Pennsylvania teachers certified ABCTE
Hi,
I completed my english certification and looking to get a job in a school district. However, the Superintendent of the district I work in as an aid right now is unfamiliar with the ABCTE certification and would like to know of any other districts in PA that have hired ABCTE certified teachers. If anyone can get back to me with the names of any districts that have hired them after completing the program I would appreciate it.
Thanks,
Brian
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Responses to this topic below, starting with the most recent response:
The opportunity for ABCTE teachers in southeast Pennsylvania is in charter schools. When I got my Passport to Teaching in July 2008 I answered about 20 want ads, mostly from charter schools in Philadelphia. 7 or 8 of the charter schools I wrote to wanted to interview me. I interviewed at just one -- Delaware Valley Charter High School on Broad Street in Philly -- only because I accepted an offer at Valley Forge Military Academy before I could get to any others.
DVCHS was the ONLY school in PA that advertised for teachers on the ABCTE website in summer 2008, BTW.
Most districts around here want nothing to do with ABCTE teachers. All their want ads state "certification required." The Philadelphia School District HR person I talked to knew all about ABCTE but had no interest in considering me for a job in a regular Philadelphia public school -- even though they are perenially short-staffed. She said that ABCTE "lowers the professionalism of the profession." She gave me the feeling that she thought ABCTE comes from the devil (and that ABCTE Passport holders could GO to the devil).
Charter schools are much more open to alternate-route teachers of all sorts. If you complete your PA certification while working at a charter school, then maybe you'll have a chance with a school district. But maybe not. I wouldn't know about that.
If you're good, a charter school may not insist that you get your certification the very first year -- which BTW, involves quite a lot of work and will also cost you anywhere from $5,000 to $8,000 when you add it all up.
Another option is the Philadelphia Fellows program. I don't see how ABCTE certification could hurt getting into that. But it won't help much, either. You'd have to go through the whole nine yards just like all the other fellows.
Matthew Lieff
MLieff@vfmac.edu
Mathematics Instructor
Valley Forge Military Academy
Wayne PA
"A College Preparatory School with a Military Tradition" (TM)
Anonymous in PA,
If you are certain that jobs are available, why don't you transfer your ABCTE certification to PA certification right now? Then you will have your state certification and your problem will be solved.
=) Dawn
I have a similar problem -- I completed my ELA certification by ABCTE and live in PA too, but despite several promising job interviews (another one coming up this week), I've already found that school administrators are not aware of ABCTE and I get the distinct feeling that just to make things easier on them, they prefer to go with someone who's got a "traditional" PA state certification rather than an ABCTE certificate. In fact, I am in a terrible catch-22 because I can't get my Temporary Teaching Permit (which will become a permanent PA State Teaching Certificate after three months of teaching) unless I am hired by a school, but the schools are hesitant to hire me without my having the PA Certificate already! This wasn't something that ABCTE warned me about when I signed up for the program...Can anyone offer me any helpful advice?
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I really didn't realize how difficult and expensive getting my PA Certificate was going to be. I was so excited upon earning my ABCTE Certificate after all those months of preparation.......I'm now just deflated. I also wasn't aware of the two grad classes required to a tune of almost 5,000 dollars. Can anyone offer anything positive?
Thanks,
Cher in southern Pa.