Iowa City / Cedar Rapids area School District Employment (Ryan: 2014, school districts)

[ryanlavine]

Hi Everyone -

My name is Ryan and my wife and I, both teachers, are looking to move our family to the IC / CR area in the summer of 2014 for my wife to attend UI for a PhD in Spanish Linguistics. We have lived in Cheney, WA (just outside of Spokane), Casper, WY and currently live in north Houston, TX.

We moved to Houston in August 2012 for my wife to attend UH for a PhD and for the employment opportunity that a location with many school districts would have to offer. Having never lived in such a large urban environment, we did not take into account the heavy traffic, crime, heat/humidity and urban student population with varying disciplinary issues.
Traffic here is crazy. We live on the northern border of the city of Houston, and are approximately 40 minutes to downtown/UH via I-45.

Referring to teaching, I hold Texas endorsements in ESL, 4-8 generalist, reading, and special ed and my wife in Spanish and ESL.

Here, we each get paid about $46k per year plus a standard benefits package. Having taught in the Spokane and Casper areas, urban Houston was quite a shock.

I am inquiring as to what it is like to work as a teacher in the area:
1) How are teachers treated by the administration, students and the community?
2) How are teachers compensated?
3) Is the opportunity for teachers to be promoted into administration often?
4) Are there a lot of trainings required as part of the contract?
5) Is there a large focus on state testing?
6) Is there one district that is more preferred to work for over another?
7) How is it working with the state educational licensing board?

Any other insights on teaching in the area...

Thanks so much in advance for offering insights on how it is to work in K-12 public education in the IC / CR area!

Ryan

[Lovelola]

I taught in Las Vegas and then taught here-truly night and day experiences.

[ryanlavine]

So, which was night and which was day, LOL! My parents lived in LV, so I did apply but, as luck would have it, the superintendent of HR was asst sup for HR in Spokane, WA some years ago and I had a run in with her when I applied there. Go figure. However, I am teaching in Humble, a suburb of Houston. Quite frankly, I figure if I can teach here successfully, I can teach anywhere!