Aiming for Washington - to teach HS or MS (Seattle: loans, teaching jobs)

[boundtogo]

Hi all,
My husband will be finishing his degree this May for teaching art in any k-12 school. We curently live in Texas and do not plan on staying past graduation if possible. He used to live in Washington on one of the islands that was a military base when he was young and it is our goal to move back to Washington and settle down. Can anyone tell me what the economy is like for teachers there? I have read many great things about the tri-cities area and they sound beautiful.

We have a large family of 5 children and want to live somewhere in the rural/sub-urban areas. Thanks for any help/advice.

[j_k_k]

I wouldn't call it beautiful, as most people reckon it. Cities dropped in the middle of sagebrush desert hills and prairies. Most people think the rivers are beautiful, but most people want to see something that is naturally green, or naturally snowy white, or naturally rocky in order to consider a place beautiful.

Your husband probably lived in Oak Harbor, Whidbey Island, way on the other side of the state; there's a naval air station there. I'm thinking that you have the Tri-Cities misidentified, as if they applied to Seattle or the nearby area--they do not. We're a modest urban region of 220,000 surrounded by agriculture, three hours' drive from Seattle. We have no military bases even close, unless one were to count what remains of the nerve gas storage igloos at Umatilla, or the firing range near Yakima, or Fairchild AFB near Spokane.

[boundtogo]

Ha ha- thanks for that. I am sorry I was not clear. I know where he was( Whidbey Is.) and the tri-cities are 2 different places but I have heard that the tri-cities are nice. The way you make it sound though, it is almost like living in Texas. Yes, we are looking for something naturally green and/or snowy. So what cities would you consider beautiful in Washington with the exception of Seattle (which we could never afford). Thanks!

[M3 Mitch]

Offhand, for green and snowy, if you want to consider a medium-sized town, how about Spokane? If you go there, though, don't blame me if the snow is more than you bargained for...

Olympia is green but not much snow.

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by boundtogo

Ha ha- thanks for that. I am sorry I was not clear. I know where he was( Whidbey Is.) and the tri-cities are 2 different places but I have heard that the tri-cities are nice. The way you make it sound though, it is almost like living in Texas. Yes, we are looking for something naturally green and/or snowy. So what cities would you consider beautiful in Washington with the exception of Seattle (which we could never afford). Thanks!

It's a lot better than Texas, because there is less dumbness and loudness and social pressure to make professions of certain viewpoints. Politically it's not that different, but the only place people wash anyone's face in it is with bumper stickers and inane letters to the editor. Visually though, probably not that different.

We get very little snow, and it is not naturally green at all. We do get sunshine most of the time most of the year. For naturally green, I'd consider Spokane--there's more of it. Lot of natural green around Olympia, or anywhere in the west side of the Cascades.

[Hemlock140]

There are some really beautiful areas now becoming wine country in the
area between Yakima and the tri-cities. Look at Sunnyside, Prosser, and Benton City. You can shop at either Yakima or the tri-cities. If you like snow and want to be close to mountains, lakes and rivers check out Cle Elum.
Unfortunately the smaller towns are not going to have a lot of kids in school and that means even less funds for things like art. Here in Sammamish with
45,000 people, over half with school-age kids, and a school district doing better than many financially, has no art teachers. The regular classroom teacher may do a little art but there is no funding for art classes at the elementary level. PE and music are limited to 2 days a week.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by boundtogo

Ha ha- thanks for that. I am sorry I was not clear. I know where he was( Whidbey Is.) and the tri-cities are 2 different places but I have heard that the tri-cities are nice. The way you make it sound though, it is almost like living in Texas. Yes, we are looking for something naturally green and/or snowy. So what cities would you consider beautiful in Washington with the exception of Seattle (which we could never afford). Thanks!

I'm going to move this thread over to the regular Washington forum, to get more ideas/suggestions on your Evergreen State move.

The Tri-Cities would be a lot like parts of TX IMO (I'd also compare 'em to CA's Central Valley & High Deserts), but that's not at all a bad thing, and the Tri-Cities definitely have a lot more hills and mountains nearby than TX does.

However, I would recommend Spokane first. There are also suburbs of Seattle and Portland on the we_t side of the state that are perfectly affordable (sub $200K housing/etc) and green, though not really snowy.

[StealthRabbit]

I would recommend Walla Walla; Tri-cities; also check into Toppenish / Yakima Reservation teaching - plenty of extra challenges, BUT if school loans are a burden; there might be a program of 'debt forgiveness'. //www.city-data.com/city/Yakama...ashington.html OFFICIAL SITE OF THE CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE YAKAMA NATION
My MD did a few yrs there to get his med school debt forgiven. He commented that the additional education / issues he faced there were significant, but valuable to his future skillset. (will be for teacher too)

I have a 'single' friend who taught and lived in Sunnyside (& recently departed for Africa). Spanish language is essential skill there.

As the teaching career advances, consider Dept of Defense teaching. Living in Foreign countries was very good for our own kids. (we liked it too). My friends that teach DoD, LOVE IT, as students / parents are purposed and well behaved, and a LOT less BS from the usually inept school administration (often failed / 'has been' teachers who have been promoted). YMMV

BE SURE to consider the WA schools that are doing well (Usually Pullman, Islands, wealthier areas of metros, Camas)
Washington Public School Rankings
Washington Schools - Washington State School Ratings - Public and Private

Sometimes the lower / mid ranked schools can spend TOO MUCH time 'creating' ways to improve test scores. Many excellent teachers have had to leave the industry, due to being forced to spend 80% of academic time, 'tutoring-to-improve-test-scores' (Previously a VERY big problem in WA).

You will be able to get local comments from teachers, once you choose a few districts. I am only familiar with Camas / Hockinson, as local WA districts that are good and teachers have lots of support from district, students, and community.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by boundtogo

Hi all,
My husband will be finishing his degree this May for teaching art in any k-12 school. We curently live in Texas and do not plan on staying past graduation if possible. He used to live in Washington on one of the islands that was a military base when he was young and it is our goal to move back to Washington and settle down. Can anyone tell me what the economy is like for teachers there?

Unless you teach science, there are not any jobs. I heard from a Principal recently that he has over 100 resumes on file for a job that will likely be filled by a teacher already within the district.

What other skills do you have?

[boundtogo]

Wow- thanks for all the great responses. Will look into Spokane for sure. I think that was another area I was going to look at anyway but I have heard that there are not many job availabilities there since no one leaves! I love the links and will further investigate into those. The Dept. of Defense- I didn't know about that and we actually had tossed around the idea of moving out of the country but didn't know where to start looking for teaching jobs.

All your comments breath new life into the Washington "brainstorm". At M3 Mitch - your response about the snow made me laugh I am from Pittsburgh, PA and we have also lived in Shebvoygan, WI so we know a little about snow. I am not partial to either the snow or heat- they both do me in eventually but seasons would be nice. Texas weather is crazy. This week alone we have been in the 70's (yesterday) and today it started out at freezing!