salary a person can earn as a teacher (15+ years of experience and a Ph. D is about $80k.

Districts are always adding people to the sub lists. Pay for subbing is between $80 - $95 a day. In my district a sub earns "super sub" status after working for 60 days, and will earn $140 day for every day above 61 days worked.

[hollyt00]

Many school districts honor more years than 5- I know of a couple in Colorado Springs which honor up to ten, I believe.

Teacher pay in Colorado is very low- one of the reasons why my mother has tried to get me to move to Texas- they pay teachers much higher there.

To really get an idea of pay and jobs available, go to the Colorado Department of Education website and find the list of school districts- bookmark the ones in the Denver and Boulder area, and systematically go through each one to see salary level, # of years they honor, jobs available, etc. Many of the districts also state when they update their website with jobs, so you can go through once a week and look for the jobs the instant they are posted.

[CosmicWizard]

hollyt00 wrote:

Teacher pay in Colorado is very low-

It's all relative! Compared to the likes of Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona for example, teacher pay in Colorado is pretty darn good. And if you are living in rural Colorado, teaching is one of the better paying jobs available....and very competitive. Also consider that to receive the higher pay that teachers receive in Texas...they gotta live in Texas, whereas a lower paid teacher in Colorado gets to live in Colorado. IMO, that's a pretty good trade off for the lower salary, and a very harsh trade off for the higher salary.

[delta07]

Originally Posted by CosmicWizard

hollyt00 wrote:

Teacher pay in Colorado is very low-

It's all relative! Compared to the likes of Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona for example, teacher pay in Colorado is pretty darn good. And if you are living in rural Colorado, teaching is one of the better paying jobs available....and very competitive. Also consider that to receive the higher pay that teachers receive in Texas...they gotta live in Texas, whereas a lower paid teacher in Colorado gets to live in Colorado. IMO, that's a pretty good trade off for the lower salary, and a very harsh trade off for the higher salary.

This is absolutely true! While I made very little working in Grand Junction, I still managed to live comfortably. When we started researching MT and OR for relocation, I was shocked at how little teachers and nurses (my hubby has his BSN) made. We ultimately decided on OR over MT because we knew it would be really hard to live comfortably on two salaries in MT. However, it's all relative. You make adjustments and pretty soon, you don't realize the difference.