Thread: North to Alaska ... or South to Texas?

And I thought I had a dilemna.


To my way of thinking there are a number of ways to look at this....one is practical, the other is...well...impractical???? Not sure that is the right term.

From a practical standpoint, going to Texas would make more sense. You know the lay of the land (no pun intended here either), know some of the people there and while you would have to deal with NCLB, at least you are familiar with that challenge. Dealing with wolves, subzero temps and wind chills and living in an area accesible solely by plane.....

But from the standpoint of the adventurer (and here I insert the word impractical - my term only), you can really find out what you are made of, get to see another culture up close (as if you haven't seen some already) and become David of the arctic. You could even write a book about your experiences. We all know you have that talent.

Just How eccentric are you????????????

We traveled to Alaska this summer, and I was able to visit with several teachers. They seemed to really enjoy their life. I would have jumped at the chance to teach there at the right stage of my career. However, it would certainly be a major career change. Texas could be an adventure also, with the heat and possibly the distances. Maybe neither one is right for you and the cats. Good luck.

My first thought when you spoke of going to Alaska, was "Are you out of your mind?" and then you wrote about the place only being accessible by float plane and I thought, "Are you COMPLETELY out of your mind???!!" But then, that's me; I hate snow, I hate being cold. So I'm (of course, since I'm completely self-centred) only thinking of what I would do. :wink:

From what I've understood from you and your posts, I think Alaska is calling you. Perhaps the remote village isn't what you had in mind, perhaps less remote is for you and I reckon there will be other jobs opening up more in your timeframe. Given what you've written about Texas and NCLB, I think that's not for you either. Are you aching to leave Pennsylvania right now? or can you wait until the summer? If you can wait, I feel certain that you will find a teaching job that is more perfect than either of the others.

What a decision!!

I dunno....

I I couldn't take the primitive conditions you would have in Alaska. But I'm a weenie that way.

Texas, on the other hand, is so TAKS - driven, that teaching isn't a whole lot of fun in most places, and downright painful in others.
You would have to ask about the testing culture in your particular school & district. Of course, a change in in administration can change the culture overnight. I have yet to see a school become less test-obsessed though.

Third grade is tough in TX too, because that's the first year that students [teachers] are held accountable. Third graders must pass the TAKS to be promoted to 4th grade - no pressure there!

Depending on the situation in TX, I might just wait and see what else opens up in Alaska next year...[/i]

Ah yes ... Texas and the joy of TAKS which used to be TAAS and may now become something else ... as though changing the name of the test will lessen the impact of NCLB at full throttle ...

And I daresay it took all of the top brass in the Department of Education several weeks of intensive round the clock brainstorming to come up with these acronymns. (GRIN)

True - I darely hate having to teach to the test. I'm not sure if I could do this for the 15 or 20 years I have left before retirement ...

On the otherhand, the tough talk that Texas makes over the concept of NCLB is simply that ... tough talk.

Efforts to end social promotion in third grade began fairly recently - in 2003. Third graders are now required to pass the TAKS reading test to go to 4th grade.

But wait ... students have THREE CHANCES to pass a test ... and if they still fail, the school is required to form a placement committee consisting of the classroom teacher, building adminstrator, and parent. If this group agrees that a child merits promotion, the child will be promoted.

So what happened?

Use of the placement committee has created a loophole that is widely inconsistent. In one school district, 81% of the students who failed the TAKS test wound up being promoted to the 4th grade while in another district, only 6% of failing students were promoted. My guess is that schools with weak adminstrators and/or easily intimidated teachers "caved" before angry parents.

The statewide average of third graders being held back was a mere 2.6%. The Texas Department of Education claims this shows the success of the TAKS reading tests while detractors criticize the social promotion loophole.

According to one investigative newspaper, blacks and Hispanics are twice as likely to be retained as whites while Asians are the least likely to be held back.

All told, 8,621 third graders failed the TAKS test standards during the 2003-04 school year. 53.5% were promoted anyway. Only 46.4% (4,003) were retained.

[url]http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/110805dntexpromotion.16a3454f.html[/url]

[url]http://www.clipfile.org/2005/03/12/765/[/url]

Regarding Alaska, the remote village may be too remote. My original plan was to live off the road system on the south coast or possibly the interior of the state. I also want to acquire my own home and to not be dependent upon faculty housing (which is not free as it generally is overseas.)

The original plan called for me to attend a job fair in April and to focus on school districts in my "target area." My backup plan was to apply for certification in Pennsylvania and to consider remaining in this state despite the high level of taxes.

The last full year I spent in Texas as a teacher was very frustrating even though my building administrator gave me high marks on my evaluation. Not only did I not like teaching to the test, but I also hated the entire concept of standardized instruction. My entire grade level wrote lesson plans together and everyone was supposed to teach the exact same lesson, the exact same way with no deviation from the LP. Although my grade level colleagues were certainly competent - they weren't very creative and lesson plans tended to be very basic and boring. (shudder)

On the otherhand ... that was also back when I still had most of my supplemental education supplies which have all long since been given away.

If my cats could talk, they'd probably vote for Pennsylvania or Texas simply because they'd enjoy having the opportunity to go outside. (Pictured below is a cat enclosure I've built on the 2nd floor balcony.) Houses in these two states also tend to be larger than the average house in Alaska due to the lower costs of heating.

Well I didn't get the expected call from Texas. I got an e-mail from the human resource director that basically said welcome back and when can you start?

I was asked to file an on-line application but found that I couldn't do this. Since I'm a former employee, the system wanted to know what my phone number was from the date of my last application six years ago ... supposedly as a routine identity verification.

I don't remember what my old phone number was. That was three moves and two states ago.

I've written to director to explain my inability to complete an on-line application. I also explained that I'm not available until January at the earliest since I'd have to close the inn, expedite closing on the sale of the inn, fly down to Texas, find a realtor, find a house, close on the sale of the house, and return to Pennsylvania to expedite a move.

The district will most likely go with someone else who is better positioned to begin immediate work. That's fine by me.

Some things are simply not meant to be.

If this job in Texas falls through, I'll continue with my plans to attend an April job fair in Anchorage.

I will more than likely not accept a posting to this other Alaskan community. It sounds intriguing but I think it's a bit too rural for me. I would also prefer not to be separated from my cats.

Sounnds like a smart move, David.

No need to rush into things, particularly when it appears that both Texas and Alaska would very much like to have you.

Isn't it great to be in demand? It's the one thing that seems to counter our not having union representation. Nuts...if we don't like it somewhere, there are other places to go.

I have certainly seen that with my own situation. I reposted my own application, on line, with the state, just to see what would happen. I got five calls in two days from all over the state and this was at the end of September. I'm not overly worried about finding a place to be if I don't like where I am this year.

You don't seem to need to worry either!. :lol:

Originally Posted by billybob

Isn't it great to be in demand? It's the one thing that seems to counter our not having union representation. Nuts...if we don't like it somewhere, there are other places to go.

I wish there was a greater demand for teachers in the Northwest but the economy is still suffering from overfishing, the decline of the timber industry, and the closing of papermills.

I'd stay in Pennsylvania but I really hate all the taxes I have to pay here. I mean great gadzooks ... a COUNTY INCOME TAX. What's up with that?

And as sympathetic I am to teachers wanting more money, I had to silently applaud when a local school district put their foot down and said that they weren't going to increase taxes since property taxes had already been increased for 2 or 3 consecutive years.

The teachers went on strike but I think they're trying to squeeze blood out of a stone.

Texas is comfortable. I like central Texas. I like the Tex-Mex culture and some of the ritziness you find in Houston. I don't much care for NCLB but I've taught in Texas long enough to know how to make the best of a teach to the test environment.

I also know this district. I know it well enough to know which schools I'd accept an assignment at and which schools I wouldn't.

I don't much care for the idea of living on the fringe of Houston. I don't particuarly like cities ... but with cities come trade offs that you don't necessarily have in rural areas - whether it's rural Pennsylvania or rural Alaska.

* housing - there is generally a great deal of housing available in a greater metropolitan area

* access to consumer goods and services are much more extensive in a greater metropolitan area. The high number of goods and services generally result in lower prices due to a competititve market.

* access to taxis. I hate driving to the airport and having to leave my car in short term parking. Taxis or limos with curbside service are much more convenient.

* access to better medical service ... high population density results in more specialists ...

* access to professional firefighters and other first responders. (Rural areas rely on volunteers who may or may not be able to respond when the call is made. The level of training among professional firefighters is also higher than among the volunteers.

(sigh)

It will be interesting to see what happens.

North to Alaska or south to Texas?

We'll see.

If I was in the position, I'd love to give Alaska a try. I've already worked in Houston (Spring Branch). BAH HUMBUG on that.