[middletown08]

Hi! I notice many teachers have posted to this forum and gotten really helpful answers. I've been teaching in private schools (teaching high school math) and am looking to move to public school in CT. I have a master's, but with all the education courses I need for certification, I now have 35 credits beyond a master's degree. Do you think having too many credits will hurt my job prospects because I would be higher on the salary scale? I've heard rumors, and I'm a little nervous.

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by middletown08

Hi! I notice many teachers have posted to this forum and gotten really helpful answers. I've been teaching in private schools (teaching high school math) and am looking to move to public school in CT. I have a master's, but with all the education courses I need for certification, I now have 35 credits beyond a master's degree. Do you think having too many credits will hurt my job prospects because I would be higher on the salary scale? I've heard rumors, and I'm a little nervous.

Probably not. Currently, there is a need in the state for high school math teachers.

[JenniferAZ]

Is it hard to get a teaching job in CT? I am an elementary school teacher, and my family is thinking of relocating to like West Hartford.

[JayCT]

There are more elementary school teachers in the area looking for jobs than other types but there are still some jobs available particularly in the less desirable school districts like Hartford or New Britain. You should look at the teacher positions open now since this is the time of year for towns to start looking for teachers for the fall. It might give you an idea of what is available and what the pay is like. Jay

[saharris]

My husband is also a high school math teacher with many years of experience and degrees. He is at the top of the Master's payscale in CT. He spent all spring sending out job applications in CT with basically no interest. He had a few interviews but he was told he was "overqualified" meaning they would have to pay him too much. With town budgets so tight they would prefer to hire cheaper teachers. We could not believe how hard it was to get a math job there. He then sent out his application to a few schools in our current state and had a call within 2 hours asking for an interview. He ended up getting offered a job. However, we want to move to New England to be near our son who attends prep school there. So, we decided to broaden our search and apply in New Hampshire. He applied over the weekend and by 8 am Monday he had 3 calls/emails. He now has a teaching job in NH. Pay is much less, but where we will be cost of living is too. All that to say that it seems like it is very difficult to find a teaching job in CT if you are high up on the payscale. Even in "critical needs areas" like math. He had a phone interview a few weeks ago in a large district in CT and they told him that they doubted they would be able to pay him what he deserved. The math head said that teachers who are already in CT have a hard time changing districts because they don't like to give them credit for years taught in other districts even in CT.

[sun]

Even in many of the less desirable districts, the majority of teachers do not leave their jobs once they obtain tenure and seniority. More may transfer within the district more than those who actually leave the district. Then there are the higher paying districts that lure the best and most experienced teachers away from the urban districts which creates a few openings but not that many.
Unless there's a town that's expanding their schools, what is supposed to create openings besides retirement or re-locations? The teacher pay is so universally high here, that most teachers stay where they are. The cities offer incentives to keep teachers too by awarding good contracts and also through binding arbitration.
There's always seems to be more applicants than there are job openings.
And also quite frequently, if someone lives within a district they might be given some preference, even if is in part because they are starting out at the bottom of the pay scale.
The areas of the country that are growing rapidly, or don't offer as much money, or have severely depressed urban areas probably have more openings. But there is an agency in CT that helps locate teachers for CT openings.

[scammed1]

When I moved to Tx. from N.Y. to begin teaching I was informed by the heirarchy in Austin I needed to take extra courses to teach in Tx. I fought them as I had my master's. We went back and forth for a while but I finally won. Sometimes being persistent pays off.