ESL Jobs Forum

[ranran]

I get the impression that teaching in Memphis is pretty bad...but I am wondering if teaching ESL in Memphis would be as bad?
If anyone has info as to what the classes and students are like, I would love to hear from you.
Also, if anyone lives in the area, can you tell me where is a good place to raise a family that is within commutIng distance, has decent housing and low crime?

Thanks in advance!
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Randall Pennington

[Lexicon]

50K to teach ESL ANYWHERE is amazing pay. Plus, 50K as a teacher is good pay in Tennessee, plus Memphis is a great city and the cost of living is low. Some school systems pay more, but the cost to live in those locations is more. i know some people in Philly who make 90K teaching HS, but can barely afford to live in the area. 50K in memphis would go far.

Also, memphis schools may be considered bad, but that's just a bunch of racists talking! Oooh there are black people there...run run run!

Teaching in a city will always have different dynamics than teaching in the middle of some suburban area. But, you will be teaching non-english speakers, maybe even non-Americans, so what does it matter if it's in a city or not?

[ranran]

Lex, thanks for your reply.

I suppose that you haven't done the fact gathering I have on Memphis, so what concerns me most is that Memphis has the 7th highest crime rate in the USA. All that I read from people teaching there is that it is NOT a good place to be, and perhaps the worst in Tennessee.
Don't turn it into a racial issue- it isn't.

50K+ should go further in that part of the country, from what I have gathered....but what concerns me is the quality of life/safety issues, education for my kids, commuting times, etc...

I live in a very safe place now and my salary is in th 40K range with free tuition added for my kids (this is an international school) and the free tuition perk bumps me up into the 60K range. I would have to disagree with you on 50K being a great salary. It is OK to good, but not great. I have 20+ years teaching experience and hold a Ph.D. so my pay level would be substantially higher than many teachers in the public school system.

Cost and quality of living are the trade off where I am, however. Hence, I am looking for a stateside job.

Can you have some of your friends who teach there contribute to the forum?
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Randall Pennington

[Lexicon]

Sorry if it came off as bad. I was mainly trying to point out that most people who talk about bigger cities in the south having bad educational systems are talking about race.

As for Memphis having a high crime rate, these numbers are usually very skewed. I lived in New Orleans for several years, which for many years had the highest per-capita crime rate. The problem is iin how these numbers are calculated.

In NO for example, the city is comprised of several municipalities that cross parish (county) lines. So before Katrina, the population for New Orleans was around 1.5 million. Now, normally New Orleans has over 100,000 tourists in town on any given day. The thing is that the people who were calculating crime rates were taking the area's total number of crimes, most of which involved the 100K tourists, and dividing that number by the population of only the municipality of New Orleans (at the time around 600,000). So it showed a super high crime rate. Living there though, i can tell you that crime was no worse than most other places in the US, and perhaps better than some.

Memphis is a bit the same. Fewer tourists, but many still. And, the actual city of Memphis is only one small part of the metro area. So the rates might not be truely reflective of the quality of life there.


Now, if you're teaching abroad and looking to make a decent living in the US doing ESL, why are you even considering public schools?

Most major state universities in the US have ESL departments. Most of them are dying for staff and people to run the departments. Mainly they can't fill their positions because they require masters or PhDs for their positions. But, if you have one, and have ESL experience, this is the way to go.

I know LA Tech in Ruston Louisiana was looking for someone (low crime, university town, close to 2 decent sized cities). Also LSU, and some of the universities in Houston, San Antonio and several other places. Just try some google searches.

You can also try linguistlist.org

[ranran]

Lex, thanks again for your reply and the link.

The university route is one I haven't written off yet. I taught in Japanese universities for many years before the present job.

While there are a number of university jobs in the US, a lot of them are not tenure track jobs. Further, the pay, on average, is actually at a level that makes public school jobs salary more attractive.

Another thing about uni jobs is they often will not fund your research, but ask you to get grants for research. While I have gotten a grant before, it was for a relatively small amount. Most universities want the big dollar grants. This is an added pressure I don't care to be put under.

As far as place to live in the US, I really don't want to be in the deep south...I am partial to cooler, less humid weather. I guess I could change my tune if the conditions were right!
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Randall Pennington

[Lexicon]

Here's a thought:

have you thought about teaching for the Army? They have ESL programs, as well as other programs, and pay on a govt scale which accounts for pro experience and education.

Try searching through the federal job listings

[ranran]

Lex, yes I have considered the DOD jobs.

According to all I have heard (a former high school classmate has been teaching in the DOD for nearly 20 years) it is very hard to get your foot in the door of these jobs. Many of the DOD job ads specify that they only want teachers that are already working for the DOD.

I am in need of certification prior to applying for those. I am going to take the Praxis this year so I can get a foot in the door of jobs that require certification, like the DOD.

The Memphis jobs will allow you to pursue certification while working in the system as they will give you a provisional license, so this is one attraction for me to the Memphis job. However, I can still take the Praxis exams overseas, so being Stateside is not a requisite.

Really, there aren't too many options I haven't already checked into
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Randall Pennington

[maiku]

Ranran, did you say that you have taught ESL in Japan? Do you also speak Japanese? I am a memphian, and I am about to marry a woman from Tokyo with very little english background. If you do decide to come to Memphis and have had experience with Japanese, i think my fiance would be better off learning from someone who has had exposure to Japanese culture. Please keep me posted if you come to memphis... I suspect my fiance will be here in the states in about 2 months. Thanks.
-mike salopek

[maiku]

sorry for the double post.. I thought I better chime in on topic as well as a Memphian, perhaps I can help answer some questions for you. It is true that 50k will go a LONG way here. I make 35K, and my daughter is in private school, we live in nice neighborhood in suburbs that has VERY LOW crime rate. I have many friends that teach, both in the city and in shelby county. Most enjoy it here a great deal. I am a product of the shelby county education system, so it is different than city proper, but there are many good schools within the city for children like Grahamwood elementary, or white station high school. There are also many very affordable private schools in the area. On 50k though, here are many areas you could easily move to close enough to teach in memphis and get your kids in county school system. Just a thought. I love Memphis.. as a former california native, i feel like I have a much more fulfilled life and comfortable life than I ever could out west. Hope this helps.
-mike

[Muu]

Memphis the city itself does have a high crime rate, but as long as you're living in the suburbs I doubt it'll be a major problem (though there have been some significant cases near where I live). After living here for a few years, the only thing that really bothers me still is the absolutely horrid driving habit of its inhabitants.

btw, if you are indeed coming to memphis, and fluent in Japanese, I'd like to know where you'll be teaching at as well. I work for a Japanese company with an office in Memphis, and incoming families would definitely appreciate any information on a possibly much better teacher.

[amauwong]

Hey Ran---

I live in a Memphis area suburb and would like to add a couple of resources to your list. Check out the website www.greatschools.net I think it is at dot net instead of dot com. It lists the school districts and school performances on a 1-10 scale. This is based on the TCAPscores, Tennessee's high stakes testing scores. It even breaks down scores by ethnicity and special needs. ESL is included.

You will find that Memphis City Schools rank a whopping 3 out of 10. But nearby schools fall under the umbrella of Shelby County Schools, and some particular parts of that district rank a 9 or 10, including Bartlett, Lakeland, Arlington, and Collierville. I have taught ESL all over, both domestically and abroad, and I have children in public schools here as well. I feel generally safe where I live, but I know what areas to leave before dark for safety. That said, to be fair, I think all cities have those areas.

You have to know the zones of the schools you are looking at. You could easily live in one of the suburbs listed above, and not have problems, still with a fairly low cost of living. Everywhere in Memphis can be easily accessed within a half hour unless traffic is bad.

I can't say whether or not the money is worth it. I live here and I am still debating whether or not to take a job in that district. There was a 9 year old shot just yesterday outside his home by accidental stray bullet while groups were struggling with each other. It was before lunch. That got my attention. But that is only one area, there are charter or "optional" schools for the particulary gifted, and there may be a need there.

If not, you might look into the surrounding areas. Good luck to ya. I think Memphis in the larger sense is fairly common in it's risk to benefit ratio. The urban center struggles, though, worse than anywhere I have ever been, and I am a Louisiana native where we make our own rules as we go.

(FYI, I got my degree from Louisiana Tech University where a job is available at teh college level. You should know that there is a unique student exchange every quarter from Japan, and they let the ESL training students work with them. You would have strong credentials there. Ruth Schimpf ran the program for years and has since retired. She was not a PhD. I believe Dr. Lewis is overseeing the department now.)

Take care and happy teaching. Si o nara.!