Job prospects in special ed/teaching outside NYC

amother

Mistyrose

Sun, May 01 2016, 9:51 pm

So ready to move on from NYC but worried about leaving my relative job security. I am highly interested in Philadelphia or the greater Philadelphia area, and also somewhat considering some NJ cities like Passiac and others (though I don't see myself commuting from there to NYC. DH might but I prefer to work more locally to where I live.) I also toy with ideas farther away like Cleveland or the greater DC area (not DC itself but DH has been exploring job options nearby that would lend themselves to living in Maryland or possibly Virginia. Maybe Bethesda or Silver Spring or something.) Basically we're still stuck in the early stages of the hunt but I'm starting to ~~worry~~ think about what my job prospects might look like elsewhere.

I am in special ed and I mostly do SEIT and "P3" (for those outside NY this is special ed support provided to kids with mild disabilities who are in mainstream schools, either in a resource room type of setup or by going into their classrooms and helping them there, or some combination.)

Depending on things like going through an agency and how many students per group, this pays quite well by the hour. Generally done by the hour, no benefits/salary/days off. But very flexible. Hours can often be changed even day to day if you have a home situation or appointment, the kids are in a mainstream school so worst case scenario if you can't come you don't need a substitute - they just stay in their regular classroom. You're almost like your own boss - if you do have a boss they're generally not breathing down your neck. And the hours are also flexible in that you can decide how many you want to take on at any given time. You can do mornings, afternoons, both; full time, part time, 10 hours, 20 hours, etc.

It has its ups and downs but it meets my personal needs better than any other job prospect that I know of. I am not able to work full time for personal reasons and the flexibility suits me well because I have young children whose needs can vary and DH is not very available. I also need a job that is not too stressful. I take myself seriously enough but I have a hard time balancing life if there's too much pressure coming from the work end.

I'm not glued to the idea of working in that type of setting (resource room type) but I DO want to aim for a similar setup in terms of flexible part time hours, low stress, jobs fairly readily available, decent pay (relative to cost of living, I guess)...

What's the scene like beyond NYC?

shaimac1

Mon, May 02 2016, 7:27 pm

I would advise you contacting the communities in Philly that you are interested in directly. A lot of great OOT communities can be found via the OU Community and Relocation Fair website at https://www.ou.org/fair/communities/. Also realize in a lot of OOT communities if you husband is a professional and can make a decent salary you may not have to work since the cost of living OOT is so much less! Good luck! Also feel free to PM with more questions!