I’m glad the direct contacts approach will be ok - this is a question
close to my heart, as I know many teachers and administrators in the
Houston area, so let’s get started... I've divided the answer into
two sections - general information, and specific job openings.
GENERAL INFORMATION
***********************************
First, for whatever reason you’re looking for work teaching in or
around Houston, it’s a potentially good market for you. Two things
are going for you –one, there’s something of a teacher shortage in
Houston (as you can see in these Houston Chronicle articles):
First, from May 19, 2002:
http://www.chron.com/cgi-bin/auth/story.mpl/content/adpub/jobs/education/stories/houstons.html
Then for an update published just this past weekend –
http://www.chron.com/content/adpub/jobs/education/
The second thing you’ve got going for you is that you’re looking for a
teaching position in Mathematics. Math is one of the more difficult
areas to fill, especially as the grade level increases. The following
link, describing the prime areas for teachers, is to a white paper
written by the Texas A&M University System’s Institute for
school/University partnerships – affiliated with both Texas A&M
University and Texas Education Agency – the State agency that oversees
all public schools in TX.
“Texas Schools Face Continued Shortage of Certified Teachers”
http://partnerships.tamu.edu/publications/press_releases/s&d2pr.pdf
As the above article also mentions, if you are bilingual (especially
in Spanish/English) you increase your desirability significantly.
Almost all of the districts have some sort of bilingual opening.
The SBEC – the state board for educator certification - has a
"become a teacher" site, which mentions this hopeful statement: “Texas
has shortages in all areas. However, the need for teachers is
particularly great in math, science, special education, foreign
languages, technology applications, and bilingual education. The types
and number of positions available vary across the state.”
http://www.sbec.state.tx.us/SBECOnline/certinfo/becometeacher.asp
TEA, the Texas Education Agency, also has a Math initiative which
might interest you:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/math/index.html
The one potential issue that you may have, is (as I’m sure you’re
aware) in elementary school (4-5th, or 4-6th grade in your range of
4-8), the teaching jobs are often not differentiated by subject. So,
a 4th grade teacher may well teach all main subjects, with only
“specials” such as art, physical education, or music being taught by a
specific subject teacher.
There are two potential real problems you may face. One is that
budgets have been cut fairly tightly this year, due to a number of
state factors. So, jobs are only posted when they are truly needed.
However, you may do well in submitting your resume to one of the
Houston area districts even if a specific job isn’t posted – they may
know of an upcoming need (teacher leaving mid year, etc.) I’ll list
all the employment contact info for each of the Houston districts
below.
The second problem you may face could be timing, if you’re looking for
a job for this school year. The year has already started in most of
Texas, which means that many schools have filled their positions for
this year.
Overall, though, Houston, Texas is a pretty good place to be looking
for a teaching job. Houston is one of the largest areas of Texas,
which is a very large educational system. The Edweek.org website
gives a quick overview, as well as many links to more info about TX
education:
Texas Public School Info – Education Week
http://www.edweek.org/jobs/jobstateinfo.cfm?stateabbrv=tx
7,395 Public schools
274,000 Public school teachers
4 million Pre-K-12 enrollment
$25.8 billion annual pre-K-12 expenditures (all revenue sources)
(Note – the Education Week online site also has a job search function,
but there are currently no jobs that match your needs.)
The Houston area ISDs (independent school districts) are (in
increasing order of tax rate):
Houston ISD
Cypress Fairbanks ISD
Deer Park ISD
Spring Branch ISD
Pasadena ISD
Aldine ISD
Channelview ISD
Clear Creek ISD
Crosby ISD
Alief ISD
Huffman ISD
Fort Bend ISD
Klein ISD
Humble ISD
North Forest ISD
Tomball ISD
Spring ISD
Katy ISD
You can see the tax rate comparison on a CyFair ISD webpage:
http://www.cfisd.net/bond/bond_taxesa.htm
For a geographic look at where those districts lie around Houston, the
Texas Best site has a handy map:
Houston ISD map
http://www.texasbest.com/schools/map.html
The Texas Best site shown above also explains the autonomy of a Texas
ISD :
“In Texas, all but one of the state's school districts are considered
"Independent" since they do not fall under the direct control of any
other local government, and their boundaries are not constrained by
any city or county border lines. Each district is run by an elected
school board, which appoints a superintendent and sets budgets and tax
rates. Only the State of Texas has the authority to regulate and
oversee the actions of an Independent School District.”
In general, you’ll find employment opportunities posted on District
websites, not individual school sites. Districts are largely the
controlling entity of TX public schools.
SPECIFIC JOB OPENINGS
***********************************
So – where do you find the specific openings:
PLACEMENT AGENCY
There is one large teacher placement agency that I am aware of – it’s
called EPS – Educational Placement Service. They claim to be “the
largest teacher placement service in the U.S., and are accredited by
the National Association of Teacher Agencies. They have a website –
www.teacherjobs.com.
The EPS Houston office is listed here:
http://www.teacherjobs.com/hou_main_office.html
The way teacherjobs.com works, is that you submit your online resume,
and they contact you. They only show a very small sample of the jobs
they have available online – it’s more of a “we’ll call you” service.
They may be very helpful to you, however.
DIRECT DISTRICT POSTINGS
Each district has it’s own list of openings. Almost all the job sites
have both the ability to search for jobs and a way to post your
resume, so they can look for you, as well. That may be the best way
to get into a district, as many of them are being very careful about
the positions they post. Looking at our list of Houston area ISDs,
here are their respective employment contact details, along with any
job-openings that fit your search, if any:
Houston ISD openings:
http://www.houstonisd.org/HISD/portal/jobs/front/0,2746,20856_2556,00.html
They include a general 4th grade teacher, as well as a math specific
opening. The HISD general employment link, with contact details,
online resume posting and pay scales is:
http://www.houstonisd.org/HISD/portal/jobs/front/0,2746,20856_2556,00.html
Cypress Fairbanks ISD openings:
CyFair employment site is showing general elementary teachers and an
“elementary mathematics helping teacher”:
CyFair Employment Site:
Elementary Postings:
http://www.cfisd.net/humanres/opportun/postings/certeach.htm
Cy Fair District Elementary Math Helping Teacher Posting:
http://www.cfisd.net/humanres/opportun/postings/elemmathhelp.htm
Deer Park ISD openings (there are currently none that suit you, but
you might check back or leave your resume with the site):
http://www.dpisd.org/wwwboard/index.html
Spring Branch ISD openings (there are currently none that suit you,
but you might check back or leave your resume with the site):
http://fmp.springbranchisd.com/jobs/FMPro
Pasadena ISD openings (there are currently none that suit you, but you
might check back or leave your resume with the site):
http://www.pasadenaisd.org/personnel/jobs/teachers.htm
Aldine ISD openings (there are currently none that suit you, but you
might check back or leave your resume with the site):
http://www.aldine.k12.tx.us/hr/available_positions/index.cfm
Channelview ISD openings (there are currently only 2 positions that
might suit you – but they are both bilingual), however - you might
check back or leave your resume with the site):
http://www.channelview.isd.esc4.net/personnel.htm
Clear Creek ISD openings (there are currently none that suit you, but
you might check back or leave your resume with the site):
http://www.ccisd.net/hr/job_postings.asp
Crosby ISD openings (Crosby doesn’t list specific openings – but the
website is encouraging applications, saying “We conduct interviews for
teaching positions year round!
WHY NOT WORK FOR THE BEST?”
Crosby Employment contacts
http://www.crosby.isd.esc4.net/personnel/index.htm
The contact details for the district Math coordinator are given here:
http://www.crosby.isd.esc4.net/resources/
Alief ISD openings (they have a couple of interesting postings, and
the district seems to be fairly eagerly recruiting teachers) Their
general employment process is described here:
http://www.alief.isd.tenet.edu/newhr/process.htm
And their current openings can be found here:
http://www.alief.isd.tenet.edu/newhr/vacanciespro.asp
(Specific Alief positions described later in the answer.)
Huffman ISD openings (there are currently none that suit you, but you
might check back or leave your resume with the site):
http://www.huffmanisd.net/employment/openpositions.html
Fort Bend ISD openings:
http://www.fortbend.k12.tx.us/personnel/employment.cfm
Fort Bend has an interesting Math/Science specialist opening,
although the posted deadline for application is tomorrow, August 19,
2003 at 4pm:
http://www.fortbend.k12.tx.us/personnel/prof/Math-SciInstructSpecialist.htm
Klein ISD openings:
The general district employment site says: “Personnel Services is
accepting applications for all
teaching fields for the 2003-2004 school year”, so although they don’t
show a specific math position, you might consider submitting an
application. Instructions can be found here:
http://www.kleinisd.net/kisd3/persnnel/index.htm
Humble ISD (pronounced “Umble”) openings (there are currently none
that suit you, but you might check back or leave your resume with the
site):
http://www.humble.k12.tx.us/Personnel/VAC.html
North Forest ISD (Their website is not currently working):
http://www.northforestisd.org/
Tomball ISD openings (There are currently no postings, but they update
their site every Friday):
http://www.tomball.isd.esc4.net/district/depts/Personnel/teacher.htm
Spring ISD openings (there are currently none that suit you, but you
might check back or leave your resume with the site):
http://www.springisd.org/personne/postings.htm
Katy ISD openings:
http://www.katy.isd.tenet.edu/employment/openings.htm
Katy’s recruiting schedule for last year might give you some idea of
where and when they look for candidates:
http://www.katy.isd.tenet.edu/employment/recruiting.htm
STATEWIDE PUBLIC SCHOOL RECRUTING
TEA (Texas Education Agency) – the overarching state agency – oversees
a number of regional service centers across Texas. These “ESCs” –
educational service centers - are quite prominent in TX public
education. Houston is Region IV. The ESC IV hiring postings can be
found here:
ESC IV recruiting site:
http://www.esc4.net/recruiting/job-post/public/position.aspx
Just click on “Mathematics”, and you’ll see a list of all ESC region
IV mathematics jobs. You can also click on “Elementary”, and you’ll
find a list of more general elementary positions, as elementary math
is almost never listed.
Currently, the ESC IV site is showing CyFair – Cypress Fairbanks ISD
is hiring both elementary teachers and math teachers at a middle or
high school level, as shown above in the district list.
TASA - Texas Association of School Administrators:
TASA also has an educators’ job posting site – you can search by ESC
region, subject, grade level, etc.
http://www.tasanet.org/EducatorsJobBank/tjb/index.phtml#start
Just select “teacher” or the ESC, or a specific district, then click
“show all matching jobs.”
They have a program called REAP – Regional Education Applicant &
Placement Program - into which you can post your resume, and lots of
districts will see it.
http://www.txreap.net/
They currently post many listings that don’t match your needs, but
they also show an elementary opening at the Zoe Learning Academy
Charter, which is located in ESC IV.
http://www.tasanet.org/EducatorsJobBank/tjb/job.phtml?id=26459
TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION
The Texas Workforce Commission, a statewide employment-promotion
agency, has an entire section devoted to educator employment.
http://www.twc.state.tx.us/careers/teaching.html
That page lists a number of job listing links, including one to the
SBEC – the state board for educator certification, which explains the
process for certification in TX, as well as assistance looking for
employment.
GENERAL TEACHER EMPLOYMENT WEBSITES
There are a number of websites devoted to teaching job postings. One
such website is Education America –
www.educationamerica.net
Their TX listings are found here:
http://www.educationamerica.net/browse.phtml?sid=tx
They include a number of public school districts that are currently
posting jobs. A public school district near Houston that is currently
posting on Education America is Alief ISD:
Alief ISD (as mentioned above)
http://www.educationamerica.net/browse.phtml?sid=tx
One of the Alief jobs is a general elementary teacher:
http://www.educationamerica.net/browse.phtml?sid=tx&eid=718&jid=77865&a=jlp
The position is also listed on the Alief ISD website:
http://www.alief.isd.tenet.edu/newhr/Master_JobFolders/Professional/ElementaryFolder/Elementary%20Teacher.htm
Alief also has a posting for a “math recovery” teacher:
http://www.educationamerica.net/browse.phtml?sid=tx&eid=718&jid=80423&a=jlp
The position is also listed on the Alief ISD website:
http://www.alief.isd.tenet.edu/newhr/Master_JobFolders/Professional/ElementaryFolder/Math%20Recovery%20Teacher.htm
I don’t know if you have experience teaching before getting your
certification, but there is another listing on Education America for 4
general teaching positions, with a 20% bonus over Houston ISD pay
rates, called "3D academy":
http://www.educationamerica.net/browse.phtml?sid=tx&eid=499&jid=8315&a=jlp
Teachers.net
This site is a nationwide teacher support website. One of the things
they offer is a job posting area. The jobs there tend to be private
school openings. The general teachers.net listing page for the SW
area of the US is:
www.teachers.net/jobs/jobboard/SW/
It’s not a bad idea to keep checking that address as new jobs are
posted quite frequently.
Teachers.net currently shows many teaching openings in Houston,
including this tutoring position:
Teachers.net jobs board:
http://www.teachers.net/jobs/jobboard/SW/08.08.03.13.58.41.html
Other teachers.net posted openings include:
http://www.teachers.net/jobs/jobboard/SW/08.02.03.23.16.00.html
Finally, there is an interesting organization – TVS – Texas Virtual
School, which is a” a web-based learning initiative”, partnered by 11
of the state’s ESCs, including ESC IV – which is in Houston. They are
looking for teachers, as well, including teachers specializing in
Math:
TVS employment page:
http://www.texasvirtualschool.org/recruitment.asp
***********************************
jaydeepshah -
I hope that the information I’ve included in this answer will be
helpful to you – good luck with your job search! If you need anything
clarified, please feel free to post a clarification request.
asking-ga
Search Strategy:
Personal knowledge of TX schools,
Google:
Houston teacher jobs
Houston educator jobs
Houston math teacher shortage
Houston Teaching Jobs
Houston school district map
ESC IV
Houston ISD
Cypress Fairbanks ISD
Deer Park ISD
Spring Branch ISD
Pasadena ISD
Aldine ISD
Channelview ISD
Clear Creek ISD
Crosby ISD
Alief ISD
Huffman ISD
Fort Bend ISD
Klein ISD
Humble ISD
North Forest ISD
Tomball ISD
Spring ISD
Katy ISD |
