Should I move to the USA to teach?

Hi All,

I'm an elementary (primary!!) school teacher in the UK. After a great deal of deliberation I quit my job and am currently travelling around California to see if I want to move here permanently and become a teacher. I've only ever taught Year 2. I think that's First Grade here. I love teaching and love warmth so California would probably be a good fit. Having said that the transition to teaching here seems pretty complicated and I got a bit of a headache trying to get my head round all the requirements on the Teach California website.

So. Should I move to the USA to teach? It's a pretty awesome place. If so, where should I look? Should I see if I can visit a school to have a look around? Should I even contact a School District to see if there's anyone there I can chat to for some advice? The whole teaching set up seems very different to how we do it back home.

If I'm being totally honest I'm in San Diego right now and the funds are escaping me at an alarming rate. If I can't make some decisions pretty quickly then I may not be able to justify staying out here for the remaining two months of my visa.

What should I do America?

Thanks in advance,

Matt x

 

I'll be blunt: your chances of landing a teaching job before your visa runs out are not very good, in part because you need your UK transcript evaluated, among other things, and that process takes a while. But if you're in San Diego, ring up the San Diego County Office of Education and make an appointment to discuss your questions with the credential analysts there.

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.
I knew I would have to head back to the UK before finding work. I just wasn't sure what opportunities would be available to me in the long run or where in America would be the best place for me to look. The San Diego office seems like a great place to start.
Your advice has really helped me to get going before I return to the UK. Thanks so much. I really appreciate it.

 

You're welcome. I should point out that competition for teaching jobs in San Diego County is still fairly stiff - three public universities, half a dozen reputable locally-based private universities, and six to a dozen satellite programs of universities of varying repute based elsewhere all run teacher-education programs. But California is also a very large state, with almost twice the area of the UK, and other areas may be more promising. If California is where you'd like to be, you might begin by looking up jobs on EdJoin and locating them on a map, then exploring areas that sound interesting. (EdJoin, I'm told, doesn't necessarily list all available jobs; if you're interested in a particular area, look up the county it's in, then search for "___ county education jobs", and that county office of education's job page should show up fairly near the top.)

You might also consider applying for work in Las Vegas, Nevada; I have it on good authority that CCSD is experiencing a teacher shortage.

 

If you really want to teach in the US and you like warm, consider Florida. The competition for jobs in many parts of the state, especially Central Florida is much less intense. Many of the districts around here search all year and can't find enough qualified candidates. The pay will be lower than California, but so is the cost of living.

 

West Texas isn't as exciting but we could always use teachers!

 

San Bernardino in California has lots of job opportunites.

 

Lots of opportunities to teach in Las Vegas, just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Cali.

 

I am English and now teach in Ohio. I did it a little different than you would do though. I came for US college and then ended up marrying someone from America. I teach 4th grade just outside of Columbus, the capital of the state. I was able to get my greencard because of my marriage. I think a lot of it just depends on what state you are willing to go to. It is also pretty annoying as different states have different requirements.

 

I didn't get that impression from that poster.

 

I certainly didn't get that impression. Going to another country to study, and then meeting a future spouse there, is certainly not uncommon.

 

That's not how I read it. I think he was just sharing his own experience. He's allowed to do that.

 

I'm afraid I really can't see how teacherguy111's "I did it a little different than you would do though. I came for US college and then ended up marrying someone from America" constitutes a recommendation that anyone marry in order to get a green card.

 

Lol. I was just sharing my journey. I didn't mean matt should do that.

 

I also did the correct process after I fell in love with my wife during college. I think you took my post the wrong way. Maybe I should of worded it better. I was basically just saying I am English and now teach in America,

 

I also read that Central Washington is desperately looking for teachers.

http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/ed...cle_95a51cd4-18d3-11e6-929e-076291b49dca.html

 

I know many who have moved From AZ to get teaching jobs in CA and wanted to teach in San Diego. Most of these teachers ended up moving up the the Los Angeles area to get a teaching job. One did get a job in the San Diego area, but that was only one.

I know the Phoenix area in Arizona has lots of openings right now. I am guessing the Los Angeles area does too. If you are going to go San Diego, then you will need to put a lot of time and effort into your search and not be too picky about the grade or school you get to teach.

 

Yes, districts are recruiting overseas instead of raising teacher salaries a bit to attract more teachers. Districts seem to be great at being innovative to get more teachers, but not very innovative in finding ways to get money to pay them better. Crazy IMO.