teacher looking to move to Portland area (Gresham, Wilsonville: houses, layoffs)

[819WIG]

My husband has just been offered a starting job at Boeing in Portland (Gresham area I believe). Promblem is I am a tenured teacher, nervous about giving up my job in Enumclaw, WA to move to the Portland area. I have heard mixed advice on where to go, Vancover, WA to outside Portland. I am looking for a small town with culture (not strip malls with cookie cutter houses everywhere), I ride and compete with horses, and have two young elementary aged kids. I am an elementary teacher so excellent school would be a plus. Any advice on where to start my job and living search?
Thank you so much

[Nell Plotts]

Teaching positions throughout the NW (probably across the country) will be hard to find. You may want to include private schools in your search.

The horsey community I knew as a kid was at Sylvan, in Washington County and around Wilsonville. That is too far from Gresham for your husband to commute. In my youth I competed (once beat Kevin Freedman in a sack race) so I would hear the gossip even 50 years since I pulled on jodhpur pants - the word is the activity has hit hard times because of the recession and the cost of feed. I suggest you look for riding clubs and go from there. You might look for arena facilities where boarding and pasture are available. As a practical matter this puts you in a rural area east/north/south of Gresham which could include Vancouver (remember that because your husband works in Oregon you will pay Oregon income tax even if you live in WA and have a significant risk of paying a bridge toll as a part of the replacement of the I-5 interstate bridge).

Good luck..

[Minervah]

If your husband's new job will be enough to support you it may be worthwhile to move. If not, it won't be a good idea to give up your present teaching job. It may take years for you to find one in the Portland-Vancouver area.

[Nell Plotts]

The fact that it is an entry position at Boeing bothered me too. They have a history of hiring campaigns and layoffs. If the job exists at their Seattle metro plants and he really wants to work for Boeing maybe he could go alone to the Gresham facility and then transfer.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

The fact that it is an entry position at Boeing bothered me too. They have a history of hiring campaigns and layoffs. If the job exists at their Seattle metro plants and he really wants to work for Boeing maybe he could go alone to the Gresham facility and then transfer.

Nell this is a bit off topic but is this a common practice in Portland? I am curious because my former company which hired in droves would do mass layoffs less than a year later just as you described with Boeing.

[Nell Plotts]

It is not unusual for employers whose business is driven by contract work.

Boeing is particularly notorious in this regard. Years ago (well before Microsoft) there really was a sign facing southbound traffic on I-5 "Will the last person out of Seattle please turn off the lights." The result of yet another Boeing layoff.

If this position were in Everett I would be much more comfortable with the OP leaving her job. It may be that Boeing is increasing the size of their Gresham operation but it will still be ancillary. Now I could be wrong, but....

[Smiled]

"If your husband's new job will be enough to support you it may be worthwhile to move. If not, it won't be a good idea to give up your present teaching job. It may take years for you to find one in the Portland-Vancouver area. "

Exactly right. A friend of mine is a special-ed teacher who was laid off last year and is looking all over the state for work before his license expires.

There IS a trend of a few folks retiring in order to lock in their retirement medical benefits, so there is some hope.

Precision Castparts is a large aerospace supplier in the area, and we have a few machine shops that do aerospace work as well.

[Minervah]

If judging from this City Data forum is accurate, it would appear that many in the teaching profession are drawn to Oregon. This adds to the comeptition for jobs with the many who are already waiting and have been for a long time. It doesn't appear that years of teaching experience has all that much influence on getting a job. From what I observe, it's being at the right place at the right time, knowing the right people and biding one's time until there is an opening.

[figmalt]

Originally Posted by Minervah

It doesn't appear that years of teaching experience has all that much influence on getting a job. From what I observe, it's being at the right place at the right time, knowing the right people and biding one's time until there is an opening.

This is exactly right. School Districts must post their openings, but most of the time they already know who they want for the job and the posting is just a formality. It's an insider's game, so do what you can to get inside.

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Originally Posted by Minervah

It doesn't appear that years of teaching experience has all that much influence on getting a job.

If anything, it's probably an inverse relationship. Districts are trying to cut corners any which way they can. One such way is a hiring practice known as "pay-scale attrition." Let's say a teacher is retiring on the top rung of the pay scale, say Step 20 in that district's system, and a new teacher needs to be hired for the position. Let's say the district's policy allows new hires to transfer up to ten years of prior experience. The personnel director has a choice between an experienced candidate with twelve years of highly successful experience who would have to start out at Step Ten, or a graduating student teacher who can start out on Step One for $15,000 a year less. Which teacher is more likely to get the job?