Not Fair To New York Teachers!

[Mrs. RTB]

It is unfair for fellows teaching opportunities to be given to out-of-state residents. There are lots of qualified New York residents that could use the opportunity.

Employing non-residents as fellow teachers has been unsuccessful. Once non-residents have completed the program and fulfill their contractual agreement, they quit and go back to their state to teach.



Not FAIR! to our students and us.

[Little3Dee]

It's not really fair to generalize like that. Not all out of state teachers leave after the 1st year. We just moved from CA to PA and I think it is fair to give the teaching position to the best candidate, even if it's an out of state resident. You yourself may think of moving out of state one day and if you did would it be fair that you couldn't find work because you were new to the state? One of the pros of teaching is that you can work just about anywhere!

[MrsR]

After speaking with my local BOCES hiring person, she informed me that there are over 300 applicants for every open position in New York state (this includes people with NYS certification that are teaching out of state though)...but isn't that crazy?? Everyone has to do something to make themselves stick out from the crowd!!!

[NJ Teacher]

There has been an over-abundance of teachers in New York state since I graduated in 1976. At the time, I was lucky to find a one year replacement position that turned into a permanent one in a small K-12 district in a rural area. I left after 12 years because the salary was too low for a New Jersey opportunity. I was originally from New York state and went to college there. I think that they do try to give the jobs to the best qualified candidates, not by geography. People relocate all the time.

[orlandoteacher]

Look around a bit and you will find an overabundance of teachers in every state. That's why they are coming in the first place! Teachers who stay in the profession even with all the stress, are looking for a better quality position. If your state has them, they are coming your way. :)

[hassell]

We are needing teachers in Tennessee. Not enough to fill the open postitions. At least, not enough qualified applicants.

[Yiyang]

Tennessee? That's interesting. Let me tell my friends. Most of my Chinese friends at UTK are in hard science dept and they are curious about "Is it easy to find a job after graduate from education college?"

Besides, I see Americans are so mobile. They move from one state to another at ease. Looking back to my time in 1994 (after I finished my under), I had to come back to the place I grow up to teach. No choice. Everyone did. That's government policy. It was a miracle to move to other state to find a job. Such policy turned loose later though.

[Chef Dave]

It is unfair for fellows teaching opportunities to be given to out-of-state residents. There are lots of qualified New York residents that could use the opportunity.


School districts aren't interested in "fair."

School districts are primarily interested in hiring the best qualified person for a given job.

I was recently hired to work as high school chef instructor in Arizona. I was recruited in Pennsylvania.

Were there local applicants for my job? Yes.

Were they better qualified than me? Evidently not, because they weren't hired.

Do I have any plans to teach for a year and then head on home? No. My home is now in Arizona. I literally purchased a home prior to moving here.

As Little3Dee suggested, you have to be careful about generalizations.

Do some out-of-state applicants move to New York only to leave one or two years down the road? Sure.

I daresay there are also New York residents who have done the same thing.

In the end, what does any of this matter as long as the person who was hired does his or her best during the school year?

[Boxcar]

I think that for any job there are many applicants. Why should teaching be any different?

I know that in Chicago to work in a public school you have to live in the city. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I don't know.

[Chef Dave]

Tennessee? That's interesting. Let me tell my friends. Most of my Chinese friends at UTK are in hard science dept and they are curious about "Is it easy to find a job after graduate from education college?"

Most large cities in the United States have vacancies for teachers. Science teachers are in especially short supply.

If you look on line, you'll find vacancies in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Houston, and Pittsburgh to name but a few.

If your friends are foreign nationals, my guess is that they're here in the U.S. on student visas. By law, they cannot work in the U.S. under a student visa and would literally have to leave the country and apply at a U.S. Consulate for an O-1 visa (Extraordinary ability in Sciences, Arts, Education, Business, or Athletics).

Some school districts are so desperate for teachers that they'd help with visa applications. Other districts won't do this.