Teachers being hired
 

Afternoon all,

I've been around the forum a while but this is my first US post.

Does anyone know of any success in teachers moving to the US? I've read lots online that there's a huge shortage and have had to hire from non English speaking countries but I can't find any further info. The only thing I can see is the VIF programme which appears language based which isn't my area at all.

I understand getting a work visa is nigh on impossible for the majority but I thought it was worth the ask.

Just for more information my wife is a primary teacher and I am an FE/HE lecturer in social sciences and law. We would like to move abroad and are just considering options at the moment.

Any experiences or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Re: Teachers being hired
 

Where have you read this?

Re: Teachers being hired
 

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2015/12/19/mississippi-foreign-teachers-visas/76924408/

It's a bit out of date but I'm sure I've read something more recent. Just couldn't see it on a quick search.

The shortage also appears to be continuing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/10/18/americas-growing-teaching-shortage-how-it-looks-state-by-state/

Re: Teachers being hired
 

As you noted, it might be easy enough to get a teaching prospect, but actually getting a school to sponsor your work visa is very difficult. Would have to be a private school.

Rene

Re: Teachers being hired
 

That's what i thought. There are plenty of international schools around. I have another role of instructional designer which may be worth exploring too.

Re: Teachers being hired
 

I know teachers but have not heard of any shortages, seems the opposite, if you look at inner city disadvanataged schools they seem to have a very high turnover

Re: Teachers being hired
 

Seems there are shortages! for example https://edsource.org/2016/states-tea...ey-says/573497

OK, so this is only California but if you google "Teacher shortages USA" there are lots of hits. I'm sure about two weeks ago I saw an ad on Facebook for overseas teachers wanted - I think it was Nebraska - which said they would help with visas if you qualified. Just spent 15 minutes scrolling back in FB but can't find it! Will have another look later. :)

Re: Teachers being hired
 

I shall have a look, thanks very much

Re: Teachers being hired
 

I think it's the same phenomenon that we discussed in the doctor shortage thread. There'll be regional shortages, because you can't always get qualified applicants in a specific town or region. Even more than doctors who are higher paid, there are always shortages of lower paid professionals (teachers, librarians etc) in places like NYC and Southern California - because potential applicants look at salaries offered versus the cost of living, and figure out that they can't afford to live there. Then, remote, hardscrabble places such as Nebraska, or where I live in northern New York, you can't get people to apply because the nearest trader joes is 250 miles away or whatever.

Re: Teachers being hired
 

We have a friend who was a teacher here in the west coast but moved to Kansas. Although we couldn't understand why anyone would make such a move he said that the difference in the cost of living meant he went from an existence to a comfortable life. From a small flat to a house with a garden and god first overseas holiday in years.

Re: Teachers being hired
 

It depends where you are looking. There have been a few news stories about Kansas etc. offering foreign visas.

I do see this as good news - about 10 years ago there was an explosion in teacher education enrollments, and that created a huge surplus of teachers which was made even worse in the GFC when states cut back their budgets. That explosion has tailed off a bit and some of the legions of people who enrolled thinking that teaching was a cush easy gig with long holidays yet high entry-level pay have crashed out of the system. That also means, those with the potential to be lifers are sometimes now being able to get proper looks instead of just being one CV in a stack of 300. Shortages, of course, are not good news but neither are surpluses.

The Mississippi shortage is longstanding - 20 years ago they were offering positions to 18 and 19 year olds on the promise that you would enroll in university and then teacher training concurrently. That is another underrated place, if you get to the right area. Places like Jackson and Biloxi are decent.

I love the prairies and think the Great Plains are underrated - high quality of life and affordability. Go for it! Right now shortages in these areas are being exacerbated by a trend among American millennials to view any place not on the coast as radioactive. Their loss is your gain.

Re: Teachers being hired
 

Thanks for this. I've contacted the nebraska school board to see if they can point to any specific districts that are looking. I'll contact the ones you mentioned too. Location isn't high on my priorities and the great plains are stunning.

It does seem strange there is no skills shortage site centrally, as a British educated teacher in sure I could plug a gap.

Re: Teachers being hired
 

One other thing for you to consider - in the US the education system is very, very decentralised. The states run their own systems and while there is a high degree of interchangeability, they all have their own licences etc. I don't know what Nebraska's system is like but you may need to contact individual school districts directly rather than a centralised state institution - and there may be hundreds of school districts in Nebraska.

The good news is that in most places, mutual recognition is in place for state licences and so minus a few hundred dollars it shouldn't be all that difficult to use a Nebraska licence to get a Kansas licence if need be.

Re: Teachers being hired
 

Thanks for the tips. I think I have to realise how big America is. I will have a look into getting a recognised licence as soon as possible. Also do you think it would help my cause if I offered to pay some of the VISA cost as I understand this can be a stumbling block, or is that a no no so to speak?

Re: Teachers being hired
 

Offering to pay some of the visa costs - it won't help. For public schools - they already have a budget for these things (IF they are able to offer work visas for foreigners), and individual schools themselves are multi-million dollar organisations - let alone the district! They will not sweat your visa cost (IF they can offer foreigners, and IF they want to offer you).

Private schools, on the other hand, perhaps . . . but I would be vary wary of any school where that's a stumbling block anyways.