mikelincs

I believe paying towards your own work visa is usually a real No, No

Rwley1982

Good point. I think I'll concentrate on the areas with most demand and take it from there. It might all be pie in the sky but unless you ask you don't know.

carcajou

Let me just clarify that earlier post - the public school district will certainly have some policy on visa costs, and the accountants and lawyers will be very uncomfortable deviating from that in any way. A public school system won't be open to a "deal" on visa costs.

Rwley1982

It sounds very much like the UK school system in that there can not be any deviation from the ruled and there are no grey areas.

ian-mstm

The visa costs are borne entirely by the employer. You aren't allowed to contribute.

Ian

ian-mstm

There are a myriad of federal and state laws that outline what you can and can't do as a teacher, plus another myriad policies and regulations set by the school district. You'll be expected to abide by each and every one of them... even if you're not entirely sure what they are!

Education in the US (as well as the rest of the world, for that matter) is the silver bullet. Teachers, however, are overworked and underpaid... and, IMHO, undervalued. Funding for schools is based on the local tax base so the more wealthy the area, the better the funding; the less wealthy the area, the worse the funding... except, that it's usually the less wealthy areas that need increased funding - but that almost never happens.

Ian

Rwley1982

Okay so nothing really likenthe UK then for some things. However overworked and impossible targets sound familiar. One thing I don't understand is that most teacher wages seem 45k and upwards ish which is more than the UK equivilant. I'm a head of department at the moment and I earn circ 50K USD. Are private sector wages significantly higher in the US or is it cost of living that puts it in the poorly paid bracket?

scrubbedexpat099

Exchange rates can produce a false comparison.

Recently that could have converted as $60k or $70k or more.

Not sure if a Public school would look at anybody not licensed.

Also you need 2 visa's, seems a long shot of getting both any where close to each other.

Rwley1982

I've looked a little bit into licencing and California would equivilate it which I understand can be reciprocated in other states although this would need much more research.

Why would I need 2 visas? Would it not just be a h1-b?

This is all in it's infancy and may prove a bridge to far but there does appear to be a need which I could, in theory, fill.

scrubbedexpat099

I have a vague understanding about licensing, my impression was that it is not simple. The guy behind the bar at the local Brew Pub qualified as a Teacher, no jobs. Also a lady who is a Music Teacher and a bit too conscientious so is looking for other employment.

I thought there was 2 of you and that you both need to work?

Rwley1982

My wife is also a teacher but as you say 2 visas in close proximity would be a tall order. Luckily she has extra income she could do remotely for extra cash if things are tight.

Thank you for all the help and advice

scrubbedexpat099

H4 does not allow her to work. Remotely or not.

Rwley1982

Thanks for that - wouldn't want to fall foul of anything like that.

carcajou

Teaching in the US is not poorly paid. It was at one time - 15 years ago someone just starting, in some parts, would be at 22-24k, not 40-50k like today. That's why the perception has stuck in society. Average per-capita GDP income in the US is around 53k.

50k is about right for a Head of Department in the UK using today's conversions. The US (and Australia) pay teachers a lot more than the UK or Europe do.

California is one of the states that does not participate in the mutual recognition scheme - it is called a "[Something] Compact" (sorry I don't remember the proper name) - last I checked (and that was a few years ago) the Compact had 43 states involved but a few of the biggies like Florida, California and I believe New York were not part of it. Mutual recognition is not just exchanging one licence for another - effectively it is, but the registration boards bristle at that comparison - and you do have to fill out a ream of paperwork and pay a few hundred dollars. But you shouldn't have to do anything else.

If you are going from one state in the Compact to one out of it, or vice versa, you may have to sit an exam or two. You shouldn't have to do any other coursework. Alaska, I believe, requires you to take a Native Culture unit or something similar, but I believe you can get provisional registration and start working until/while you do the unit. Alaska, by the way, is another state with a perennial teacher shortage but I don't know if they recruit overseas.

That your wife is a teacher also looking for a visa can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. In such situations - if there is a placement coordinator in the district, they will try to do what they can to keep you together or nearby (with no guarantees), but they won't extend an offer to one of you just because they extended an offer to the other one. The second thing is that remote/shortage area recruitment lines of thinking have changed (correctly in my view) - they now realise that if a married couple comes together and they both have jobs, the odds that they stay put a while are much higher than if they bring out a bunch of single 22 or 23 year olds who don't have a personal support network, are new to the profession and don't know the area. So if you're able to land a married couple in their 30s (or late 20s etc), that eliminates two of those three risk factors.

It did used to be, in some of the rural areas or farming communities, if they got a single young teacher out there who they all liked, their strategy to keep that person around was to try and get them hitched up with a young farmer. Don't know if that's changed!

Pulaski

In The South, at least, teacher pay seems to be heavily based on experience, so it starts low and rises quite a lot as you gain years of experience - and then schools seem to have a habit of laying off expensive experienced teachers and hiring cheaper newly qualified ones.