Re: What's it like out there?

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Re: What's it like out there?

Posted by Jeffrey on 4/04/07

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Thank you very much for taking the time to get back to me. I
really appreciate the "real world" feedback. I looked at a
bargaining agreement contract from a district (I can't
remember which one), and the evaluation process was very hard
to understand, and I imagine it must be even more confusing to
go through. That is promising to hear that some district do
still pay benefit costs, because my jaw keeps dropping when I
see the employee costs for benefits. (I would be insuring my
family, so I do know I would pay more anyway, but my jaw still
drops).

Can you (or anyone else who reads these postings), an
apporximate number of students that you have? I teach at the
secondary level, so is there a class size limit in CO? (My
district in CA is approximately 35:1). No to get to
political, but do the unions have any power out there? It
sure seems like they do not, based on the wages and benefit
costs, but I am a union man, and I do not want to judge.

Thank you again for taking the time to respond to my posting.
If you (or anyone else) can offer me any more information, I
would greatly appreciate it.

On 4/04/07, tle wrote:
> I teach in a small town (not the metro areas) so my
> experience isn't the norm. The teaching environment in my
> area is alright, though by far not the best system I have
> taught in. I was certified in California (and a product of
> California schools myself) and have taught in New Mexico,
> Texas and Colorado. This system seems the most backward in
> attitude and achievement. It may be because it is a smaller
> system, but they have quite a lot of turnover both
> administrative and teachers.
>
> The evaluation system they have implemented in this system
is
> very difficult to feel positive about. I had always had
> strong evaluations in all previous systems, and yet in this
> one, I often feel that they don't appreciate the challenges
> and strengths of their staff. Sometimes it feels like they
> have to knock you down so they have something to say
> you "developed" in later. They are not using performance or
> merit pay in this area yet. The district does pay insurance,
> but the pay overall is very low (but again I'm in a small
> district).
>
> I hope this is some help.
> On 4/01/07, Jeffrey wrote:
>> I am looking to relocate to Colorado, from California, and
>> I am trying to get a feel for the teaching environment, as
>> well as the market. From the little web research that I
>> have done, it doesn't look promising
>>
>> Can anyone please help me with a dose of what the reality
>> is like for teachers in Colorado? For instance, how do
>> you pay your health insurance costs? From the district
>> information that I have looked at, your insurance costs
>> are quite high, to say the least. How many districts are
>> using perfomance-based, or merit pay? Coming from CA,
>> where that idea was recently shot down by voters, it
>> appears that several districts are using it. How do you
>> like it? Does it destroy the collaborative environment
>> among teaching colleagues? I thank you all for your time,
>> and for any tips or suggestions. Thank you.