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DODD Teachers Chatboard

Is it still worth it?

by aktionjaq

Apr 7

I started looking into DoDEA when I first got my teaching certificate 9 years ago, but because I already had a BA, I did the alternative teaching route to get it. I can say that I am one of the one's who has benefitted from the policy change that took place earlier this year. Over the past 10 days, I've received 11 referrals and 1 interview invite ...See More

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haha No problem. You can put in/update an application on EAS at any time. Sooner is usually better so that you can work through any bugs and/or supply any further information that they might require.

Apr 13

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intrepidtravelr Please also be very mindful of the healthcare situation where you may end up. Things have gotten a lot worse for civilians in many areas overseas, and it's unnerving feeling like you can't get quality emergency care if needed, at a minimum, let alone ongoing specialist care.

Apr 16

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HOR

by ecd5

Jan 4

Does my HOR remain the same? I have not had a break in service but have changed from teacher/ISS/teacher positions. I started overseas, moved stateside as an ISS, moved to a second stateside location as a teacher, and now would like to go back overseas as a teacher. Would my HOR change to my current location stateside even though it is not my HOR o...See More

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ecd5 I'm filling out the DD1616 and it asks for my "actual residence at time of appointment (to be determined at time of initial agreement)." And since this is not my initial appointment, I am putting the residence when I first was hired. The form also asks for last PDS location. The notes below on the form say that I will be eligible for return travel ...See More

Mar 1

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Dr. Ali Fant I argued back and forth with CHRA on my HOR. My HOR is Fairbanks Ak, but I could not get back there with my car during the pandemic. Not wishing to leave my vehicle behind in the Lower 48 and fly, I took a teaching position in the extremely remote Colville National Forest US Forest School. It was 5 hours (one way) to the nearest military or even sm...See More

Mar 14

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Stateside Question

by Jay

Mar 3

Sorry if I posted this before, as I did not see if it went through. So for stateside, there is no housing allowance at all but I think I read the pay is higher for stateside because there is no housing allowance. I am wondering how they determine what your pay is and if the stateside jobs are GS jobs.

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haha Yes, that is kind of a sore spot. The referral means that you are on a list sent to or pulled by a principal and may be contacted for an interview. So potentially good news, but it is hard to know exactly how good. Were there 5 people on that list or 25+?

Also, they often will not communicate that you were unsuccessful in being considered...See More

Mar 5

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Dr. Ali Fant The last two times I worked for DoDEA, I was never interviewed for the job I was eventually hired for. I asked my previous DoDEA Principal and he said schools could draw from newly generated referral lists repeatedly until they felt they had a winner. Years ago, I learned that DoDEA generated lists were ordered from the candidates with the most cer...See More

Mar 14

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Pay scale

by Jay

Feb 11

So I am thinking about applying for some schools overseas, more specifically, Japan. My question is, I was trying to find a pay scale rate for the DODEA and I could not find one. I don't want to apply for a job over there and not make enough to survive or be totally broke the entire time. Any insight would be helpful

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haha You still receive/bank it in the short term. After the first year (and then every two years), you are supposed to reconcile your estimated expenses (which you submit when you initiate your LQA at a new location) against your actual expenses (and have to submit the receipts). You will then get a debt letter if you over-estimated your expenses or a r...See More

Feb 28

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Dr. Ali Fant HaHa is correct. I am a single person living in a 3 bedroom, kitchen, dining room, bathroom and laundry room. I took the first hourse I could get after waiting months and paying for my hotel room on base. Turns out that the government only provides reimbursement for about 60 days at the base LTF. I placed plastic sheeting over the stairs to the sec...See More

Mar 14

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Unemployed to US Forest Service School to DoDEA Japan

by Dr. Ali Fant

Mar 14

Recently had a in-person request about my employment path -- folks do read chat posts years into the past. I was unemployed -- save as a Toilet Paper Checkperson at a Texas Walmart. The store wanted a friendly face to stop cutomers buying more than 1 package of TP per trip. An USAJOBS search agent led to a job possibility with the US Department of ...See MoreRecently had a in-person request about my employment path -- folks do read chat posts years into the past. I was unemployed -- save as a Toilet Paper Checkperson at a Texas Walmart. The store wanted a friendly face to stop cutomers buying more than 1 package of TP per trip. An USAJOBS search agent led to a job possibility with the US Department of Agriculture's USFS. Perhaps, the government hired me because of this unusual job.

I was hired by an US Forest Service School in the Coville National Forest to train 16-21 year olds "kids" in basic high school courses helping them certify as smoke-jumpers and forest fire fighters. After six months, DoDEA Japan offered me a Middle School position without an interview in Iwakuni Japan.

I am one of a few DoDEA teachers receiving both a Social Security Pension, FERS pension, and regular salary. I am not the oldest teacher in my school. I learned from older teachers, that you pay monthly into SS and FERS, The SS Pension is adjusted by your higher recent earnings each October. Your FERS pension is recalculated after five years of FERS contributions.

I asked for my FERS pension before being hired by the US Forest Service. You have to certify you are not a federal employee in order to start the FERS -- which takes six months to complete. I used my FERS lump sum to later purchase my ticket to Japan to avoid sardine class during the pandemic. I received 771 for the airline flight from SATO and I paid the remaining 10K from my FERS lump sum. I was given a special letter in addition to my PCS orders to allow me to travel internationally during CoVID.

Arriving in Japan, I had a 30 day ROM -- two weeks in Yokota and 2 weeks in Iwakuni. The quarantine dropped to 2 weeks the day after I arrived in Japan.

I brought a month's supply of Mountain House Freeze Dry food in case I would not be allowed to leave my quarantine. The US Forest Service Quarantine was much worst as students had to stay inside their rooms all day with only a one hour walk outside with a monitoring adult. All teaching was virtual using Google Classroom. On the military bases, other people had to bring food to your hotel door and quickly walk away after knocking on your door. Very nerve wracking!

Then I found I was hired at a minimal level and grade because DoDEA had lost all my previous DoDEA job records. I emailed the US Archives and ended up sending copies of all my pay stubs directly to CHRA to prove my previous DoDDS/DoDEA service. The major problem was DoDEA wanted me to provide Proof of my Service from past DoDDS Principals who were long dead. I finally got it sorted out after 12 months, but I resoved to always keep paper copies of all SF-50s. Do not ever select the "paperless" option for SF-50s from the US Government. You will regret it.

Iwakuni is a 250 Grades 6, 7, 8 students school. The denial of health coverage in Japan is a worry and caused some teachers with kids to leave. I enjoy it here as it gets me nearer to South Korea DoDEA than Texas.

Nevertheless, if your are healthy and willing to fly back to the US for health coverage provided by your monthly insurance payment, it is okay. Only teachers with an active duty spouse are allowed to take their kids to the base clinic. The government investigated this issue in 2023 and found it is only a problem for DoDEA Teachers without Active Duty spouses in Japan.

President Biden and his wife visited our base in May 2023. Dr. Jill Biden visited our schools on base while the president was in Hiroshima with other world leaders. But even the president could not resolve the health issue.

Japan is not China, but I continue to prepare myself for licensure as a Chinese Language teacher in Texas, Alaska, and DoDEA. Japan is the first time I got back to Asia since the pandemic blocked all international travel.

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DoDEA Announcement Regarding Teacher Licensing

by uh89

Mar 7

I am a former DoDDS teacher and current applicant for DoDEA and this very important message just appeared in my emailbox that I thought I'd share here as this applies to all outside DoDEA applicants and it is a very important welcome change. Here is the message they just sent out a few minutes ago:

eassystemadministrator@dodea.edu

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haha Thanks. Yes, that is a huge change and will increase the chances of being hired for many people. Basically, they seem to be dropping their course/credit requirements for certification and moving to accepting state certs as the criteria for being "certified" in their eyes. For current teachers it will be interesting to see how that works. Some peopl...See More

Mar 8

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Health Insurance.

by oldpoop85

Mar 6

Just got offered a position in Belgium. According to my reading, health insurance signup is available for first 60 days of employment. How do I make sure I have coverage the minute we touch down in Europe? My stateside retirement health insurance would seem to be of little value in Europe. Any advice please. I could not find a discussion on this ev...See More

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haha Congrats! We loved visiting Belgium (or at least Brugge in particular).

Yes, that is a potential gap that could be costly in some cases. Would your current insurance cover you if you were traveling to Belgium? If not, I believe that some people have taken out travel insurance to cover them for a few months after the move.

Mar 6

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GK Math

by Sancal1

Mar 5

I took the GKT math test and unfortunately did not pass. Could someone please share any resources with me to study? My email is alvaro.sanchez73@yahoo.com. Thank you so much! God bless you.

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