<p>I would like to teach either philosophy and literature or math and physics. Yeah, I know...very different fields but I have diverse interests and recently, I've surprised myself a little when it came to teaching. As of right now, I have experience with mostly "English as Second Language"-type classes and "tutoring" some math on occasion. Having said that, I'm fairly confident that I would enjoy teaching.</p>
<p>Now, for the questions!</p>
<p>1) Am I correct in assuming that each state has their own licensing requirements? Some would require a BS/BA + grad school in education while others would require a major in "X education", right?</p>
<p>2) If one has, for instance, a physics degree, can they teach math or literature as well, assuming that they have some coursework (at least a minor) on the subject? </p>
<p>3) Will one be expected to teach across all four years or can one just teach either freshmand/sophomore or junior/senior level courses?</p>
<p>4) What is the salary for teachers like? Say, what would a teacher at a school like Exeter or Stuyvesant earn and how much would one who works in some rough NYC neighbourhood? Are the salaries fairly standard? I don't really care too much about the money but in case I do graduate with some debt, which is very likely, I wouldn't want to be in a position where it feels like too much of a burden.</p>
<p>5) In general...are teachers "in demand" in the States? I can appreciate that things would likely be different 5-6 years from now but it would be good to know.</p>
<p>Most important information first: you are most likely not going to get a work visa to teach K-12. If you are not a US citizen or permanent resident, choose a different career.</p>
<p>Back to your actual questions:</p>
<p>1) Yes, licensing requirements vary between states. I am not aware of a state that requires a Master’s degree, but my knowledge on that matter is incomplete.</p>
<p>2) It depends on the state. In California, you have to be licensed for every subject individually. You are right though that you don’t usually need a full major in every subject you want to teach. </p>
<p>3) This depends on your school, but most high school teachers teach students across all 4 years. </p>
<p>5) Qualified math and science teachers are in more demand than other teachers; but not in demand enough that they’d hire foreigners. Many schools have had to lay off teachers in recent years because of budget cuts due to the economic crisis. I have no idea what the labor market will look like in 4-6 years, except that I am very confident that foreigners won’t have a place in it then either.</p>
<p>I’ve got another question about teaching but about college. I know that in the sciences, the traditional route is PhD → post-doc —> post-doc —> post-doc —> either industry or <em>THAT</em> professorship. At least, that’s what people who’re out of grad school have been saying and it’s been that way for a long time now. 5 years of post docs is more than enough, apparently. </p>
<p>Anyway, I hear that for statistics, bio-statistics/computational biology (anything bio, really), finance and economics, things are very different as the traditional route is to go into industry. From what I understand, it’s pretty standard to interview directly for assistant professorships and not go through post-docs. At least, that’s as far as econ/finance and stats go. So, for foreigners with PhDs, is it hard to get a work visa?</p>
<p>It’s not difficult to secure a work visa if you have an employer willing to sponsor you. That’s rather inconvenient: it costs several thousand dollars, takes several months to process, calls for an attorney to help with the paper work; and even after you are hired, your employer would have to continue filing paper work to document that hiring foreign workers does not have negative consequences for his domestic staff. Not to mention that only positions which pay above-average wage for your occupation are eligible for a work visa at all.</p>
<p>Employers who don’t routinely hire large numbers of foreigners prefer to avoid all of that if there are qualified domestic applicants to fill the position.</p>
<p>That all being said, foreign PhDs from prestigious universities can normally secure a work visa if they want. You’d have a much harder time with a PhD from an average university.</p>
<p>You mention both Exeter and Stuyvesant… Exeter is a private school, Stuyvesant is a public school. You need to be certified to teach in a public school like Stuyvesant and other public schools. Most private schools, like Exeter, do not require their teachers to hold education degrees or be certified. </p>
<p>Salary will very much vary depending on the public school system and/ or the private school (boarding school… day school… etc…)</p>