Teacher Looking to Move down to SC (Florence, Aiken: credit, daycare)

[Oldiebutgoodie26]

When you say teaching is different, what do you mean? I was looking into possibly moving to SC (I'm an experienced el. ed. teacher) and was curious. I had a bit of a time with the teacher's union in MD (Baltimore area)- they took lots of my $$$ and did not a thing to help me. I think many things are as good or as bad as you'd like them to be, but, specifically, what were your concerns? Just curious!

[atucker]

Well, I mean that it was different since the kids and parents are different here, well at least where I worked. In the district I was in, many parents treated school like day care.... they dropped off and picked up their kids as they pleased and were not extrmeley concerned with the education of their child, so much as if the child was behaving or not. Also, some of the words that are used for things are different here as well (almost to the point of a language difference). It just takes a little while to adjust to that. Many times I found myself asking parents and kids to tell me what the word they were using meant. Also, beware that some of the parents may not like you because of where you are from. I even had parents transfer their kids out of my class because I was a yankee.

The major flaw I see from there being no unions is the fact that administration can pretty much treat you how they wish. My last admin threatened, bullied and lied to us to the point I resigned rather than being treated in this way. Not all of the districts down here are this way. I worked in a small semi-rural town that is very old-fashioned in many of their ways ( I do not want to name the district here, but if you need to know you can e-mail me). You just might want to look for a district closer to a city (like Greenville County), so that less of these things may happen to you.

[Oldiebutgoodie26]

Thank you for the insight! I, too, had a couple of parents who had their childern moved out of my class. My skin was the wrong color. I guess they felt that only people who look like them can effectively educate their children. Sad, but, what can I do? Pursue excellence, I guess.
Thanks, again.

[atucker]

Sorry that they were moved from your room for that reason. That is so wrong!!! I am glad I was able to give you some insight and hope that it helps with your decision.

[ced]

Hi, I was not aware Unions were illegal in South Carolina.
Without unions the administration can hurt you; with unions the unions can hurt you and the administration can still hurt you.
I had a different experience; I taught in L.A.; unions were big and were trying to get engineering salaries (which I think to some degree they have not got though they did not have those when I was there, but you have no idea what land costs there; on an engineer's salary you might find it impossible to own a home; crime was fairly high too).
You have to compare everything.
We were on a year-round schedule due to the lack of buildings (a problem everywhere) and when my union went on strike I was glad that it was my couple of weeks off so I did not have to get involved.
Plus, if you struck, you lost pay; I had lost some when I ran out of sick leave already, as I had had a few problems with an apartment and a case of hepatitis A from drinking water in Egypt that had been left on the table by previous guests (I had amoebic dysentery in Egypt from water in Turkey; it was hot so whenever I was out I rushed into restaurants and grabbed water to replenish mine) to take care of first.

But I tell you L.A. was wild; we had two languages; we had at least 3 reading levels of each language per room; my apartment was wild too; everyday something new had been removed from my room; I had the locks changed on move in and never lent out my key or let anyone in, but no good.
Plus the freeways could get quite crowded and it is quite a ticket for using the carpool lane which is empty.
I thought I would not teach again after that, and for some time tried to get into computers, then volunteered to teach ESL, then taught a year overseas, and a bit more as an underpaid adjunct, but I feel that people learn when they want to learn; not from your teaching. But as a teacher you can get blamed for their not wanting to learn.
However, the parents I dealt with in L.A. were for the most part excellent (except I had a couple of odd marks on kids; 1 boy with his legs all scarred though perhaps the family had been in a fire; he said they got burnt, did not explain it; 1 with a deformed finger/hand from an injury; we talked to his family but they were Mexican, perhaps illegal, & had no money to fix it; nor could we report his tardies to his home--which happened because the mother slept in; his father worked odd jobs and beat him if we called; I did not think he was fed well either--both he & his brother were quite small & he had not the best attention span--a problem I had had as an anorexic teen--and of course, he had not developed bladder control; but I had bladder control problems growing up too because of constant health problems, leprosy, etc. so who knows? but his Mom looked like she ate pretty well; we also had one kid who arrived with needle marks all over his arm--I had never seen needle marks except during a hospital stay when I had been given antibiotics every four hours, so I did not pay much attention; but my principal did; that got me in a bit of trouble that I did not know what those were). Other than that the parents really wanted the kids to learn math and were pretty nice. (I also got in a bit of trouble when a girl brought fireworks that her Dad had given her and I did not take the fireworks.)
It was a zoo but most parents cared about their kids' learning, though personally myself I see no real association between learning and jobs (in Morocco, census data showed a real strong association between jobs available in a community and education parents chose for their kids!; just the opposite of what people think; it was not school that got people jobs; it was jobs that got people schooled, to finish sixth grade or high school, to become readers).
The principal was a believer in the union; I was not happy with her or the union; I felt pressured to join before starting teaching; on the other hand I was not happy with the anti-union teacher at my apartment who tried to pressure me into dating him. (He also smoked; I don't; I did agree to race him once but would not walk with him on a back trail--he would not let me find a trail with people on it he then drove me up the mountain and smoked away; he would not agree to a longer race either because I am a long distance man myself.)
Good luck with South Carolina! Unions or no unions, that is just one small part.
(Incidentally, observing once in a school in Pennsylvania I found the teachers to be a problem--in the lunch room they did nothing but talk about certain students they deemed 'worthless'--I was so disgusted, having always been an outcast myself in school, though a good student, I knew what it was liked to be talked about. More personalities, from the muscled unions of L.A. to the teachers who really get down on certain students and never give them a chance in Pennsylvania to a state like South Carolina, who knows what mix will work, what won't!)

[wlr107]

Originally Posted by mak

Will,
I also taught in Hampton 2 many years ago. I hope you didn't go through the same head hunter from Pittsburgh! Come to Beaufort. I've taught here 8 years and love it.

How is it there? My wife now has me looking in Alabama also (Mobile County), due to salaries there being 4 grand higher in Alabama.

Just need some ways to convince here to let me go back to SC!

[THood]

I am biased to Rock Hill since I have lived here most all of my life and also worked the RHSD#3 for several years. This is a strong school district with excellent parent participation. Growth is continual since the upstate is the fastest growing area of the state at present. Community support for new schools is good. I think you would be wise to research and apply here. Beautiful area, 2 hours from the mountains and 3 hours to the beach...snow once or twice a year.

[carolinajack]

It depends on whether you like upstate culture or near a semi tropical coast. Mt Pleasant, in the Charleston school district is awesome. check it out.

[Girl]

I also recommend Fort Mill, SC (Fort Mill and Rock Hill are right next to each other). They like teachers with Master's degrees and pay them quite well in response to that. Also, the schools are considered the best in the state and have high test scores and low dropout rates.

Fort Mill is just outside Charlotte, so you have the benefit of a "big city" while living in a smaller town. Fort Mill is growing and is a great area to raise a family. Lots of amenities nearby (shopping, food, sports teams) as well as the beach is only 3 hours away and snowskiing is only 2-3 hours away. The commute into Charlotte is reasonable (my commute is 30 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening) and housing prices are great - you get a lot of house for the money and taxes are low.

I can recommend a realtor to contact to help take you on a tour of the area if you want to check it out - feel free to PM me. You can also PM me if you just want more info on Fort Mill in general. I LOVE this area (we transplanted from NoNJ in July 2006) and love to shout it from the rooftops! *lol*

[IslandTown]

I am not sure if you are a coastal person but Daniel Island and Charleston are wonderful places. Daniel Island actually just opened a new elementary and midlle school. It has state of the art facilities and there is also a private high school on the island. Let me know if you need any more details about this place