I will be gaining my Florida Teaching Certification, I have been also looking at Georgia and Alabama. My concerns are the following as a new teacher. 1 What is the normal probationary period for a new teacher? I heard Alabama is three years. Is that a little extreme? What is the length for a teacher in Florida? 2.When it comes to collective bargaining I was told by the CTA represent that Florida offers it , but Georgia and Alabama does not. Is it important as a new teacher to belong to a state that has collective bargaining vs a state that does not offer it? Thanks for any help.:thanks::help::help:
I can answer the Florida questions. Florida does not have a probationary period. Every teacher is hired on an annual contract for their entire career. If you perform well in the classroom (your test scores are high) you will probably be hired back for the next year. If your test scores are low, good luck. Florida has Teacher associations, not unions. Some districts involve teachers in contract negotiations, some do not. The school board in each district has the final say about contracts. The plus to joining the teacher association is that if a district can get more than 50% of their teachers to join, the district may feel more inclined to add teacher input to the negotiations. I have taught in both types of states and have seen no advantage or disadvantage in belonging to a union or not.
Swan, in your opinion when it comes to job security as a first year teacher which state would you apply to? A state. With 3 year probationary period and no collection e bargining or Florida?
In my opinion, I would join a state that still has the possibility of rewarding tenure. Many states, like Florida, have abolished tenure and I think that makes job security too tenuous. As far as collective bargaining or not, I don't think that matters. You are going to be paid the assigned salary for your level of experience regardless, and you don't have any negotiating power to change that.
Swan, Would I really have security with a state that puts the new teacher on a 3 year probationary period?
That seems to make everything pretty comparable. So, I guess it comes down to the place you would find most enjoyable to live in.
Many states don't have tenure for teachers any more. I'm only five years in, and I see it eventually going away everywhere over the course of my career. If a state does have tenure, I don't think you're going to find any probationary period shorter than 3 years. That's very typical. We don't have unions in my state, but we have teacher associations like swansong was saying. They are voluntary to join and it's basically up to the school board to decide if they will negotiate with them or not. My district does have an association that most teachers participate in and the board does negotiate with them. However, some nearby districts have been taken over by tea party reformers and had their school boards quit negotiating with the teacher's associations all together, which essentially disbands the association. I would have to disagree with swan on collective bargaining. My salary is a lot higher than nearby districts who don't have it anymore. We still have a traditional pay scale whereas the non-union districts have gone to pay for performance, where their teachers need to spend hours per week "proving" they are doing their jobs by adding things to their electronic portfolio in hopes of getting a raise. Beyond the salary, our association has also negotiated things like mandatory plan times, duty free lunches, and extra payment for duties outside of contract hours. This is one of the biggest perks for me. My first district didn't have a strong association at all and the other benefits (plan times, lunch times, limit on non-contract obligations) is where I see the biggest difference. My first district made us come in for PD twice a week 90 minutes before contract time started, unpaid. If my current district tried to do that, they'd have to pay us for it.
I agree, but you always have those few that get ride of a teacher to make room for another or just does not like him/her. If you were in a union (real one) it would be a different story.
Not necessarily. Here in Illinois, it takes 4 years to become tenured. However, even with tenure, if a teacher receives an unsatisfactory evaluation, the teacher is fired after a 6 month "remediation" period and another subsequent unsatisfactory evaluation. Our union hasn't been successful in arguing against those evaluations, even for teachers who have been highly rated previously.
