On 5/16/08, T. Strout wrote:
>I'm unsure about whether my
> daughter and I should relocate to Detroit with him for
> these two years, since I would be the only one working and
> providing for the family. Could I get info on the average
> five year teacher salary in Detroit?
Several things. If you read through this chatboard, you'll
see that Michigan's economy is in the toilet, has been for a
long time, and isn't coming out of that toilet anytime soon.
Jobs, of any kind, are very hard to come by in Michigan.
Coming from Louisianna, which I've heard has a big teacher
shortage for a number of reasons, you might be used to a very
different job market. 80 percent of our education grads last
year didn't get jobs in education, in MI, last year. Thats
from the Detroit Free Press in a article they did last fall.
Its been that way for awhile, and it'll be that way this year
and for the forseeable future.
Many districts are laying off, and not doing much hiring at
all, if any. The only hiring going on is with Charter
schools. Charters can not be nice to work for. However, and
please don't take offense to this, but coming from a state
with lower average teacher pay than MI public schools, you
might not be as shocked by Charter school pay and work
conditions as someone coming from a MI public school.
Still, odds are greatly stacked against you getting a job,
especially for this year. You'd have to start your
application process for your MI certificate, which will take
at least a month or more. Since there are so many teachers
applying for jobs with their certificate in hand, its very
unlikely that a district would bother with someone from out of
state whose certificate is not guaranteed. Thay'd say "what
if she doesn't get approved? Why waste the time and take the
risk when we've got five hundred other resumes to choose
from." Its a very negative job market in MI, trust me.
Also, do not count on your experience being fully credited on
the salary scale, if you do get a job. The market being what
it is, most districts can screw you on that and they know
you'll take the job anyway. If you don't, they have many
others waiting in line for the job. In fact, some districts
like Rochester don't ever give credit for experience out of
the district, its just their policy.
My advice, stay where you are if you want/need to work. Most
teachers are having to move away to find a job.
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