Job Discussion Forums

[mitsui]

I would like to know if anyone has worked here.
Pay is good but I wonder about the lack of daylight in the winter, and if it gets depressing.

Most teachers get recruited from the lower 48, and there is turnover.

[santi84]

Mitsui,

I can't speak for Alaska itself but I can about the climate (I'm right next door in northern Canada). The winters can be depressingly long (it's already snowed a few times, and can stay until April/May), but the summers are never dark and vacations are a lifestyle. I grew up without snow and I'm growing to enjoy it!

[peripatetic_soul]

Mitsui,

Are you referring to public school and not university level? I worked with a few p.s. teachers who had previously taught in Alaska and told me turnover is high because there is a large student population of Innuits, e.g., with special needs and serious behavioral problems which led to teacher burnout. Many were born with AFS (alcohol fetal syndrome) and developed cognitive and/or physical disabilities. So, add that to going home in the dark for long periods of time and suppose it could be quite mentally taxing. Good luck.

[mitsui]

I would only be interested in Anchorage, at a public or private high school.

I am just looking for work in the future.
I will be back in the US in a year or less.

I am certified in Arizona and that may be too hot for me.
Plus they have right to work.

So I look at other states but it is harder to get work in Oregon or Washington.
Idaho has jobs but the pay is less.
Anchorage doesn`t get much snow and is not so cold.
I lived in Russia so cold doesn't bother me.

I think Alaska is generous about certification, so they give teachers time to get certified while living there.
So people certified in other states can teach there for up to a year.