Finding employment as a teacher in NoVA (Arlington, Fairfax: low income, 2013)

[swsunshinebaby]

I'm a third-year elementary teacher looking to move with my family to NoVA this year. I'm curious about the job market for educators in NoVA and the possibility of being able to apply for jobs while I am still out of state. (I am willing to fly in for interviews, job fairs, etc. that would help me get hired.) Here in NM, deep budget cuts have made it hard market for teachers to get jobs. (I have one at the moment - I'm not moving because I lost my job.) Is that the case in NoVA?

Any advice and insight about getting a job as an educator would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[tgbwc]

You should be able to complete almost all (if not all) of the application process online.

There should be a list of job fairs listed on the districts' websites. I'll send you a PM.

[imanap]

Arlington County has a teacher job fair at the end of February, date may not be posted yet. In Arlington the application and document submission can all be done online too. One thing I'd say is to not be too discouraged if you don't hear something right away. In Arlington, and I'm guessing some other districts too, a lot of the hiring doesn't happen until later in the spring and even over the summer. But every year we hire many teachers.

[CAVA1990]

There was an article in the NY Times this morning about teachers in DC who are making a lot of money due to bonuses and other incentives. One special ed teacher in the story made $87K last year. I imagine those positions will become more desirable than ones here in VA, particularly as DC further gentrifies and crime in and around the schools keeps declining.

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

There was an article in the NY Times this morning about teachers in DC who are making a lot of money due to bonuses and other incentives. One special ed teacher in the story made $87K last year. I imagine those positions will become more desirable than ones here in VA, particularly as DC further gentrifies and crime in and around the schools keeps declining.

There are also lots of articles about teachers being fired in DC because they chose to work with difficult populations who didn't make enough gains on paper. Their "review" process is sketchy at best for rating teachers.

I work with low income, immigrant, "difficult" populations in Fairfax County and love it, but you couldn't pay me enough to take a job in DC. I am grateful that FFX doesn't tie student achievement to teacher job security or pay.

[HokieFan]

If you're interested, check out www.independenteducation.org for listings within private schools in the area. Not sure about public schools, but private schools will begin interviewing in the spring for the 2012-2013 year.