Jul 04 2011

Placement, anyone?

by CY

So it has been quite a while since I posted. Since that time I graduated from college, drove to Memphis, drove to Atlanta, and survived 4 weeks of institute. What has not happened since then is I have not gotten a job (sorry, I really struggled with making that grammatically correct but it’s just not happening). In fact, around 100 members of my 180 person strong Memphis corps have not gotten jobs. School starts in a month. Time to be worried? I think so, especially since the Teach Memphis hiring forecast has in fact gotten WORSE since the last time it was released (and it was bad then.)  Now they are forecasting only hiring SPED and some random special subjects, as well as physics. No math, no ELA, no social studies. I was told not to get worried until the end of August, but I’ve bought some furniture and a new computer and am set to sign a lease this Saturday. I’m getting a little worried.

Other than the job front, institute is nowhere near as scary as I anticipated. Sure, teaching is hard, and sure, I’ve cried, but I guess I had this idea that I just wouldn’t be able to get through all the work and that just isn’t the case. I’ve also been enjoying Atlanta. I went to the Aquarium, the World of Coke, tubing down the Chattahoochee, visited the Sweetwater Brewery, and am going to a Braves game tonight.

So I’m curious, all you 2011s out there, how is placement going in your regions?

 

Categories: Teach For America · 11 Comments

11 Responses

1. sriese

   It has all but come to a halt in NYC… in fact, we don’t even know if our placement people are still alive, it’s been so long since we’ve heard from them.

   on July 4, 2011 at 4:30 pm · Reply
2. aea107

   placement in baltimore is mixed… we were at like 85 unplaced CMs out of 195. some subjects (like foreign language) i think have been all placed, while others, like ECE (which i am) have not had as much luck. i am unplaced and getting more anxious by the day. but they also told us that in baltimore, school teachers don’t have to notify their schools they’re leaving until july 15. perhaps it’s similar in other regions? we are all hoping for a pick up of hiring after the 15th.

   on July 4, 2011 at 5:42 pm · Reply
3. leighmke

   The KC staff really got their stuff together. We’ve been really fortunate – 153 of 159 of us were placed by the end of Induction – this is most certainly an outlier! Good luck in your placement.

   on July 4, 2011 at 6:16 pm · Reply
4. johnds

   Charlotte hasn’t been placed at all, however they keep telling us not to worry, that our contracts are basically still in place… We shall see though. Word right now is that rolling placement might start happening this week.

   on July 4, 2011 at 6:42 pm · Reply
5. Caitlin

   I can see based on all the responses that this is a topic of concern. In Memphis, teachers were supposed to declare retirement by June 30, so that deadline is passed. Hopefully MCS hasnt’t accounted for that yet and new numbers will come out that show that MCS is actually hiring. I don’t know how the contracts work with MCS but I do know they pay $4000 towards to recruitment of each CM so they have an interest in hiring us.

   on July 5, 2011 at 1:51 pm · Reply
6. LouLou

   South Louisiana has been awesome – there’s only a few (3-4 maybe?) left to place. The vast majority of us were placed during Induction.

   on July 5, 2011 at 4:36 pm · Reply
7. Meyer

   I was in a similar position during my first year in the corps (I just blogged about this following a conversation with a friend who’s at the Delta institute). Be flexible in your expectations with respect to timing (vacancies often open up immediately before school starts) and content (you might be in a position where the only available jobs are in a subject, or grade level, that’s not your first choice). And don’t be afraid to ask Memphis staff questions and push for specific answers. You’ve got a stake in this. However, you’re going to be best prepared to succeed in the classroom by focusing your attention on institute, as tough as that may be.

   on July 5, 2011 at 10:16 pm · Reply
8. Ms. D

   I’m a DFW (Dallas Fort-Worth) corps member and have not been placed either. About 50 of us (I think) are left to place because one of the school districts we work for just passed a budget and then went on a two-week vaca so I understand your worries.. hopefully everything will work out!

   on July 6, 2011 at 12:10 am · Reply
9. Meyer

   I don’t know if you’ve seen or heard about updates from the Memphis Supt.

   http://nycteach.blogspot.com/2011/07/teach-for-america-placement-in-memphis.html

   on July 15, 2011 at 11:40 am · Reply
10. Banky

    What happens if you are unable to be placed while a CM in TFA?

    on March 23, 2012 at 6:37 pm · Reply
11. CY

    Banky–in my region a few different things happened. 1. You were offered a regional transfer. I know people who went to GNO and Houston. 2. You were granted an emergency release and go off and do something else. You leave the corps and can come back within 2 years if you want to.

    TFA helped people who were unplaced apply for other jobs within TFA. One of my friends works for TFA now. You also get placement funds (90% of the salary) for 20 or 40 school days (how long may depend on the region).

    on March 26, 2012 at 6:03 pm · Reply