Teacher looking into relocating to Texas (Houston, Dallas: crime, house, find a job)

[sz89128]

I'm originally from PA and my family is looking into Texas as a possible place to relocate. I had an uncle who lived in Austin and it was a great place to visit. Unfortunately, he passed away several years ago and I no longer have any family in Texas.

I teach in inner city Pittsburgh and have been assaulted by students among other things. My daughter is bullied constantly because she is white. We would like to find a family friendly area for us to settle down in and reside.

We are in our early 30's and our daughter is still in elementary school. I'm a Spanish teacher and would be seeking a position.

Any advice? Places to look at? Education and jobs? I hate to admit it but I am tired of the cold North.

[Squirl]

please do some google research; there have been teacher layoffs in Texas are we are bracing for massive teacher layoffs for next school year......

State Budget Cuts Could Mean Mass Teacher Layoffs

[5stones]

as you will find districts across the state here in TX are laying off by the 100's. Any jobs from retireing teacher are being offered for "in-house" employment only.

It doesn't get you out of the north but...I suggest you stay in the Pittsburg area, just go south to Cannonsburg area or North Strabane. (we temp llived in a nice Topwnhouse in Cannonsburg before we bought our house in Peter's) Good schools, ALOT less crime etc... and may be less expensive than living in the city.
You can search for new jobs without picking up and moving etc...

[TurtleCreek80]

Seriously? Do a little reading on the Texas education budget crisis and see if you still think Texas is the land of teaching opportunity. Up to 100,000 Texas teachers will be laid off this summer. It will NOT be easy to find a teaching job in Texas.

[Squirl]

Originally Posted by sz89128

I'm originally from PA and my family is looking into Texas as a possible place to relocate. I had an uncle who lived in Austin and it was a great place to visit. Unfortunately, he passed away several years ago and I no longer have any family in Texas.

I teach in inner city Pittsburgh and have been assaulted by students among other things. My daughter is bullied constantly because she is white. We would like to find a family friendly area for us to settle down in and reside.

We are in our early 30's and our daughter is still in elementary school. I'm a Spanish teacher and would be seeking a position.

Any advice? Places to look at? Education and jobs? I hate to admit it but I am tired of the cold North.

Try Omaha, Nebraska. Very family friendly and I hear there are jobs there, too.

[loves2read]

South Dakota has one of the strongest economies in the US at this time--
there is lot of gas drilling going on and the farm economy because of high commodity prices currently is also going good
personally that would be hard sell for me because of the winters--really harsh--
but if you have to have a teaching job that might be an option

[James2496]

Don't listen to the naysayers. There are Spanish job openings in the state--along with math, science, and special education. One is on page 5 of the job listings in Region 14 educational service center. It pays $4500 a year above state base and has good housing for teachers. It is a little rural, but it is warm, and the kids are great.

The web page for these jobs is Jobs at Region 14

You may use esc14.net to get the regional service center home page. There are 20 regional service centers in Texas. They all list jobs. You can search all 20 by changing the 14 in esc14.net to numbers 1-20. Many of the larger districts do not advertise openings on the service center pages. They advertise them on their own web page. For example, I live in Abilene, the largest city in Region 14. The Abilene school district lists their jobs on their own web page.

I am an educator and still involved in teacher training and placement, and I am confident that as a Spanish teacher, you can find either a Spanish or bilingual position in this state.

[James2496]

Here is the web page for openings in Abilene. http://www.abileneisd.org/226910518121731123/lib/226910518121731123/CertifiedPositions0422.pdf (broken link)

No Spanish position--yet--but keep checking. (I see they need a Frnch teacher. If I were you, I would check weekly. Do the same in any city in which you think you might like to live.

There are 1045 school districts in this state. I know more than one of them needs a Spanish teacher.

[h886]

If you are willing to live in an out of the way, rural town, you may have a shot. As others have said, our economy is also in the toilet and they are cutting 100,000 teaching jobs for next year. Spanish teachers are often among the first cut as they are non-vital positions (sad as that is.)

But again, you'd probably have to live somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. For some people, that's no problem. A lot of people like the small town feel. But then there are the others who think moving to Texas could be neat as long as they end up someplace popular like Austin, Dallas or Houston, or one of their surrounding areas. It's going to be nearly impossible to find a job in one of those places.

[loves2read]

I think getting a teaching job in this state over the next two years is going to be harder than winning the lottery--
it was difficult enough before this to get a job in a "good" district in my part of TX--DFW metroplex--
and there were hundreds of applications for any job opening--
these districts could afford to be choosey--
now that they might be laying off teachers (and I don't think it will be 100K of them) they throw even more applicants into the job pool
Districts aren't going to post job openings because frankly they don't know how many teachers will be needed for vacancies
in my local district when they hired teachers last spring for the school year 2010-2011 (this year) they had ALL new hires--no matter their level of past experience, no matter their field, no matter if they were a teacher who had worked at the district and resigned to stay home with a new baby for a year--
they all had to sign a letter of resignation at the same time they signed their contract--
they got hired to work one year--
they get laid off/fired--no UEB application--at the end of this year and their names are put into a pool of possible teachers for next year--
depending on how many teachers retire at specific schools in specific fields--what the class counts are projected to be--what classes need to be on the schedule--
SOME of those teachers will be offered jobs by principals--but no promises--they may not go back to the school they were at this year--they may teach a different grade level or subject--like Geometry vs Algebra II--
so they are going to have to wait--maybe until July--to know if they get offered a job...
and lots more teachers are going to be in that boat