Teaching in PA (Allentown, Northampton, Penn: home, teaching jobs, school districts)

[sesha11]

My family is moving to the Lehigh Valley area this summer, and I would like to find a teaching position before next year. I'm very concerned, because Texas districts have a primary hiring period from April through July. However, as I check all the district sites in PA, there are very few positions posted at all (much less positions in my certification area -- English). Is the hiring peak different than it is in TX? Do the districts post their positions somewhere other than their own web sites? Or is it really just impossible to find any sort of teaching position right now?

I am planning on submitting my resume even if districts don't have positions posted, but this is very discouraging.

[toobusytoday]

PA school districts generally post their positions here: Pennsylvania Teaching Jobs - Where Pennsylvania School Teachers & Administrators Find Jobs - PAREAP or here https://www.paeducator.net/

Are you certified to teach in PA? This is huge because Pennsylvania has a glut of certified teachers so there is no reason for a district to go out on a limb to hire an uncertified teacher. The route that many people go is to work as classroom aides, subs or long term subs first to get their foot in the door. Most of our aides/subs and all of the long term subs are certified teachers.

I would say July- August is the peak hiring time. If you don't have your PA certs. Get them NOW.

Another place that hires teachers are the Intermediate Units, but I'm not sure how applicable your English cert would be: http://www.aiu3.net/Level2.aspx?id=1466 The IU's are for kids that have special needs and they offer more help than can be supplied in their home schools.

[mrknowitall526]

The best thing is to search the individual district websites. In Lehigh and Northampton Counties alone, there are 17 school districts. Not many districts in the Valley use PA Reap or PA Educator. I've been trying to find a permanent teaching job (secondary math) since I graduated college in 2009.

PA is in the midst (and has been for several years) of a major education funding crisis. I think this is first year in about 4 where districts won't cut dozens of positions - the Allentown School District alone has cut about 400 teaching positions since about 2011.

right now, it's really about "who you know" in order to get a teaching job. I'm becoming increasingly discouraged with each passing year and seriously considering trying to do something else - even though I've wanted to be a math teacher since I was in the 8th grade.

Sorry to disappoint!

[mrknowitall526]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

Are you certified to teach in PA? This is huge because Pennsylvania has a glut of certified teachers so there is no reason for a district to go out on a limb to hire an uncertified teacher. .

Um, it's not that they are just "choosing not to hire" someone who's not certified - they can't. It's the law.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by mrknowitall526

Um, it's not that they are just "choosing not to hire" someone who's not certified - they can't. It's the law.

That's not true. You can hire someone with an emergency certification and they have a certain amount of days to get it. It happened with my daughter a few years ago. She had taken and passed all her PA praxis tests and was certified in the state where she got her degree but didn't have her PA certs. She was quite worried that it would not go through in time but her building principal and the Superintendent called the state to make it happen. Applications For Certification It's just not something that most schools ever need to do because there are so many other qualified applicants.

As to needing to know someone, I think landing enough sub jobs or a long term sub position or an aide job takes care of that. It is really challenging to get a teaching position here.

[mrknowitall526]

I've had LTSes in 4 different districts ... it is very often who know/who you are related to that gets you in permanently. I've been passed over by relatives of former employees plenty of times.

I thought you mean non-certified as in, someone who just came off the street. Having a cert from a different state is a totally different situation.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by mrknowitall526

I've had LTSes in 4 different districts ... it is very often who know/who you are related to that gets you in permanently. I've been passed over by relatives of former employees plenty of times.

I thought you mean non-certified as in, someone who just came off the street. Having a cert from a different state is a totally different situation.

That's too bad mrknowitall, but it sure points how hard it is to get a ed job around here. Yes, since the OP is certified to teach in Texas, that's why I said what I did about the possibility but unlikelihood of her getting hired without PA certs.