Can anyone help my wife find a special ed teaching job near Marietta, GA?

January 1, 2012 12:32 PM

Can anyone help my wife find a special ed teaching job near Marietta, GA?

Here's the deal: I'm relocating my wife and I to Atlanta for a new job and we'll be living in East Cobb County. In fact, we relocate March 1st (eek!).

My wife is a special ed teacher with all state (MA) teaching certifications, a Master's in Special Ed, and 7 yrs experience working for one of the world's leading Autism research private schools. I'd like to think she is well-qualified for most mid-level to admin-level teaching/special-education jobs.

As far as her license, there is a reciprocity agreement in place between MA and GA, but to transfer the license, she needs to be employed by the new state first.

She's having difficulties finding job positions in the Atlanta area. Being that I work in IT, I'm used to being pursued by headhunters, but from what I've been able to find, these don't really exist for the education field. That leaves her to try and find a job in a new area on her own via interwebs.

We've both been looking for positions in public and private schools, but so far - she has found very few positions and has yet to get a single call back.

Any help or thoughts on how to get employed would be appreciated!

posted by joshuamcginnis to work & money (6 answers total)

MA sped teacher here. I'm assuming she was with the May Institute; they should have people they can connect her with; I'd think.

Anyway, I wouldn't be concerned about the license issue. Reciprocity works like that in all states; you need to have a job to get a license, but any place where she interviews will know that.

She should check out schoolspring.com and monster.com and she should think about subbing. If she's a good sped teacher, she'll get snatched up quickly. And a good thing about subbing is she can get a feel for particular schools before she commits.

Sped teachers are in short supply everywhere; tell her not to worry. Something will turn up!
posted by kinetic at 1:45 PM on January 1, 2012

When she does apply for positions, she should include a cover letter explaining the move and why she is looking for a job at that time of year. Whenever we post teaching positions we get applicants from out-of-state but usually discount them as too hard to bring for an interview. If she explains in her letter when she would be in town for interviews, that would be helpful. Most hiring for teaching positions is done during the summer. She should also look up schools in the area and make a few phone calls to principals and see if she can find out if there are some local resources where jobs are posted.
posted by tamitang at 2:03 PM on January 1, 2012

Has she expanded her search to the urban areas? East Cobb has a reputation for having a really great school district. Those schools aren't normally hurting for staff. Is she looking at schools in the City of Atlanta as well?
posted by litnerd at 3:57 PM on January 1, 2012

SPED teachers are in demand in Georgia public schools; most public schools in the metro Atlanta area offer contracts in around the first of the year. If you will be living in East Cobb, you need to consider the following school systems (metro Atlanta is made up of MANY counties and school systems, so you will need to look beyond Cobb County):

Cobb County Schools
Marietta City Schools
Cherokee County Schools
Fulton County Schools
Atlanta Public Schools
Douglas County Schools
Paulding County Schools
Bartow County Schools
Cartersville City Schools
Forsyth County Schools)

(There are other metro school systems, but these are all [relatively] accessible from East Cobb.)

You should also try TeachGeorgia.

I work in a metro school system, but probably not one that is easily accessible from East Cobb (it would be an awkward commute); however, I'd be happy to share your resume if you want to contact me privately.
posted by tmharris65 at 4:09 PM on January 1, 2012

Not sure if she'd consider commuting, but maybe the Marcus Autism Center (in Atlanta near Emory)? I accompanied a special ed teacher who visited them to talk about tips for teaching kids with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome so I think they work with kids with a variety of challenges.
posted by k96sc01 at 7:31 PM on January 1, 2012

Yes - she is looking at schools all around the Atlanta, North Atlanta, and East Cobb area. She is looking for something with less than an hour commute so that leaves a pretty broad area if you mapped it from our location.

She has already applied at Marcus Autism Center, but has yet to hear a response. We are just coming out of the Holidays so maybe she'll hear something in the next week or two.
posted by joshuamcginnis at 2:46 PM on January 2, 2012