Post: Moving from NM
Posted by Nguyen on 9/06/08
Hi!
I've been reading the posts on this site and the news and
I was wondering if anyone could shed a little light on my
situation. I have 2 1/2 years of experience teaching, a
Masters in Elementary Ed., TESOL endorsement, Bilingual
Spanish Endorsement and Mondern & Classical Languages
Endorsement in the state of New Mexico. I also speak
Mandarin Chinese and some Vietnamese, but New Mexico
doesn't licence bilingual for those languages.
I have family and a step-son in Minnesota and my husband
and I are considering moving there to be closer to them.
But, I am our primary income and we don't want to move if
the situation for teachers is really as bad as it sounds.
We have great schools in Rio Rancho and the market for
bilingual teachers is fantastic. When I was first
endorsed I found schools selling themselves to me rather
than vice versa and am now at a school I love and I have a
lot of freedom to chose the curriculum I like and teach
the way I want. My son gets art and music every week as
well as PE and open check out in the school library
daily. We have smartboards, teacher laptops and
projectors in every classroom. My firstgraders visit the
computer lab 2x a week to publish their writing and
content for their class website. If we stay, my son will
go to a beautiful high school and attend the state
university free, provided he keeps his grades up.
I've heard the situation is not so great in the Twin
Cities. How much of that is true, and how much is just
bad press? Is there a market for bilingual teachers? How
much are teachers paid? How are the benefits? I couldn't
find the salary schedule at all on the St. Paul Public
Schools website. I could for Minneapolis, but it didn't
mention a stipend for TESOL or Bilingual. Is TESOL an
endorsement there like it is here or a seperate degree?
From what I'm reading it looks different somehow.
Thank you SO MUCH for any information you can offer!!!
Posts on this thread, including this one
- Moving from NM, 9/06/08, by Nguyen.
