Comments on: Finding a Teaching Gig in LA

Question: Finding a Teaching Gig in LA

JPowers — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 12:16:07 -0800

My wife and I will be moving to Los Angeles come this spring. She heard from a colleague that landing a teaching job (K-8th, public or private) is especially hard in LA. Is this true?

Also, any general advice about teaching in LA would be much appreciated. Districts to stay away from, etc.

By: k8t

k8t — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 12:28:21 -0800

As I understand it, it is REALLY easy to get teaching jobs at private schools. I have a lot of friends with no teaching background, no degree in education, and very little other experience who worked for 2-4 years as science teachers, English teachers, history teachers at private schools in Pasadena and other LA suburbs. All of my friends worked at all-girls high schools.

They generally were hired part time at first and had to also be advisors for different clubs and things.

Hope this helps!

By: k8t

k8t — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 12:29:04 -0800

Oh, and they were paid poorly. $21k/year.

By: k8t

k8t — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 13:04:11 -0800

And now I saw K-8th. Doh!

By: whatzit

whatzit — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 13:33:10 -0800

A friend of mine who will probably read this question recently started (last week) in the LA suburbs, teaching math at about the 9th grade.

From hearing a lot about her job application/interview process, it seemed her biggest issue/complaint was that almost all teaching jobs in the state are posted to this one internet-based service, and you have to apply through that service in a monster.com-esque way. There did not seem to be a shortage of openings in general, but your specific preferences (geographic, grade level, etc.) may change that significantly...

By: the_bone

the_bone — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 14:33:18 -0800

The service whatzit alludes to is probably edjoin.org. Many small-to-medium-sized school districts in CA use it (including many LA-region schools districts not affiliated with LAUSD), and it's how I landed my current teaching position in Beverly Hills. I've never seen any listings on there from Los Angeles Unified, so she probably needs to apply directly to that district through their HR department.

By: JPowers

JPowers — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 14:34:00 -0800

...almost all teaching jobs in the state are posted to this one internet-based service, and you have to apply through that service in a monster.com-esque way.

Anyone know what this service/site is? We'd like to check it out.

By: JPowers

JPowers — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 14:37:58 -0800

Whoops! I think we posted at the same time. Thanks.

By: frogan

frogan — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 20:53:08 -0800

Also, any general advice about teaching in LA would be much appreciated. Districts to stay away from, etc.

Grab a map of L.A. Draw an imaginary triangle with the borders being the 405, 10 and 605 freeways.

Avoid living, working and visiting inside this triangle. Obviously, there are a few exceptions. But as a general rule...