To finish teaching degree in Indiana :-/ or San Antonio? Help! (Center: job market, transferring to)

[Growing_gaines]

I've been scouring the threads for quite a while now and it's finally time to post my own thread in hopes of your infinite wisdom. Here's the situation...my family and I (husband and two boys 5 & 3) are currently living in Indiana. We recently separated from the military and moved "home" to finish our degrees and be near family for a little while. Unfortunately the school I am attending (to earn my BA in Secondary English Education) is really not meeting my standards, we are past ready to get out of the Midwest already, and most importantly my hubs will be graduating in the spring of 13 (with a BA in Business) but I will still have a minimum of 2 years of school left, and that's if I really push. Sooo my family will be stuck here, husband forced to find a worthwhile job in a seriously depressed industrial town, and my son subjected to a pretty poor school system for me to stay here and finish my degree. After much deliberation and research we have decided that San Antonio is where we want to finally settle down.
This is where I need your help. I can stay here and graduate with a teaching degree from a fairly easy school, but be somewhat miserable or we can take the leap and move down there next summer after hubs graduates. I need your opinions about my thought process so far. I am considering transferring to UTSA and their English/teaching program. I think that by graduating in SA I will be at a benefit because I will be certified in Texas when graduating (instead of testing and getting certs here, then have to go through the process again in Texas) and I would hopefully receive job placement help through the school. Also I will have experience in local school systems (hopefully) from student teaching. My fear is that by transferring to UTSA a lot of my classes from my current school will not meet the requirements of the The Bachelor of Arts degree in English with an English Language Arts and Reading concentration program. I have compared my classes with the curriculum of this program and there are a lot of differences between my school (IU) and UTSA. The main issue is that when coming down there I will only have 2 years of my GI Bill coverage left, so I don't want to take a chance of having more then 2 years of school left. I have contacted the UTSA to try to figure the class comparison out but haven't heard back but I have to make this decision NOW before I register for classes here.
So after that long ramble this is what I need to know
-do you have any insight to this program at UTSA or getting a degree for teaching secondary English in San Antonio?
-General opinions about UTSA
-Considering my thought process above, if it would be better to finish a degree in secondary eduction here, or transfer to a school in San Antonio

I have been reading all of your threads and responses for quite a while and know that there are some very helpful, knowledgable people here. So I am begging (yes literally begging at this point) for your help. I greatly appreciate it.

[elmariachi]

I graduated from UTSA with a degree in English, and am also certified to teach english (and others). I really enjoyed my time in the UTSA and the English department in particular, there are some excellent teachers who really enjoy teaching. The school has grown much, both physically and population wise since I left though, so it might be a little different now. If you go to UTSA, you will not be majoring in secondary English education, you will be majoring in English, and will start the education part during your junior year. The education part takes 3 semester (iirc). BTW, the UTSA English department has 3 concentrations, Literature, Professional Writing, and Creative Writing (I did pro writing). You will eventually become certified in English, Language Arts, and Reading for either grades 4-8 or 8-12. Hope this helps, if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask.

[Growing_gaines]

Thanks, I've figured that out about the degree I would be receiving. I do appreciate hearing from someone who has actually been through the departmen. Can I ask, how has your luck been finding a job if you are still in San Antonio? Was the school much help in your search?

[elmariachi]

If you are going into teaching you should not have much trouble finding a job if you do your student teaching in town and get to know some people. A big part of getting hired at a school nowadays is knowing the right people. I was offered a job from my internship though this was not in education (did not take it though). Keep in mind that the demand for educators has slowed down in the past few years because of budget cuts. It is not impossible to find jobs though and many districts are continuing to hire, there is just a bit more competition these days. The school provides career help (UTSA Career Center) as well as maintaining an online database where employers can post jobs and students and alumni can post resumes.

[Growing_gaines]

Thanks so much elmariachi, literally seconds after posting this thread I did another search and found the threads about the dismal teaching market in SA. That's pretty scary! Those posts were from last year and I wouldn't be entering the market for at least 2 years but I'm curious if anyone is seeing progress in the teaching job market? I see that the hiring freezes seem to be over, but I don't think applying as an out of state student with no classroom experience besides a student teaching is going to get me a job in such an atmosphere.

[elmariachi]

The market has gotten better this year and will probably get better in the next 2-3 years. It would also probably help a lot if you actually did your schooling, certifications, and student teaching in town.

[joepa]

Even if you get your degree Indiana, you will still need to get Texas certified. I would transfer to UTSA, get some contacts while there, and get your Texas certification.

[Growing_gaines]

That's what I'm thinking joepa, I must admit I'm starting to get a little freaked out about San Antonio in generally from some of the negative posting on here. I know every city has problems and haters. I just really need to get down there and check it soon :-(

[TXsurburbanmom]

Hey y'all are former military from Indiana. I'm thinking unless you have some pretentious east/west coast mentality you haven't exhibited here you should be fine with SA. By all means come visit first. We moved to NC without my visiting first and ended up unhappy when we saw how different and expensive it was compared to what we were used to in TX. I've lived in most regions of TX so I thought I'd adjust easier then I did.

That said, SA loves it's military and ex-military, it's conservative compared to a lot of places but still SA is a mix, and overall it's a laid back family place. Teaching jobs have taken a hit but in my neck of the woods--actually master planned community --they are building schools like crazy so as noted there may be a better market by the time you're ready.