Where to find a music teaching job with an alternative/provisional license?

January 5, 2010 8:49 PM

Advice on which school districts in Virginia specifically, but other states in general, have a shortage of music teachers and would be more willing to hire someone eligible for an alternative or provisional teaching license. I have taken and passed the Praxis II content test for music, and the VCLA test.

I dropped out of a graduate performance program this past spring and have been subbing as both a regular and long-term music substitute in the northern Virginia area. During the past seven or eight months, I have interviewed for six music teaching positions, and have been offered two jobs by principals, only to have HR call and rescind the offer based on the fact that (due to budget concerns - their federal funds are affected by how many certified teachers they have - that's their explanation any way) I am only eligible for a provisional license and am not fully licensed.

I have the following:
A undergrad degree in music
A transcript that has been reviewed and approved by the state for a provisional license
Half a grad degree in performance (strings)
About 10 years of private lesson teaching experience and ensemble leadership (since I was 15)
A performance certificate from a prestigious conservatory
An undergrad GPA of 2.9 and a grad GPA of 3.6
Loads of scholarships/interships/etc in the music biz and music performance fields
I'm basically flat broke - I don't get called to sub too often - (wait, make that 60, 000 in the hole)... and the bills are coming due

I have also contacted several career switcher programs and because I've been in school for most of the time I've been gigging in orchestras, subbing, doing studio work, etc they aren't giving me credit for the required "5 years of work experience" necessary for their programs. I'd also rather not spent 6, 000 more to get certified with no guarantee of a job.

I'm willing to move any where, but I need to be teaching music, I'm not qualified to teach any other subjects.

Right now I'm living with my parents in NOVA, so a district within commuting distance would be ideal, but obviously I've been basically unemployed for the past year (since undergrad graduation) and am getting increasingly desperate (I have tried and tried to get an office or assistant job but my resume is so focused and there's so much competition that I'm barely getting interviews for part time 8/hr jobs) I have no real preference. I'm currently teaching private lessons in the area as well. If necessary, I will move nearly anywhere.

It's frustrating because I do have a passion for teaching music and I also have a ton of professional experience but I'm out on a technicality in most areas.

Thank you!

posted by vilolagrl to Work & Money (5 answers total)

which grade level are you looking to teach? do you have a reliable car? for now you could easily substitute for any general level k-12 class since eighty percent of the time you're given instructions that make you out to be a babysitter. it's good experience interacting with youth and gives you more face time with school administration at least. show up on time and be personable and they'll call you first since they like you. if you go into more rural or smaller districts the rules are often a bit more lax. about certification. i know the further south you go the more desperate for teachers they get. also more frustrations at lower pay of course. i was a substitue in texas and have a few friends in different places around the country doing education. in texas they send kids home with a piece of paper that says the teacher is working towards a license and has six months to do it. some work the loopholes and take years to actually get certified. with your level of education you could go to the high tax bracket districts -bigger paychecks- and work something out either as a sub or fulltime. you may want to look into the teach for america program. google it and teachfortexas or other state equivalent programs. they're pretty good about plugging people into schools where they're needed and getting you certified. many states have a localized version of that. don't move until you have some money saved up and/or very understanding friends with couches already there. Now you may also want to work a lot of selfpromotion and networking. craigslist your lessons, network with local music shops, flyer around, busking even can bring in some respectable money. contact your loan providers and work out a deferment or new payment scheme before you go into default. customize your resume for every job to which you apply. some places filter resumes by an algorithm that makes sure your resume by the exact words used in the job listing. focus on skills and not jobtitles. it may a lousy time to be in the job market but that just means figuring out unconvential ways of doing things. check out local temp agencies. those sometimes lead to fulltime positions. personality will be a good ally here.
posted by beardlace at 11:08 PM on January 5, 2010

oh and if you have federal loans look into the income based repayment plan. it's exciting and new and could be helpful.
posted by beardlace at 11:11 PM on January 5, 2010

Response by poster: Thank you for your advice - I've been freelancing since I was 15 in cities like NY, Boston, Nashville, etc, I am quite familiar how to get gigs... I am gigging currently, I am teaching 13 students private lessons - I am paying my bills, there's no danger of me defaulting (I meant I'm broke after I make the loan/car/etc payments, lol). I am currently subbing all subjects and grade levels. There are over 1000 subs and only 100 or so jobs open every day, so the odds work against me.
posted by vilolagrl at 11:31 PM on January 5, 2010

Response by poster: Oh, and I'm open as to what grade level to teach - I am first and foremost strings player so I'd prefer middle/high school strings but I'm qualified to teach band or chorus as well.
posted by vilolagrl at 11:33 PM on January 5, 2010

HOW "nearly anywhere"? Are you feeling brave? :)

I am a middle school string teacher in the Anchorage School District. We often struggle to find string teachers who are, you know, even marginally qualified to teach strings, for pretty obvious reasons- people get freaked out when they hear "Alaska" and won't consider moving, and the university programs we have up here are not strong.

We have often hired people who are working on their credentials (generally only if there are no people *with* credentials who are qualified, but that happens not infrequently). We also have regular openings in classroom music and choir- less so in band. If you're looking for a *real* adventure, the districts in the Bush often need band or general music people...I won't go into details here because the odds are that it's too big of a geographic jump, but MeMail me if you'd like more details and I'll ask my boss for some hard information in re: how many provisionally certified people we've hired in the last few years. No openings at the moment, but most years there are quite a few in the fall.
posted by charmedimsure at 12:32 PM on January 6, 2010