[Bydand]

Originally Posted by upandrunning

This is what is happening all over Michigan. People that are working are taking low paying jobs and then the spin misters say that things are not that bad. Wages falling, Home values falling, and Taxes going up, a good recipe for further Michigan decline.
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]

Can't talk for the rest of the state, but for us personally. Wages have went up by a large margin, home value is steady, taxes have gone down. That is for us personally, and after having left for a couple of years and returned to Michigan, I can tell you it is nice with lower property taxes, less income tax, less for auto registration, lower insurance (Car, health,& home) and higher wages ($12/hour higher) from where we were in the Northeast. For some people with the right jobs, this is still the best place to be.

[Michigan Refugee]

Hi Ivorytickler,
I don't know of any jobs in teaching right now that are available in Michigan schools. All of my teacher friends still in Michigan have informed me that most if not all districts have hiring freezes as they anticipate enrollment declines. I think your best bet...if you stay in Michigan, is to fall back on your engineering skills. Have you searched any websites for Dow Chemical or Dow Corning in Midland? I applaud you for teaching in a charter school. I'm a fellow teacher myself. I currently teach 6th grade mathematics in Fayetteville North Carolina. If I'd been offered a teaching job in Michigan (even at a charter school), my family and I would have stayed. The competition for the small number of teaching jobs available in Michigan is fierce...to say the least....and now with declining enrollments, further cutbacks in state funding per pupil....good luck in finding a teaching job.

[Bydand]

Teaching is a TOUGH place to be looking right now. I know several that are waiting for positions to open up in the area. They are working as aides, and such right now waiting, waiting, waiting. Good Luck!

[Ivorytickler]

Originally Posted by Michigan Refugee

Hi Ivorytickler,
I don't know of any jobs in teaching right now that are available in Michigan schools. All of my teacher friends still in Michigan have informed me that most if not all districts have hiring freezes as they anticipate enrollment declines. I think your best bet...if you stay in Michigan, is to fall back on your engineering skills. Have you searched any websites for Dow Chemical or Dow Corning in Midland? I applaud you for teaching in a charter school. I'm a fellow teacher myself. I currently teach 6th grade mathematics in Fayetteville North Carolina. If I'd been offered a teaching job in Michigan (even at a charter school), my family and I would have stayed. The competition for the small number of teaching jobs available in Michigan is fierce...to say the least....and now with declining enrollments, further cutbacks in state funding per pupil....good luck in finding a teaching job.

I know. Part of me is just glad to have a job but I look at my paycheck and I'm frustrated. I'm the type of person who wants to settle in for the long haul. To make the classroom and the program my own but I don't feel I can because I feel I need to look for a better paying job. So, I struggle with not feeling at home in a place I spend 9 hours a day on school days, not feeling like these are my students, not feeling like this is my classroom, my program, etc, etc, etc...

I want to find a place I can dedicate myself to for the next 15 or so years and feel good about it.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Ivorytickler

I know. Part of me is just glad to have a job but I look at my paycheck and I'm frustrated. I'm the type of person who wants to settle in for the long haul. To make the classroom and the program my own but I don't feel I can because I feel I need to look for a better paying job. So, I struggle with not feeling at home in a place I spend 9 hours a day on school days, not feeling like these are my students, not feeling like this is my classroom, my program, etc, etc, etc...

I want to find a place I can dedicate myself to for the next 15 or so years and feel good about it.

What about teaching at Wayne State or one of the other Detroit area colleges?

[Ivorytickler]

Originally Posted by magellan

What about teaching at Wayne State or one of the other Detroit area colleges?

I applied at HFCC but it doesn't look like they have any classes open in the time slots I can teach (trying to get a part time evening job to supplement my income - they're not hiring full time and I've heard they hire from their part timers when they do.) Wayne State may be an option. I only have a masters in engineering but I have 18 years experience. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Michigan Refugee]

Hi Ivorytickler,
I think working part-time as a college instructor is a very good idea, provided you could work around any extra-curricular activities such as parent teacher conferences and staff meetings. There are many other schools in the area to choose from. Have you tried Univ. of Detroit, Washtenaw Comm. College, EMU, or U of M Dearborn, and U-M main campus??? I took quite a pay cut in coming to North Carolina to teach. Teachers are paid a pittance in comparison to what they make in Michigan. However,...this is slowly changing as the demand for teachers here is incredible!!! The state of NC is offering all sorts of incentives to attract teachers. If you can teach math and science, some of your larger districts are giving 2,500.00 sign on bonuses. (I'm not trying to recruit you to come to North Carolina, just letting you know the difference between the demographics.) I think what really bothers me the most, is that when I talk to the locals down here as to the plight of the citizens in Michigan....no one will believe me! I tell them to imagine what would happen to North Carolina if Pope Air Force Base, Camp Lejeune, and Fort Bragg were just erased from the state. All they can do is look at me blankly. Most of the time I'm told,..."How could it possibly be that bad in Michigan?...After all, we live in America."

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Michigan Refugee

Hi Ivorytickler,
I think working part-time as a college instructor is a very good idea, provided you could work around any extra-curricular activities such as parent teacher conferences and staff meetings. There are many other schools in the area to choose from. Have you tried Univ. of Detroit, Washtenaw Comm. College, EMU, or U of M Dearborn, and U-M main campus??? I took quite a pay cut in coming to North Carolina to teach. Teachers are paid a pittance in comparison to what they make in Michigan. However,...this is slowly changing as the demand for teachers here is incredible!!! The state of NC is offering all sorts of incentives to attract teachers. If you can teach math and science, some of your larger districts are giving 2,500.00 sign on bonuses. (I'm not trying to recruit you to come to North Carolina, just letting you know the difference between the demographics.) I think what really bothers me the most, is that when I talk to the locals down here as to the plight of the citizens in Michigan....no one will believe me! I tell them to imagine what would happen to North Carolina if Pope Air Force Base, Camp Lejeune, and Fort Bragg were just erased from the state. All they can do is look at me blankly. Most of the time I'm told,..."How could it possibly be that bad in Michigan?...After all, we live in America."

Tell them to go visit their brethren in Eastern North Carolina, where thousands of manufacturing, textile and even tobacco related jobs have been lost over the last decade.

http://www.ncatlasrevisited.org/Popu...s/popfg21L.gif

[uswith6]

hmmmmm, how about these?

Michigan Chemical Engineering Jobs on CareerBuilder.com

or consumers energy:
Chemical Engineer job in Jackson, MI | Consumers Energy Employment (http://www.employmentspot.com/job/chemical-engineer_J7X8476BCTL7DLXGQNV/ - broken link)

[malamute]

Originally Posted by Ivorytickler

I sure hope not. If it declines much further, I'll end up leaving the state for work.

The problem with leaving the state is that wages will likely not be better than what you have now at the charter school. Salaries for teachers in other places aren't nearly what they are in Michigan, especially compared with cost of living, which may explain some of the lack of turn-over in positions.

Going for the college position would make sense. At least you have a job and are keeping experience and a job history for your resume and that can end up giving you an advantage over others when the time comes.