How is the pay for elementary education teachers in Florida? How is the market? What training do you need?

Question

Im going thru the certification program in Ct but maybe moving to florida. What kind of things can I expect to get certified over there. I have a bachelors degree in communications. How is the pay? I know its not as high as in Ct? I would be moving to South Florida.Any help wpuld be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

I am a teacher in So Florida- There is incredible demand, the pay sucks compared to the cost of living.
http://teachinflorida.org/
This is a website put out by the Florida Department of Education. To teach in Elementary (K-6) you have to have an El Ed certification. There is "reciprocity" with many states, which means that your certification in CT will be accepted here, you will only have to pay the $54 or so to apply for the certificate. You can also visit any county school district website for salary schedules and job openings. The school districts are the counties down here. A few that pay particularly well are Collier, Lee, Palm Beach, Sarasota and Broward- that I know of. Collier is having a recruitment fair sometime soon. (collier.k12.fl.us) If you want to get to other districts, replace the name "collier" with the name of the county you are interest in (ex) lee.k12.fl.us or broward.k12.fl.us)
A word of advice- teaching in Florida is certainly very rewarding- but it is VERY DIFFERENT from teaching up north. (I am from upstate NY). For one thing, you come to a County district, with as many as 100,000 students. Also, the cost of living here is astronomical- for instance, in Collier and Lee counties, the average price of a 3 BR, 2BATH home is somewhere above $350,000. The district officials will make you feel like a star and woo you to work here and make it sound like you are the answer to all their problems, which in many cases is true. However, you need to weigh the pros and cons, like the cost of living. I saw at least a dozen teachers that I knew at my school alone have to pick up and move back half way through the year because they could not afford to live here. Be wary of when they talk about their "affordable housing plans"- these are plans to build dormatories on the school campuses for teachers- sometime in the next 10 yrs.
I love teaching here, I don't want to scare anyone away because we need good teachers. I just don't like the way that recruited teachers don't get the whole picture when they are recruited. Just be careful. The good thing is that you will be guaranteed a job, and, like I said, it is very rewarding. I would love to set up a netwroking place for current teachers to meet teachers who want to move here. Feel free to email me with questions. I work in Collier County, which is the Naples area. I have also worked in Lee County, the Fort Myers area. I know alot of people and how to find out information for you. Good luck in your search!

Answer 2

There is a HUGE demand for teachers in South Florida. They have even set up mentoring plans to get teachers certified. I recently moved from West Palm Beach to Georgia. I believe that the pay is better in Palm Beach County than in Broward or Miami/Dade. Be prepared for sticker shock when it comes to housing and the cost of living in S. Fla. Home Owners Insurance, Car Insurance, Taxes are all through the roof in the past few years. Oh, I have a generator for sale if a hurricane knocks out your power....... good luck getting gas to run it though.

Answer 3

My brother is an elementary school teacher and my father teaches middle school. i've taught kids in 3rd, 6th and 8th grade myself, so I can understand your guy's dilemma, Fereshte. I don't think that financial incentives would work, however. I believe that the problem is much closer to the gender-identity of the position. Largely, teaching young children is made an attractive position to women, who since they were little have been offered dolls and toys which they are "mommy" or "teacher" to. In college early childhood education classes are flooded with coeds, which believe it or not can be intimidating to guys in school. Add to this that the workplace is largely dominated by women and it isn't hard to see how men, who are used to being in the majority, might feel uncomfortable going into that profession. In my brother's situation, he works at a private school that has a 60/40 female/male teacher population, due to the hiring practices and the particular situation of the school. My father has a similar ratio in his Junior high, and claims that over his 35+ years teaching that the ratio has slowly slipped more towards women, where in his younger days men seemed dominant there. I think that the occupation itself needs to be promoted to boys as something positive. Having teenagers active in church or community youth leagues, helping to guide and teach younger children may also help. But I think that as a whole, a shift in the perception of the vocation has to be made. Having been a woman in the military, you probably understand this better than anyone: How has the military shifted it's identity to try and encourage women to join? How has it succeeded and failed?

Answer 4

I'm not sure what the pay is, however, I know they are desperate for teachers there. So desperate in fact that they are hiring teacher's without certification w/ just a bachelors degree. (However, I would double check that info before you drop out of your certification program, it was information that was passed to me from my cousin and aunt who both teach down there). I'm presently going though school to become a teacher as well, and was considering going to Florida too, since teaching jobs are scarce by me.

Answer 5

I am a teacher in Michigan. I thought about teaching in Florida about 15 years ago. So I went on numerous interviews and received two offers, one of them in Miami. At that time, I would have taken about a 60% pay cut over what I was making in Michigan. The cost of living in Florida is much less than up north, but not that much! When I said that to the interviewer, he said, "Well, we offer you the sunshine." I said, "Well, tell the sunshine to pay my house payment!"
Things may have changed since then. But, generally, teaching jobs up north pay better.
Good Luck!

Answer 6

They have a good market, and good pay. My friend just graduated with a degree in elementary ed and she got several job offers from Florida. Don't know the exact pay but I know she was really happy with the offer.

Answer 7

You may wish to go to salary.com and find out.

Answer 8

visit their university websites and email professors