Teaching in Johnson City or Bristol (Kingsport, Greeneville: teaching jobs, high schools, income)

[amd2357]

Hello all,

My husband and I are hopefully (if all goes well) relocating to the area (Johnson City or Bristol) in the summer of next year. He has a job lined up already, I am a teacher in Florida. I would like some local input on the area for teaching, I have my professional license and can teach grades 6 thru 12 sciences. How hard are teaching jobs to come by? Any good school recommendations to be looking at for teaching? Thank you

[rccrain]

The city schools pay more, have more resources, and score better, and thus a job in those systems are harder to come by especially when applying from out of town. The county schools especially the more rural ones always need math and science teachers.

For High Schools:
Dobyns Bennett (Kingsport), Science Hill (JC), and TN High (Bristol) are at the top.

Daniel Boone (Gray) and Sullivan South (Colonial Heights) are the next tier - very good. Although South is a part of the Sullivan Co consolidation plan so it will be merged with two smaller high schools to West Ridge High School in Blountville, near the airport.

Elizabethton High, Sullivan East (actually South of Bristol), and David Crockett (Jonesborough) are good.

The rest are ok to poor. I haven't considered any of the VA schools as you probably want to avoid the VA income tax. To get in at one of the better schools you may want to sub, fill in, or volunteer for 2019-2020 so you will be front of mind for 2020-2021 opennings.

[Serious Conversation]

The only things that I'd add are that the Greeneville city schools are also pretty good, and county and city pay are quite different.

In Sullivan County, a new teacher with just a BS will start at $36k. With a master's, that's about $39k. A county teacher will top out at around $50k for most folks.

Salary Schedules | Sullivan County Schools

In the city of Kingsport, a new teacher with just a BS will start at $47k. An advanced degree plus new teacher would be at $50,300, close to where the county teachers top out at.

https://4.files.edl.io/58f2/07/05/19...6d0b4ecafe.pdf

City openings are much tougher to come by. I graduated high school with a lot of folks who became teachers. Most are in the county systems. I can't think of a single one I know of teaching at a city school.

[AppalachianAngler]

From my limited knowledge, teacher jobs are quite competitive, especially as an outsider competing against locals.

[amd2357]

Thank you everyone!! I'll make sure to look into those schools when the time gets closer. Hopefully it won't be too terribly difficult to get a teaching job in the area. We are trying our best to get out of Florida and away from the education system here. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!