i don't think i am applying for teaching jobs this year

[Zoe Girl]

every year i put out some applications and give an effort towards teaching. i would really still love to be in a classroom although i already lost the years it really would have mattered to my kids. A little bitter there i think. this year i was going to focus on the school i run my programs in and thought i had a real chance (the masters and my higher salary gets in the way) the focus of the school is so in line with work i am doing that it was worth it. Now i found out that every school in our district has to have an ELA-S teacher in it regardless of spanish speaking percentages. ELA-S means a teacher trained to teach students of another language and S means they must be reasonably fluent (and pass a test) in Spanish. we have 16% ELA students, and one of my peeves is that not all ELA students are spanish speaking (i speak french).

So this was on a district level, a lot of teachers are not going to have jobs next year. it is really rough,

[razz]

It is hard when statistics make the decisions or determine the decisions.

[rodeosweetheart]

Since you have the other qualifications and you sound like you'd be perfect for the job, why not apply anyway and use the summer to get your fluency in Spanish up by living in Mexico for a couple of months?

[Zoe Girl]

i am going to talk to the assistant principal and just check in, i have not had any responses the few years i have worked at this school and i have done this every year. plus i run summer camps in my current job so i do not have summer off, usually summer is more intense than school year at times. at some point if they want to only pay $30K for a 32 year old with a BA and i cost $40K with a masters it does not much matter. At least that is a large factor in what i have seen so far.

However i will take time off on spring break to do extensive application processes, with the economy improving there is a little bit of a chance

[Valley]

I'm one of the most positive people that you'll ever meet Zoe...and years ago I had to make the same decision you did. Though I loved my job as Director of a large Childrens' Center, it was a nonprofit and I realized that I was never going to be able to make more money or get a pension with my position. But, when I applied to school districts for a teaching job, I couldn't even get interviews. With my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Elementary Education I decided to go back to graduate school and add a certification as a Reading Specialist. Many districts seemed to be addding those positions to meet new educational requirements/goals. When I completed the certification, I applied for many, many openings. Again, nothing happened.

One day in desperation, I called a neighbor who was on the local school board and asked if I could ask him a question...and if he would answer honestly and off the record. He agreed. I explained my job search situation and he didn't hesitate in his reply. "Your initial degree is too old and you would cost the district too much money. For a lot of reasons, we prefer to hire a new graduate." I thanked him and hung up. At that moment I realized that unless I moved to an area that needed teachers, my teaching days were over.

Needless to say I was upset...but, I was also relieved to know that it wasn't me personally that was being rejected but my situation. In fact, along the way I met many more former teachers (who left originally to raise their children) who couldn't get back into the system. Today, most teachers don't leave to raise their families rather they take a maternity leave and then return to their positions. This is a simple fact of life and has defintitely changed the availability of teacher openings in most school districts. Good luck in whatever decision you make about your future...but, remember it's not personal...it is what it is!

[Zoe Girl]

Valley, thank you for sharing. The validation is important to me. I go through this process every year since I get encouragement from various people, also the new teachers in the school that I work closely with for the behavior challenged students who also attend after school programs often ask my advice or give me positive feedback. But I pretty much know the deal. I at least know in time to not try and earn any more endorsements (for those outside of education, each endorsement can cost the school more in my salary since my pay would be determined on strict standards of years and education). I was close to getting SPED at one time, I applied through a program where you get the job first and earn the endorsement as you teach. That is the only way I would do any more schooling in pretty much any area at this time.

At least my job has me working with kids and families. I am working towards teaching more mindfulness in the classroom and out. I know that mindfulness programs are subject to community/political concerns since there are supposed ties to eastern religions. Other districts have shut programs down. I am already doing this work personally so I might as well put myself out there professionally while the trend is on.

I think parents, especially in low performing and low income areas, have a right to know when their students are being taught by unlicensed long term subs or people in the teach for America program and there are literally thousands of qualified teachers who do not have jobs. If anyone reading has kids in school I encourage you to find out if your children have fully licensed teachers or ones in an alternative licensing process (meaning they are teaching before they have completed training). The trend is to say teaching degrees don't matter, teachers are holding kids back in ways, and then bring a lot of people from the private sector in with good intentions to 'fix' the schools. There are very mixed reports on charter schools performances, some do quite badly. And they do not have to have licensed teachers or administration, they also can pay less to teachers by not working with teacher unions. It IS personal for me, I was in a long term sub position and another sub broke down in tears during lunch. She spent her retirement to get her education and then didn't get a job, she was broke and as an older, career changing teacher, there was little hope of getting a job.