My wife and I left Wisconsin (Coulee Region) after teaching
there for 20 years. Tired of the turmoil, unions, etc.
Watched the state union work to keep a self-admitted
pedophile in his position and he eventually became union
president. Definitely knew then that it was time to go.
After researching Georgia for a year, we settled on Gwinnett
County Georgia (gcps). Pay is 38k-82k, excellent benefits,
district has built 32 new schools in the last four years,
and all were paid for prior to being built. No bonds, no
referendums, etc. 2007 Newsweek selected 4 Wisconsin high
schools on their top schools list for the STATE of
Wisconsin. Our DISTRICT had 6 on the list. We hire 1400
new teachers every year due to increasing enrollments.
Weather is fantastic, cost of living is half of what it was
in WI (our taxes there were $4000, here they are $1700 and
our house here is twice what our house in WI was). My son
was ranked 3-5 in his high school class in WI, here he is
64th and his grade point is straight A with three AP
classes. Unions are optional, but over 80% do not join. It
is kind of funny, we paid $20,000 in union dues in WI and we
moved to a state with virtually no union organization and we
get a 30% pay raise. Interesting??
My school has many teachers from New York, Iowa, Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, etc. I talked to a
principal not too long ago, and he said if they hired every
Georgia graduate in every field, they wouldn't have enough
teachers to fill half the positions that are open. I will
earn twice the retirement in ten years here compared to what
I earned in Wisconsin in 20 years. We can be in the
mountains in 45 minutes, the ocean in 3 hours, watch a
broadway show in Atlanta with a 30 minute drive, or go to
the Oconee National Forest 30 minutes the other way.
Just bought the family farm by Mauston WI with the big pay
raise we got here, but we ONLY go there in the summer!!!
(We've had enough of Jan/Feb/Mar)
Also, Southern Hospitality is NOT a myth!! Let me know if
I can answer any questions you have or check out gcps.com.
Mark
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