European qualified teacher in the US?

[Bij Bam]

For personal reasons, I'm cautiously contemplating moving to the US in the long term. From what I gather on the Internet, I'd pretty much have to get requalified in order to teach in public primary schools there (which seems to be awful, if I may believe the stories), but since independent schools apparently do not have to employ qualified teachers, I suppose they may be willing to hire a European qualified teacher as well. And they tend to get described as the 'better' schools anyway. (???)

Anyone have any insights on this? Do you think I would stand any chance at all getting a job in an independent school in the US; is it even worth trying? Would it lead to visa nightmares, or would it be a simple case of, "you got a job here, so here's your visa"? I have a BEd plus a Master's in a totally unrelated field, and have taught both in public and international schools in Europe.

[PsyGuy]

You would have to qualify but it need not be a daunting process. States in the US differ, but you can group them into three general types:

1) Traditional/University Preparation Pathway: You go to Uni. get a degree or complete a post bachelors education program, complete the state requirements, and your institution recommends you for certification. States with this pathway base certification on coursework and credits. These are the states that require you to show them 24-36 credit hours/units of coursework (one credit hour is equal to 15 hours of academic contact time).

2) Approved Program Pathway: These include the typical alternative certification programs which are private for-profit, but can also include regulated/maintained/public school districts or private/independent school collectives (such as parochial schools within a diocese), or may be other non-profit entities. These programs usually provide the field experience as part of an employment agreement and the training preparation is accomplished through focused seminars that may online. You are typically approved to test or apply for the initial certification area approved/endorsed by the organization. Some are very flexible, some only focus on one teaching field (such as SPED). Regardless, the organization approves and manages your certification process.

3) Alternative Preparation Pathways: This does not mean alternative certification programs or ACPs. These are states that have some hybrid of testing, experiential, and academic background that when combined meet the requirements for certification. A typical plan you find is 2 years K-12 classroom experience (often in a private/independent school), a bachelors degree and completion of state testing requirements (such as Praxis). This pathway differs from the Approved program pathway in that you essentially manage your application yourself, and you apply directly with the states regulatory authority for your license.

States are not limited to just one pathway and while a number only have the traditional pathway, many have a combination of the three in various forms.

The difficulty really depends on the state you want to teach in and what the states reciprocity rules are (reciprocity is a process based on the interstate reciprocity agreement, regarding the mobility between states of professional teachers). Some states have very little reciprocity and some have a great deal, in many, many cases an applicant can use a combination of state certifications for a foreign teacher to be credentialed, IE. a state has little foreign acceptance of credentials but using an intermediary state certification process with a very open foreign acceptance policy can then use that states license to apply for certification through reciprocity in the desired state.

Independent schools do employ a large number of qualified teachers, but they have more flexibility in what THEY consider qualified. Independent schools have high standards and many, many of their teachers do have state teaching licenses.

As far as marketability, depending on your resume, there are a lot of public/regulated/maintained schools in the US that pay well, and are really hurting for teachers, because they have serious problems. Most of them however will not higher foreign nationals or sponsor a visa.
Your job opportunities GREATLY depend on the region and locality of the US you wish to teach as well as your teaching area and overall value/quality of your resume. You will have more marketability at an independent school that is an overseas IS of your current school experience. Independent Schools those that are part of the NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) are typically the best in the country. Next would be the Parochial schools with long reputations and history. Another type of independent school in States is a Charter School, which is a publicly funded school that gets to operate more like an independent school.

[higgsboson]

Peter Gruber International Academy in St. Tom, USVI and International School of Indiana in Indianapolis both hire Europeans but after 2 years, the visa situation gets dicey.

[Sherhazade]

Arizona is a place that has enough difficulty getting teachers that you would likely be able to get sponsorship to come and work in a public school.

But, the reason they have a hard time is they get the least per pupil funding in the country, so pay is correspondingly low.

Recent articles state they have taken to recruiting in the Philippines, so perhaps check into Arizona and state schools?

[National]

One thing to keep in mind is that you'll need to be certified in whatever state you will be living and teaching in. In the US, each state will have it's own certification. Generally, you can teach on another state's certificate for your first two years, but then you'll need to get it changed over to the state your in. Some states may even allow you to work on your European certification initially. Regardless, you'll eventually have to get the state's certification to work in public schools. Some states will require you to take a specific course (usually in the state's history) to get their certificate, but some may just transfer your certificate over. The usual rule is that the more desperate a state is for teachers, the easier it is to get certified. Unfortunately the low paying states are usually the ones that are desperate.

So, to start, if you know what state you'll be moving to, you need to check out their department of education to see what you need to do to get certified. I know that both Missouri and New Jersey offer certification routes for individuals educated outside of the US, but I do not know the exact requirements. I am sure there are more states out there that do similar things, but it is just a process of searching through their websites to find out. The US is all about local control for education which makes it difficult if you move around between states...

[inmortus]

I can say by a close experience that it depends on the state. In some states (Georgia, for example), independent schools can pretty much hire whomever they want. A visa, however, is a much more tricky thing. Schools will often get you on a J1 (teacher exchange) visa for the first 2 to 3 years. After that they could sponsor a work visa, but they would need to prove that your position can be clearly better filled by you than by a local. Some schools have the connections and budget for this to happen, but they are few. There are also other specific cases of schools that work (for example) with the U.N. and thus can easily make this happen.

If you PM me I will be happy to provide a couple of examples....

[PsyGuy]

I dont know of any States that will allow you to teach on a out of state license or a foreign one for any length of time. These states may have different categories of licensing and they may have some form of interim permit of credential that is easier to obtain than a professional license, but its still a separate authorization. The easiest such license to get is an exchange or visiting teacher permit, often issues to teachers upon application by a district that is hosting an exchange program. You cant apply for one on your own.

[inmortus]

Unfortunately Psyguy, you don't know everything.

To the OP, yes, some states will allow private schools to have people without a US license to teach. PM me if you want the info. I know of at least one... and of another school that can also make it happen due to diplomatic ties and such...

[higgsboson]

Not only are there schools in USA that Europeans can work at, they can work at these schools w/o certification. Teaching experience is all that's required. Of course, certification is preferred but international schools and private schools have an easier time hiring non-certified personnel than public schools.

[PsyGuy]

@Inmortus

I do know this, I know of no state (my apologies for the lack of clarification) that allows an out of state or out of country teacher to provide instructional services in a public/regulated domestic school. It would be a serious NCLB issue. Private/independent domestic school have far greater flexibility in determining qualified, as i wrote previously.

@higgsboson

Its less an issue of certification and more an issue of obtaining a visa for a foreign teacher.