Teacher thinking about moving to Cleveland.?

Question

Hi,
I am currently a teacher in Las Vegas and I am considering moving to Cleveland. How is the availability of teaching positions in Cleveland? How is the Cleveland school district? Thanks.

Answer 1

I don't know about Cleveland, but considering that Las Vegas still needs 400 school teachers this year, I'd think you'd have a better salary and benefits package if you stayed in Vegas.

Answer 2

Frankly, I know very little about the availabilty of teaching positions, but I know quite a bit about the Cleveland-area schools. I grew up in the area, where I attended public schools k-8 in the suburbs. I just graduated from college, and now work in development (not education) for the private high school I attended.

The city of Cleveland and its school district is actually pretty small for a central city (both in land area and population). Less than 20% of the Cleveland Metro population lives within city limits. Cleveland is very metropolitan and has rings of suburbs where most people live, especially middle class people. So, while Cleveland city schools aren't very good, it is not reflective of public education in the region on an aggregate level.

Some of the large inner-ring suburbs bordering Cleveland include Parma, Lakewood, Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights. In any other metro-area, these suburbs would have been annexed by the central city long ago. The fact that these suburbs are not a part of Cleveland proper, skew the statistics and make "Cleveland" look worse off than it actually is. Despite what people say about the economy, Cuyahoga County is the wealthiest in the state, and one of the wealthiest in the country. Cost of living is also relatively low.

In fact, there are over fifty seperate municipalities in Cuyahoga County alone. On the west side, upper-middle class suburbs such as Bay Village, Rocky River, Westlake and Avon Lake have very desirable public school systems. On the east side, upper-middle class suburbs such as Beachwood, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Solon, Orange and Chagrin Falls have very desirable public school systems.

Cleveland also has a lot of private schools. There are many Catholic schools throughout the area and a handful of elite private schools (mostly on the east side); some even offer boarding.

I am sure it would not be difficult to find a teaching position somewhere. The Cleveland metro population is nearly 3 million people. But because the area is so fragmented, you may have difficulty finding all the opportunities available in the type of school district you want.

Answer 3

The Cleveland School District is in crisis, and not just financially. I am sure there are available openings, it can be a dangerous job and there is high turnover.

I grew up here...When I was in middle school (a little less the 10 years ago) one teacher was pushed down a flight of stairs and was in a cast...one was punched in the face...one was caught having sex with a student (this made the news)...one was poisoned somehow (I think a student heard her talking about how she had an allergy, put something in her coffee). These are incidents I saw..there were many more rumors.

In high school it wasn't so bad, there was a teacher across the hall from me in one class who had a finger cut off by a student wearing a scream mask on Halloween (hey tried to blame it on violence in the media..due to the scream mask LOL) That was the only incident that was newsworthy.

Mind you this was a smaller suburban school not Cleveland proper which is worse.

I am not trying to scare you off, we need good teachers...there are a lot of kids who really need help (in the city there are a lot of kids I like to refer to as 'the lost children of the crack epidemic')...but unless you are going to work in a private or wealthy suburban school prepare to be tough.

Answer 4

Cleveland schools are a tough one - their children are inner city children and many from tough homes. But my daughter graduated in June from Rhodes HS, with a great ROTC program and she graduated with honors. Do a search about the Cleveland Municipal School District. Any school will be only as good as its teachers and their dedication. Cleveland's weather is not like Vegas, but you won't suffocate in summer!

Take the time to come and visit for a few week days and ask to see some of the premier schools, like the School of the Arts, College Prep, Rhodes, and more...

Say what you will about my city, but I like it here. It's affordable to live here too.

Answer 5

Oooh, um, I'm gonna have to go with "no." People believe it or not are generally pretty education minded, very focused in Ohio. I'm not from there but I noticed it after living here for only a few months. MANY advanced degrees. In the Cleveland area, you cross a street and you are in a suburb. Consider Orange, Ohio or Solon, Ohio with some of the highest ranking educational systems in the country. We live in Shaker Heights and the school is awesome but not as foolproof as in recent years - - - the OGT and other sanctioned educational requirements are so sinisterly affecting basic educational standards. Thanks, Mr. Bush.

A guy who I see regularly at the coffee shop teaches at East High. He says that he just asks the kids in the back to keep it down and he teaches the two front rows of kids who really want to learn. This is someone who followed his passion into teaching. He's a realist. I was disgusted at 1st, but then I understand some kids are CRAZY nowadays.

SuccessTech was sadly in the news because of a school shooting. So now all Cleveland Public High Schools have extensive security procedures and metal detectors and one HS friend says it takes 40 minutes to get in daily.

I LOVE Shaker Heights but the taxes are horrendous. SO, choose carefully and Godspeed to you.

Answer 6

My boyfriend is a teacher, and there are hardly any jobs here. We keep on hearing about teaching jobs in Las Vegas and were thinking of relocating there. I would not move to Cleveland for work unless I was in the medical field.

Answer 7

My son is an assistant principal in NC and tried to come back up here last year. He found jobs very hard to come by and even went so far as to look for a teaching position to get his foot in the door. He didn't have any luck and stayed in NC. You're probably better staying in Las Vegas from what I hear about the increase in population and building of new schools, but if you do decide to try coming here, the one thing he found was essential was to have taken your Ohio licensing test BEFORE you have interviews because he had waited too long and people were very reluctant to offer him a job on the off chance he wouldn't pass it. Good luck! Lynn

Answer 8

I live in Sandusky, Ohio. Do you know about Treca?
It's public school here, but online digital academy. You can do it from home. My kids are 11 and 8 and we do Treca. It's out of Marion, Ohio. There's ALOT of crime in Cleveland, and many smaller towns here are closing the smaller schools down, like in Crawford County where I used to live. I'm sure Treca could always need new online teachers! check out:

trecadigitalacademy.com sometime and let me know what you think of it.


everyone saying how cold Cleveland is, lol, I've lived in Ohio for 14 years now and I haven't froze yet!

Answer 9

oh my Lord ~ Cleveland, Ohio??? Are you kidding me?

The school district for the city of Cleveland is bad, bad, bad. The whole city is in a bad way. Do a little research before you move to Cleveland.

Answer 10

Dont!!! If you are ready for the cold weather, the crime, and these bad *** kids, then come on!! I have lived in Cleveland for 25 years and went to cleveland public schools and hated it!!