Zoombie

My wife (an experiened teacher) intends to get a teaching job in the states, has anyone any experience of making this kind of move, good or bad.
I read a BBC news item from last year that painted a very gloomy picture.

Englishmum

Try:

http://www.britishschool.org

Manc

well yeah, because if you want to teach in the USA (unless you get a private position) you'll end up in the US equivalent of Hackney or Toxteth.
where no teacher in the USA wants to teach.

NC Penguin

Read and search in the Teaching subforum in British Expats-
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=80

If you can't find anything relevant, try posting there as well.

I recall a local NPR (National Public Radio) story about how the state of NC has a scheme that gives teachers overseas the opportunity to teach in NC for three years. It's temporary but this might be a good way to find out if teaching in the US appeals to your wife. I didn't catch the name of the scheme but search on the NC state government website if you're curious.





NC Penguin

Bob

Teaching, depends on the state, massive difference...a teacher in maine with 15 years teaching only gets around $35K, while an ed-tech 2 in CT gets $45 after 2 years....also in maine, teachers aren't allowed to claim social security benefits.

Requirements also vary quite a bit from state to state, so might get more help if you had an idea where you wanted to go to.

Rockgurl

This happens to nurses too!

Dan725

Good god, I'm surprised there are any teachers in Maine at all!

Bob

not wrong there...loads of jobs for teachers in maine....doesn't help that you have to be certified in teaching so someone thats' done a teaching degree but not nothing anything more than basic maths can teach highschool maths whilst someone that has worked as a physicist at cern for instance won't be qualified to teach it here, nevermind the skills...

TouristTrap

You'd be surprised at what FL teachers earn. But then again, you don't even have to have a degree to teach here.

Ben

You need a masters degree on Long Island. You can get certified with a Bachelors but you have to complete your masters within 3 years if you want a perm. position. And that is for all levels in school right from K.

NC Penguin

Lot of Stepford Wives communities out in Long Island. Would explain why teachers are expected to be at an exceptional standard.





NC Penguin

Ben

lol Thankfully not round here there aren't. In fact you have to go a long way from us (I would have thought into Nassau County rather than Suffolk) to get to any

snowbunny

Very complex question.

In the US, quality often comes down to the school district level -- in Texas, there are over 1,000 school districts. The district usually has taxation authority and some say in curriculum and policy (with the state having a large influence as well).

Here's one view of things:

http://www.nea.org/edstats/index.html

Here are some things to consider:

1) a child's best teachers are his/her parents. Children coming from homes where socioeconomic background is high, or where education is a firmly established cultural value, will usually perform better and present less a challenge to teach.

2) the individual states (and to a smaller degree) heavily influence funding (and funding equity between districts), curriculum, teacher salaries, and much more. For example, Texas curriculum has been revised to teach that instead of homosexuals making up 10% of the population (and leaving it at that), that homosexuals have higher rates of disease, depression and suicide. Would you be able to adhere to the curriculum? How do you feel about high-stakes testing, in which a child's score directly influences his/her teacher's salary? If a state has high-stakes testing, and not enough teacher resources, a teacher spends his/her time bringing the lower performing children up to "passing" and the higher performing children are shelved. The test material and test taking techniques command centre stage; the teacher's ability to improvise or to teach to a particular year's class is near nil.

3) salary is not everything -- teachers are not officially government employees but they are in the public sector. This greatly influences health insurance and retirement funding. Health insurance costs can be several hundred dollars per month if the state and district do not contribute to the costs.

4) non-teaching staff and their quality are critical. Is a teacher expected to teach children with special needs, such as children who are not fluent in English, have severe behavioural issues, are far ahead or behind their classmates, and so forth? Are there specialists available to either fully or partially instruct these children?

As a very general rule, salaries are higher in the north and east and lower in the south and west. Cost of living will impact heavily upon salary. A teacher's salary is viewed as an adjunct salary -- to a spouse with another income. One interesting statistic to look at is the percentage of males in the profession -- Massachusetts has the highest rate. Another is what percentage hold master's degrees, or degrees in fields other than education. Yet another is what percent of graduates go on to university compared to what you'd project looking at raw socioeconomics of the area.

Hope this helps.

TouristTrap

I'd agree but only to a certain extent. Often, the 'better' schools are just as bad. Many of the wealthier kids aren't interested in getting an education, and disruptive.

This is the BIGGEST gripe I have with education in my state. I've been here for nearly a decade and have two close friends who are p/s teachers, older gals who've been at it for over two decades, so have a pretty good handle on it. Here, the teaching is geared toward passing the FCAT's. That's it. it is the be all and end all because major $$$$$$ are at stake.. If it is not on the FCAT's, most of the time, forget about it.

Most schools have ESOL classes here (found it amusing that they wanted to put my kids in one when they found out that they were multi-lingual a few years ago...LOL)

Behavioral issues? Ritalin.

snowbunny

This is true of private schools as well because of the money required. Yes, those teens get money from parents to blow on cars (with which they promptly kill themselves with drunken and reckless driving) and drugs (with which they can also kill themselves). Take a look at the high school's parking lot. It's a good approximation of the values of the kids and their parents. Old trusty junkers, or brand-new Corvettes? Fuel-efficient cars and small trucks, or gas-guzzling SUVs? Teaches a lot about conspicuous consumption and pressure to conform.

You are what you drive, if you give a toss about others judging you in that way

Scarey link to the perils of suburbia, and no, I'm not a Libertarian:

http://www.libertarianrock.com/topic...y_answers.html