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Well, MovedfromFL, you "get it'. There really is no future any longer in many parts of the USA.....or at least any future that's going to be worth living. Northern New England is going to be the exception to the coming troubles IMO. You should also look at Maine. somewhat cheaper housing costs & a better political environment since the last election.
I love Vermont, but the politics, taxes, & lack of work over there make it a difficult place to start a career.
It's a whole new life. I am truly grateful for all the ones on this forum that helped me keep my sanity.
I hear you There's nothing like northern New England. It's safe, clean, and most of the time little or no traffic. And you are living in a really beautiful part of NH !
I'd give my left you know what to move to NH. We have good friends there and visit often. I fell in love with the state the first visit there. I'm retired after 30 years as a cop but still need to work. I can't find any work in my specialty so moving there will be tough. Not giving up though.
My parents are only 67, so hardly elderly or anything. In GA, we were only one day's drive away, which was pretty good in hindsight but felt far away because the children were so young. NH would be an entirely different ballgame (and we refuse to fly due to all of the TSA non-sense)
We did take a trip up to NH about 2 years ago. (had to go to NYC for a funeral and just took an extended road trip after that). We drove all around - looped around Lake Winnie, stopped in Concord, went over to Sunapee area, up to Conway, then over to Vermont, and finally, spent the night in Keene.
I know the winter would be rough on me, and sunset at 4:30 would not be ideal (the earliest down here in winter is 5:30) However, we are both wishing for some cool air right about now, and I find myself getting kind of a reverse SADD thing - too much bright light!
My husband says the average IQ up north is 10 points more than the South and I have to agree. We would fit in a lot better up there.
One thing is for sure: teaching in NH and teaching in FL would be night and day. Kids here are so rough. My husband's class (elem. grade) has kids doing things I can't even say on here. One middle schooler set his girlfriend on fire (in what was a "nice" neighborhood where 2 of my friends live). One 300 lb high schooler bodyslammed a teacher twice, then raped a girl on the school bus.
Of course, getting a teaching job anywhere now is a huge longshot, if not downright impossible. (and even if we find another one here, we face layoff again in June 2012!) We are prepared to give that career up if we have to. It's really not worth it down here right now. I have an MBA and prior corporate work experience, so I could go back to that.
NH is definately a great place to be in case of a major crisis in the US (civil unrest, gov't collapse, welfare check reductions, etc). FL would be pretty much the worst place.
We have a lot to think about...
Finding a teaching job anywhere today can be tough. Many states with budget cutbacks as limiting aid to cities and towns. And then the cities and towns then cut back.
There are job fairs specifically for teachers in many states.
In many circles in NH there is some sort of generic teacher bashing. With one national TV network slamming teachers and teacher unions. (Note: Please open a new posting if you want to rant about teacher unions.)
New Hampshire has many quality private schools. These usually pay less then the public schools.
I'd certainly get a job before moving.
There are also international schools all over the world. LINK
And then there are DOD schools all over the world. LINK
The teacher bashing is alive and well in FL and GA too, so it won't be anything new.
The teaching profession is like night and day different between a place like FL and somewhere like NJ or WI. You can't lump all teachers together or all unions. Unions in FL and GA basically don't exist as they are known up north. No big deal, we've never been a member of the union and don't want to. We stand on our own strong test scores and student learning gain data.
I'm sure teaching up there would be better in a million ways than in FL now.
I went to HS in both Florida, Vermont and New Hampshire.
I found that education up north beats out Florida 50 to 1 everytime :P
Education in Florida was kind of a joke to me. I went to a relatively better school in FL but still the books and computers were in terrible condition and the teaching style made it seem like the teachers didn't give two craps.
In NH and VT the teachers were well prepared and excited to teach...and we always received great materials. up north learning > down south teaching.
Well, MovedfromFL, you "get it'. There really is no future any longer in many parts of the USA.....or at least any future that's going to be worth living. Northern New England is going to be the exception to the coming troubles IMO.
That's right. Idaho and the Dakotas may be safe from it too. But yea..40+ states are going to be f***ed soon enough.
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