For those who actually LOVE city living! (Memphis, Knoxville: high crime, house)

[dinge1977]

I somehow googled my way to this site this afternoon. I'm considering moving to Memphis to teach. I have been teaching in the Buffalo, NY city schools for several years now. I'm frustrated by my current district's nepotism. While I realize that I'm going to find all kinds of bureaucracy no matter what urban area I choose, I really feel like it's time to make a move.

Now here's the thing: after reading some of the threads here, I'm getting the idea that Memphis is worse than B-lo, in terms of violence.

Does anyone here teach in, live in, or LOVE the city of Memphis?

[JMT]

Originally Posted by dinge1977

I somehow googled my way to this site this afternoon. I'm considering moving to Memphis to teach. I have been teaching in the Buffalo, NY city schools for several years now. I'm frustrated by my current district's nepotism. While I realize that I'm going to find all kinds of bureaucracy no matter what urban area I choose, I really feel like it's time to make a move.

Now here's the thing: after reading some of the threads here, I'm getting the idea that Memphis is worse than B-lo, in terms of violence.

Does anyone here teach in, live in, or LOVE the city of Memphis?

OK, I understand your desire for a change. And I absolutely LOVE Memphis. It broke my heart to leave Memphis.

I taught in Memphis for five years. First of all, it's a fabulous city with a lot of potential (although I don't think it'll ever reach its potential, but that's a topic for another discussion). It's got a fantastic urban atmosphere. Most big Southern cities don't have a large urban core, but Memphis definitely has a large urban core. It might be decaying, but it's still there and has some beautiful architectural gems. I loved driving around the Parkways (East, South, and North) just gawking at the beautiful homes. And no city in the South has a neighborhood like Midtown. Belvedere, Central, and Peabody are the most beautiful boulevards in the state.

Now for the schools. There are some wonderful schools in Memphis. There are also some incredibly lousy schools. There are about a half-dozen high schools that should've been closed a long time ago, but for political reasons (and racial reasons) they will never be closed.

The city schools are flush with cash. Money is never an issue. Teachers in Memphis are the highest paid teachers in Tennessee. There's a warehouse full of every supply a teacher would ever want. The benefits are incredibly generous, and once in the system, it is almost impossible to be fired.

But some things just aren't worth the money. White teachers (where I taught) were not allowed to discipline black students. Black teachers weren't allowed to discipline white students. Each school had white administrators and black administrators, at least those schools that had black students and white students. For parent-teacher conferences, a white teacher had to have a black administrator present when the conference involved a black student, and vice-versa.

The bureaucracy of the Memphis public schools is an absolute nightmare. Their headquarters complex rivals that of some Fortune 500 companies. Trying to get information from someone at the central office is like trying to get answers from the IRS; you can ask 5 people the same question but get 5 different answers. And if you ever go to the headquarters complex thinking it's the quickest way to get an answer, guess again. You'll be met with an army of support staff that will do everything in their power to keep you from ever seeing an administrator. Senators have nothing compared to the plum positions of Memphis school bureaucrats.

What level do you teach? If you teach at the elementary school level, you probably will have a better chance of finding a job that you like. But keep in mind that seniority has its privileges; if you're a brand new teacher, you'll probably end up at a school where no one else wants to be. Once you've been in the system for a while you can move to a more desirable school in a nicer part of town.

Oh, and as for the crime, yes, the rumors are true. There is a lot of crime in Memphis. I lived in a "good" neighborhood (near the U of M) and my house was broken into four times in 18 months! Someone broke into my neighbor's house and stole a pizza from her fridge. Another neighbor's storage shed was burglarized, and another neighbor's mail kept getting stolen. My car was broken into twice in different parts of town. When I lived in Midtown, my bike was stolen off my balcony--and I was one block from a police station.

I left Memphis and took a lower-paying teaching position in Knoxville and LOVE it here. I still miss Memphis like crazy sometimes, but I just couldn't deal with the racial mess in Memphis and the crime. And it's really a shame, because at the time I was probably the biggest cheerleader for Memphis.

[AZGOLFER]

I was just there a few weeks ago and Memphis is a nice looking city, but it has a very high crime rate...dinge1977 just go to the Mephis Police website and look at the number of violent crimes and it will shock you..my brother lives in Germantown, a very nice suburb, you should look there to live

[Dd714]

Originally Posted by dinge1977

Does anyone here teach in, live in, or LOVE the city of Memphis?

Well the weather is better than Buffalo. There are worse places to live then Memphis in the U.S. (probably Buffalo is one of them, sorry no offense). Most people that complain in this forum just have never lived anywhere else. Give them a year in Gary Indiana or Jersey City to find out what a REAL lousy city is. But hey - we have an incredibly cheap cost of living, mild winters and great springtimes, traffic isn't bad, great barbecue, and how many songs have they written about Buffalo?

Bad things are crime and political corruption in Memphis itself - so live outside Memphis in one of the incorporated suburban towns, no problem.

[dinge1977]

Originally Posted by JMT

OK, I understand your desire for a change. And I absolutely LOVE Memphis. It broke my heart to leave Memphis.

JMT, thank you so much for taking to time to write that candid response. Your life in Memphis sounds like it paralleled my life in Buffalo. I no longer lock my car doors in hopes that the kid breaking into it won't break a window trying to get to my James Taylor cd's to sell at the pawn shop.

It sounds like the same issues go on in every metro area: crime, corruption, and top heavy districts.

I made a few enemies in high up places by being vocal about the inequity going on...you know, things that bordered on being illegal. My first placement was at a great high school for a teacher on leave for 32K. I loved it. September came around and I found myself stuck in a school notorious for chaos. The year before 50% of the staff put in for transfers. I got there and was expected to teach without BOOKS or a curriculum. There was no consistent discipline policy, which translated to more chaos in the classroom. The first week of school the Math teacher walked out. Two weeks into September, I found out that my position wasn't even a tenure track. I made it a month before resigning, opting to go back to subbing at $90 a day.

And Dd, I'm originally from a small coastal armpit in upstate NY. I actually love Buffalo. How can you NOT love of place who's claim to fame is a chicken wing sauce?

JMT, I just googled knoxville. I can't believe that you have a teacher's supply depot!

[JMT]

Originally Posted by dinge1977

JMT, thank you so much for taking to time to write that candid response. Your life in Memphis sounds like it paralleled my life in Buffalo. I no longer lock my car doors in hopes that the kid breaking into it won't break a window trying to get to my James Taylor cd's to sell at the pawn shop.

It sounds like the same issues go on in every metro area: crime, corruption, and top heavy districts.

I made a few enemies in high up places by being vocal about the inequity going on...you know, things that bordered on being illegal. My first placement was at a great high school for a teacher on leave for 32K. I loved it. September came around and I found myself stuck in a school notorious for chaos. The year before 50% of the staff put in for transfers. I got there and was expected to teach without BOOKS or a curriculum. There was no consistent discipline policy, which translated to more chaos in the classroom. The first week of school the Math teacher walked out. Two weeks into September, I found out that my position wasn't even a tenure track. I made it a month before resigning, opting to go back to subbing at $90 a day.

And Dd, I'm originally from a small coastal armpit in upstate NY. I actually love Buffalo. How can you NOT love of place who's claim to fame is a chicken wing sauce?

JMT, I just googled knoxville. I can't believe that you have a teacher's supply depot!

My goodness, I'm so sorry to hear that you're having such a ridiculous time with the school system in Buffalo! But I think you're right, most big cities have the same problems. It's just so sad, and really good teachers end up getting frustrated and leaving.

And that's funny that you don't lock your car doors anymore. Before I left Memphis, I did the same thing! I just figured it would be easier--and cheaper--to just let them take my precious few CDs from my car without breaking a window. grrrrrrrr

Let me tell you, living in Knoxville has been a breath of fresh air. While I miss Memphis a lot, I do NOT miss the crime, the insane school policies, and the racial mess that permeates every aspect of Memphis life. But maybe you could try teaching in DeSoto County, Mississippi, a fast-growing suburb of Memphis that can never ever be annexed by Memphis by virtue of its being in a different state (and that's probably why it's growing so fast).

Good luck to you!

[anjoe]

I've a friend that works in Memphis but they live south of Memphis in Northern Mississippi and loves it. They commute about 15 miles to work each day. You may want to check out North Mississippi.

[Shelterdog]

Don't make the mistake of moving here. Memphis has extreme amounts of racism and racial tension just below the surface of everything. You may not notice it at first, but anyone whose lived here for long learns the rules of it. We are all supposed to be equal, however we have reverse discrimination here. It makes the racial tension even worse. The government is also really corrupt. As a teacher I am looking to move out of memphis because there is not one school I would send my child to. The violent crime is even creeping into the suburbs. People can't even enjoy the downtown without getting hassled or mugged. So many people living in the city are desensitized to violence. They would rather shoot you than talk to you. It is just a huge mess. There has to be somewhere better to live.

[Pearlbob]

This post is from 2 years ago.