new Special Education teacher seeks home and a job in Lex. area! (Lexington: short sale)

[stockhorselady]

I am graduating from Eastern Michigan University with a graduate degree in special ed. (learning disablities) in the spring and if I cannot find a job in Michigan- there is only one place I would like to go- and that is Kentucky! I am also certified as a regular ed. elementary teacher.

I love horses and so does my (almost) six year old daughter. Things are not great up here in Michigan (to say the least!) and I want to be where I can easily get a solid job teaching, my husband can get a job as a mechanic or machinist (or something along those lines), and my daughter can go to first grade at the same school I will be teaching at.

We will need to rent because after trying to stay in Michigan, our credit is well, substandard and we will have to do a short sale of our house. If anyone buys it it will be a miriacle! We would like to be out in the country if at all possible, or a small town/village. I would love to be able to rent a property which you could have a horse and a pony, or have it be close to a place where we could go to enjoy someone elses. (I have a lifetime's worth of horse skills.) I was told by a fellow horsewoman who lives in Lexington that because of the housing crunch that a lot of the properties that would normally be up for rent are not avalible.

I also need to know if there are any teachers or adminstrators out there who could answer me a few questions... First and foremost, is there going to be any regular elementary/middle school or special ed teaching jobs in the Lexington/Lousiville area come this next fall?
What certification tests would I need to take? (Praxis?)
How tough is the interview process?


Also, my husband has the opportunity to be trained as a horse shoer/farrier come this spring... would this help in his chances in being able to gain employment?

I have heard that Winchester is a great community, are there others that I should consider that I could work at the school within the community or the nieghboring community?

Thanks in advance for the help!

[charz]

Fayette County Schools in Lexington always has special ed jobs open every year. Before moving to TN, I worked as a resource teacher at Bryan Station High for 8 years. We hired at least one new teacher every year (sometimes more). I would recommend going to Fayette County's website. I would have my application in by February or March. I know the principal at Bryan Station starts hiring before the school year is over. Certified openings are put on the website in the spring. It usually looks like every high school has at least one special ed opening. I don't think you'll have a problem.

If you check out the KY Board of Education website, you can get information on what Praxis test you would need for certification.

One other suggestion--I would look into getting your KY teacher certification now. Before ever applying to a TN school, I got my teacher licensure for TN and it was the best move I made. I was hired before recent grads and other out-of-state applicants because I already had my state license. It helped me get a job and it saved me a lot of headaches. I avoided being hired on an emergency certificate.

[iluvmybasset]

Sped teachers are always for hire here in ky... but elementary jobs are few and far between right now every district has about 200-300 applicants for every elementary job.... we are simply flooded with elementary teachers and HS social studies.... but SPED math and spanish seem to be flying off the shelves... good luck

look at the state department of ed website..but it can be confusing...the best thing to do is give a call to certification division and talk with someone...they are really helpful and will be able to tell you whats going on pretty quickly.