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Can I Teach in California?
clearsimpleplain
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
The answer to this question is a pretty important for my future I guess.
I'm about to graduate with a BA in English (no scoffing please, it's a big deal to me) from an accredited University in Canada. My wife is from California and we moved back to Canada so I we could bop around for a while responsibility free while I finished school working some simple jobs. Now my wife is pregnant and suddenly the future seems pretty close at hand.
The Plan: finish my BA in Canada, have the kid. Move to California, in with her parents. I spend the next year getting "certified" to be a teacher, a course/thing you can do that takes a year once you get your BA or so I hear. After that, start teaching, move out of the in-laws place, start a life for realsies.
I need to know how feasible this is with the state of the ECONOMY. I have a sneaky suspicion that this is not going to work out the way I want. Fantasies of the future include living on the central coast somewhere around SLO county, me teaching, her nursing, two kids. Worst case scenario is that I end up in LA County living with my in-laws for years to come, and my father-in-law has to get me a job which I detest; if this was the case I mean, there's work here that I could do and probably be happier. I just don't want to screw myself over with a big move and get stuck, because with a kid on the way if the teaching thing doesn't work out I will do what it takes to provide for it, even if it means selling out my own life and life's work. Ultimately this would be more enjoyably done in Canada.
I'm about to graduate with a BA in English (no scoffing please, it's a big deal to me) from an accredited University in Canada. My wife is from California and we moved back to Canada so I we could bop around for a while responsibility free while I finished school working some simple jobs. Now my wife is pregnant and suddenly the future seems pretty close at hand.
The Plan: finish my BA in Canada, have the kid. Move to California, in with her parents. I spend the next year getting "certified" to be a teacher, a course/thing you can do that takes a year once you get your BA or so I hear. After that, start teaching, move out of the in-laws place, start a life for realsies.
I need to know how feasible this is with the state of the ECONOMY. I have a sneaky suspicion that this is not going to work out the way I want. Fantasies of the future include living on the central coast somewhere around SLO county, me teaching, her nursing, two kids. Worst case scenario is that I end up in LA County living with my in-laws for years to come, and my father-in-law has to get me a job which I detest; if this was the case I mean, there's work here that I could do and probably be happier. I just don't want to screw myself over with a big move and get stuck, because with a kid on the way if the teaching thing doesn't work out I will do what it takes to provide for it, even if it means selling out my own life and life's work. Ultimately this would be more enjoyably done in Canada.
clearsimpleplain on
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The short answer from my wife a "ex" English teacher. No, the long answer is below and has more to do with your standard of living.
Its not going to take a year its going to take a year to get certified, then a year in the classroom at minimum wage. Then you will never ever find a job, the wife has a masters in English, History and speaks four languages (Spanish being the one in demand). Top marks in all classes and extensive substitution experience. Best full time job offer was 23K a year, at a non union school. First job offer in the corp world was in the 50+K range. If I was not working and supporting her while she was teaching we would have been living in an apartment on the bad side of town, with roommates.
We have a ton of friends who are teachers, her mother is a teacher, currently no one not tenured has any clue on the status of there job until they hear from the school. The cost of living is very high depending on where you go, specifically some of the major cities. Unless your wife has a serious job offer with good money in the works and is willing to support you in your endeavor then your going to fail. Add in a kid and no way unless you have very low standards in terms of your living arrangements. Like below poverty line, until you get a job, get established and get tenure.
Chemistry and biology are in high demand in some areas, but fluency in Spanish is almost a requirement, and not formal high school Spanish. My standards of living are high though and both our corporate incomes can provide that but for the 200K+ that we make we could be living in a mansion in the rest of the country and not a small home near the beach.
Now if you step out of the major area's there are jobs but they are hard to come by and not very stable. California is a lovely place, its just the taxes, transportation, housing costs, unemployment and lack of civil services that make you want to pull out your hair.
What stormbringer said. Now is not a good time to be a teacher in California.
L.A. is not California, it's like some alternate universe that is a amalgamation of all the TV show ideas about California.
I love it, but you would have to drag me there kicking and scream obscenities to get me to stay and work. Plus the surf is better down here is SD, and we don't have the whole city traffic that you guys have. My left foot would be twice the size of my right.
Though I admit you do have some of the best Deli's/Bakeries on the west coast.
Also I have insomnia and its almost midnight hence my lack of clarity in my above ramblings, and my craving for puff pastry.
"All of you with your hands raised will never be able to find a job"
That's pretty much the reality from what I've seen, too.
Hm. This is not good. I'm at a loss. It's not that I want to be a teacher badly, it's just something which I could be qualified for shortly and actually want to do. The place is the drawing force; it's where we want to live, and I figured hey, everywhere has schools and hospitals right?
I'm not sure what comes next.
1. Teaching young age groups. Male teachers are rare in primary education, which can make you a standout, but it frequently comes with item 2:
2. Teaching problem groups. This includes remedial classes, behavior problems, and disabled students. Put less kindly, this means dumb kids, angry kids, and janitorial work (yes, teachers can be required to perform nurse-duties for disabled students.) However, these kids do need education and a kind hand and it can be quite rewarding, though it is very hard.
3. Teaching outside your subject area. This is easier the younger the class is, but if you can demonstrate that you can stay ahead of the class you would be fine.
4. Ancillary activity, especially coaching. While this primarily means sports, with a documented proficiency in the sport you would coach, it can also apply to things like debate club, mock trial, academic decathalon, or mock United Nations. This means extra work without extra pay, unless you're a sports coach. Sorry, but that tends to be the way it is, but it would help you get ajob.
3clipse: The key to any successful marriage is a good mid-game transition.
Now - things are drastically different since the collapse in 2008. Older teachers are afraid to leave their jobs and thus are holding on to them while younger teachers are the first to get cut as towns are refusing to increase taxes to pay for those jobs (tax increases are voted on by referendum in my town), and budgets are shrinking.
There is hope though. I would recommend coming to Connecticut to finish your teaching degree. At the University of Connecticut, you can finish your MA in education (one of the best programs in the country, if not the best) and be certified to teach anywhere in the country, as Connecticut has one of the highest requirements for teaching (you need a masters, plain and simple).
That one year program in EDU is a masters.
I know four friends who have done it and now have jobs that pay about 42k+ a year with benefits (English, English, Math, Math) with some starting as high as $62k because of their experience during their MA. I also know 2 friends who just got their BA in edu/subject (English, History) and have been jobless for about a year.
From what I know, the program at UCONN is like the magic bullet in terms of getting a job. And the best part about a state school is that you can most likely work as a Teacher's Assistant, get your tuition paid for, as well as earn a stipend of about $3,000 a semester. This was back when I was there though - things may have changed.
TL:DR - CT has one of the best EDU programs in the nation. Study and get your masters at UCONN in one year and prepare to land a job faster than most people coming out with just a BA from just about any state. CT's standards for edu are high and is probably your best bet for landing a teaching job.
The advantage to CA was living with in-laws rent free and giving them some time with their grandkid before I start trying to limit exposure and live away. UCONN sounds like a dream but really tough because of the extra expense. I'm not against the move so much as concerned as there's already a kid and already some debt accrued getting this far. Still, it certainly gives me pause.
Yeah - definitely understandable. It's pretty much on the opposite side of the country from family and support which I know is hard. I don't even know if I could do it personally - but there must be some sort of 1 year program out in cali - anyone have experience on these forums?
I will say that being close to family is a enormous help and hindrance. If it allows you to do what you love, and its not a imposition then take the opportunity. People have been moving from one place to another to follow a dream with much less though and preperation then you seem to have put into this. Get accepted to a program out here before you do anything, its harder then you think and it will limit where you can live.
Now if I may add a bit. 7-8 graders are the devil. Some still into princess and fairies, and some growing facial hair and acting like sexual perverts. 1-6 is good, high school is good. Unless your dream is to work special needs just drop that idea. My brother was trained to do it and the kids were great the parents were what drove him to quit. Runs a bar now and makes three times what he was looking at.
If you make it down to SD I will buy you a beer.
Make that 100% unless its a private school and then the rules are all over the place.
They just changed the rules for private school teachers in CA. Now those teachers have to be "real teachers" too. Company I work for has it's own private school and some of the teachers got their jobs messed up because they can now work for a limited amount of hours
Wow, that really is going to screw up a lot of people's jobs. When I went to private school I think only one of my teachers was certified.
Ok so I asked around, if they take any form of money from the gov. then yes. Otherwise they can do what they want.