Job Discussion Forums

[santi84]

Mitsui, have you considered Washington state? Your wife might feel a little bit more "at home" there as well. Lovely west coast area, affordable housing, and a decent demand for ESL teachers.

[mitsui]

Oh yes I have.
My problem is I have never taught at an IEP before.
I have been abroad since 1997.

One community college in Bellingham requires IEP experience.
I work with people from Washington state and I have heard that getting certified
to teach is actually quite a long process.

I sure would consider the west coast or Hawaii. Just need a job.
I have already looked at Oregon and I put my application into the adjunct pool so all I can do is wait.

As for EWU, CWU or WWU, well if they have any open positions I would consider it.

[revilo]

In case you didn't hear, there is class warfare in academia. Tenured professors are being replaced with part-time adjunct faculty. Part-timers put their applications in hoping they will land a full-time position, except it never appears. More and more teachers compete for fewer and fewer positions until you have a "race to the bottom." Does this sound familiar?

Administrators could not be happier. They give themselves raises, hire their friends as fellow administrators, and cut more classes. They create the illusion that they are giving value to universities or comm. colleges. In fact, they are creating a situation that is unsustainable and will surely collapse like the dot com bubble, the real estate bubble and the student loan bubble. If you are going back to the U.S., then beware of an empire that is fast crumbling. Don't take my word for it, read this:

http://mobile.insidehighered.com/views/2013/12/19/essay-class-warfare-academe#.Urb2AnaBK0U.email

A pox on all their houses.

[mitsui]

Well it is even worse in Japan since there is a low birth rate.
I may just get certified to be a high school teacher.
I could be an adjunct for a couple years, and get certified.

[peripatetic_soul]

Revilo is right. Also, one should be aware that the new under 29 hr. reg (to avoid having to offer health insurance) has been translated differently by various tertiary institutions across the U.S. For example, in one college in VA, the ESL courses are 6 cr. hr. each. According to their new (faulty) formula, one cannot teach more than 10 cr. hr. per semester. What this means for the TESLERs is that they can only teach ONE course per semester. You should also know, to supplement Revilo's post, is that contracts generally only remunerate you for IN CLASS hours, not time spent on lesson planning, grading papers, complying with college requirements such as online training on sexual harassment policy, internet security, etc. One college recently expanded their contract to include a clause that instructors will not seek additional remuneration for hours spent on preparation outside of the class. In addition, one cannot piece together different adjunct stints if they fall under the same college system umbrella. This has shaved many adjuncts' hours in half! It has become euphemistically called sweat shop labor. As Revilo also indicated, as tenured faculty retire, those positions are eliminated, thus increasing the growing numbers of adjuncts. In fact, stats reveal that over 70% of tertiary institutions are comprised of adjuncts. You can google "adjuncts plight" and find numerous articles on the adjunct apartheid phenomenon in America. Some institutions have not complied yet but are expected to by 2015.
As for public schools, many ESL classes are huge but instead of hiring sorely needed full-time teachers, some schools seek grant funding for part-time tutors or teacher assistants (thereby skirting benefits). Some schools are also encouraging "seasoned teachers" to retire so that they can recruit "fresh, younger faces" (i.e., newbies on the low end of the pay scale). Former colleagues of mine have not had a raise in 5 years but each year are expected to do more and more. Be prepared to spend 60-70 hours weekly in public school and endure a lot of stress.
The best advice is to network, make connections, and find out the prevailing TESL market in various states. Some states are forming unions to protect adjuncts' rights but there are states where collective bargaining (and hence, no union formation) is banned among state employees. I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but you should be aware of the current state of TESL in the U.S. Hopefully, the situation will improve soon. Good luck!

[mitsui]

Which states do you mean? I cannot believe that everywhere it is this bad, but with some, yes.
I read bad things about Chicago, Tennessee, and Loiusiana, but
read good things about Montana, Colorado and parts of California since they have merit pay.

[peripatetic_soul]

Reply to Misui:
I'm not sure if you are referring to public school teachers or adjuncts at tertiary institutions. Of course, more affluent school districts where there are more homeowners paying generous school taxes offer better schools and higher salaries for teachers. E.g., I met an ESL certified p.s. teacher who moved from CO to VA and took a $25k/yr pay cut. Medical insurance is an HMO; PPOs prohibitively priced. She has 5 lesson preps daily, a tiny classroom but over 20 students in a level 1 class, hardly amenable to facilitating language acquisition, not to mention all the admin. paper work. However, one must not only consider the state but the particular school district where one wishes to teach, e.g., in northern counties of VA (Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun County, Manassas), salaries are $20-30k more per year than in central and southern VA. However, the cost of living is much higher as well.

As for college adjuncts, collective bargaining is outright prohibited in the states of VA, NC, SC, GA and Tx, as reflected in this article:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/30/organizing-harder-possible-states-without-collective-bargaining-agreements

All institutions will be required to comply with the 29 hr and under regs by 2015, as noted previously. Each institution devises its own formula as to what constitutes compliance; we hope this will have been tweaked and conditions ameliorated for adjuncts by then. Hope I've addressed your questions. Good luck.

[mitsui]

I mean teaching at public high schools only.

[peripatetic_soul]

Hello, Mitsui,
If you have particular desired states in mind, you can google certain school districts as to demographics/cost of living index, etc. and then access their employment links where they often provide salary scale and benefits. Some districts may also require a teaching certification in English "proper" if the ESL students are going to receive graduation credits for those "ESL" classes. (This is only applicable at high school level.) I know that in VA this requirement can be satisfied by taking the content Praxis test in English. Such requirements vary from one county to the next. You may wish to attend School Fairs to apply for prospective positions. One website I encountered for job listings by state for p.s. teachers was teachers-teachers.com. Good luck!

[mitsui]

I am not certified so I was considering Teach for America.
Back in 2009 I was going to try the alternate certification in Nevada,
but decided to stay in Japan making money.
Seems that it was a good idea since 1-2 years ago Nevada teachers had their pay cut, up to $20,000, I guess since tax revenues were down.

Everything seems to depend on each state.
I can look at that link you posted.

I prefer the West Coast or Hawaii, but Denver is ok too.

[peripatetic_soul]

I stumbled across this website listing all the states and licensure requirements. I would imagine California schools have a huge demand for ESL teachers. Being bilingual is also an asset.

Yes, Nevada is definitely experiencing an economy slump as evidenced by the massive number of foreclosures and % of unemployment. Sorry, I don't know anything about Teach Across America.

The most reliable information on certification is each state's Dept. of Education because requirements can change. Also, I understand some universities offer grant-funded ESL certification for eligible candidates (the endorsement requires one to pursue 12 cr. in ESL). Here's the link:

http://education.uky.edu/AcadServ/content/50-states-certification-requirements

Good luck!

[mitsui]

Do you think over 40 is too old to get certified in order to be a high school teacher?
I may try to get an adjunct job then get certified.

[Xie Lin]

[mitsui]

So how old is too old? 50?

[natsume]

You've got me scratching my eyeballs out.

I am in the middle of getting certified in California at the moment, and 45. There is no issue with age if you are professional and serious, and from anecdotal evidence, some administrators seem to like those of us with "previous life (work) experience", be it in the educational realm or otherwise.