Possible Relocation to Chicago

KatyandAlex

My DH and I are looking to relocate to Chicago. We just spent the weekend looking for places and have some strong leads. My main concern is work. I am currently an elementary school teacher. How is the job market for teachers? Is there any tips you can give me on finding a teaching job? I am willing to work anywhere and even in private schools.

 TIA

Katy

raeyn

I am also an elementary teacher looking for work. I won't lie -- it's not easy right now. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is planning to lay off 3200 teachers before the fall, so even teachers who are employed are fearing for their jobs. If you're willing to work in a Catholic school you will probably have more luck, but you should definitely start applying soon because they tend to hire earlier than CPS. Do you have special ed approval? Are you endorsed in anything? Do you speak Spanish, Urdu, or Polish? Any of those skills would drastically improve your chances.

calex33

Things are rough right now for people looking for a teaching job.  I teach on the North Shore and even in my "affluent" district, jobs are being cut.  All of our non-tenured teachers have been RIFed and I'm not sure how many will be hired back.  I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a District in the entire state that isn't making some sort of cuts.  Jobs in education are not nearly as plentiful as they use to be.  As pp stated, if you have specialty certifications/endorsements, your marketability will definitely be greater.  Good luck!

KatyandAlex

Thanks ladies!

I figured as much. The teaching jobs are difficult to find everywhere. I do speak Spanish and in FL I am endorsed for ESOL. Would recommend any suburb school district I should look at?

 

Katy

JennyQ1985

Things are pretty bad statewide for schools, I really don't know of any suburbs within the Chicagoland area that are ok atm.

mbs79

I'm currently a CPS teacher.  If I were you, I would look into an education related field if you're moving to Chicago. The system isn't getting any better.  As PP mentioned, one of the proposals to cut debt is to cut teachers.  Hopefully, they won't be able to do so based on our current contract.  Schools in the city would be looking at cutting around 6 teachers per school.  Unfortunately, the problem only seems to be getting worse and our federal government isn't doing much about it.

Anyways, my advice is to use your experience to get a job with a local university or tutoring service.  Both Huntington Learning Centers and Kaplan are hiring educators for administrative positions.  You could always try to get in the classroom once the system is overhauled in the, hopefully, near future.  Hope that helps.  Sorry to be a Debbie Downer!

KatyandAlex

Thank you!

 

I have been looking at many other jobs in education, but nothing is biting. I have just been getting a little frustrated with my job hunt overall. Thanks for the advice and the help.

 

Katy

BBColt78

Hi,

I teach in the suburbs and we have it bad too. I'm in a rather affluent suburb, and we RIFed teachers as well. 

I don't know if you know, but the way Illinois funds education is different than most. Most of our money comes from property taxes (local to the district) as the state is second to last in eduction funding. So, right now, we really need the state to pull us out of the mess. The only way seems to be an income tax increase. I agree with PPs, you may want to look at related fields.

Also, if you have more education than a bachelor's, you're really going to have a hard time. Districts just can't afford it.

Good luck to you guys! We'd love to have you here, it's a great city!