To teach in Tampa?

Question

My husband and I are considering moving to Tampa, FL this summer. We currenly live in Buffalo, NY. He has an excellent opportunity to work on the business end of a construction company, but I am a teacher. We are looking at the Hillsborough County school district (middle and high school) and I would like some feedback about this decision. I've heard some horrible things about the education system in Florida, but have been impressed with the Hillsborough County School District from my research. Are there any excellent schools that are not "urban" type schools? Any suggestions ... positive or negative? Shoule we make the move or am I setting myself up for failure considering where we are from?

In addition, where would be some better places to live in this area?

Thanks for your advice and opinions.

Answer 1

Your answer probably lies in your preferences as a teacher. As someone who is also considering moving to Florida to teach, there are positives and negatives you may or may not see in any particular district. I have talked with people who have taught in Florida, and they say the biggest difference between southern states' schools and northern states' schools is the emphasis on the standardized tests. Those state tests are EVERYTHING to the districts in Florida, and as such are fairly high pressure events for the educators. If you can handle the pressure of these tests, then I'd say you have a pretty nice opportunity. If however, you can't stand the notion of "teaching to the test" well then Florida may not be the best option. It is true that not all your instruction will have to be based on the standardized tests, but as you are evaluated on the results as well, it would be foolish not to take the tests into heavy consideration, if it isn't mandatory already in that district.
As for that particular district, I know nothing on that end, but the better the economics are of the school district, the better off you will be, that's pretty much true anywhere.

Answer 2

I live just south of Tampa--Hillsborough County and Hillsborough isn't a bad BIG CITY to teach, but there are better places nearby.

Their Human Resources site is located at:

http://www.sdhc.k12.fl.us/HumanResources/

Of course this is one teacher's opinion, but consider looking into (in order of preference):
1. Sarasota County
2. Pinellas County
3. Hillsborough County
4. Manatee County

Good Luck....

Answer 3

I don't know about the schools, but I can tell you where you don't want to live. Stay away from New Tampa. The traffic is horrible. You will want to live as near to your jobs as possible.

The real estate people from whatever area you choose will be quick to tell you that it's only a 15 minute drive to downtown. Of course, what they mean is that it's 15 minutes if you drive 80 miles per hour, it's the middle of the night, no other traffic is on the road and you hit every green light. Rush hour traffic heading into and out of downtown from all directions is heavy. But STAY AWAY FROM NEW TAMPA!!!

In fact, the former mayor of Tampa bought a house in New Tampa while he was still the mayor and had to make that drive into downtown each day to work. He only owned that house for a few months before he sold it and moved back closer to downtown.

So, whatever you do, DON'T MOVE TO NEW TAMPA!!!!!

And just in case I haven't been clear, DON'T MOVE TO NEW TAMPA!!!!!