Other states woo California teachers amid uncertainty over Schwarzenegger's budget plan

The L.A. Times reports:

Drawn by pink slips issued to thousands of teachers, recruiters from school districts nationwide are wooing California teachers with greater fervor than usual.

Districts in Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, Kansas, Virginia and Texas have been buying newspaper ads and renting billboard space, calling teachers unions and sending recruiters to regions facing the biggest school budget crunches.

The trend worries some Sacramento officials, who fear talented young teachers will be lured away from a state that already expects one-third of its 300,000 teachers to retire over the next decade.

"We have raiding parties from other states coming into the state of California to lure away many of our outstanding young energetic teachers," state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said Friday. "We must stop the era of teacher poaching and make sure we fully compensate, respect and value our teachers."

The recruitment comes as California faces a budget shortfall of up to $20 billion. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget would cut about $4.8 billion in education funding this year and next. As a result, as many as 24,000 teachers, librarians, nurses and other school employees have been issued "pink slips" warning that they may be laid off. Districts must issue final layoff notices on Thursday.
Historically, many teachers laid off in the spring are rehired over the summer after the state finalizes its budget and district finances become clear. But the current uncertainty is causing distress in classrooms, and recruiters are capitalizing on that angst.

After seeing California's woes, the 80,000-student Fort Worth Independent School District stepped up plans to place billboard ads in California reading "Your Future is in Our Classroom." In addition to the two billboards in San Diego, the Texas district is holding a three-day job fair there next week, and is expanding their billboard efforts to the Bay Area.

"It became obvious there was a ready-made market there in California, so we just latched onto that . . . because we know there are teachers who are looking for jobs," said district spokesman Clint Bond. "San Diego also has a similar lifestyle to Fort Worth -- the only thing missing is the ocean."

The district's message of a cheaper cost-of-living coupled with $44,500 starting salaries, $3,000 signing bonuses and annual stipends in certain specialties appears to be resonating. More than two dozen teachers have booked appointments with recruiters in San Diego next week, and others have flown to Texas for interviews.

You'll want to read this one.Working in Texas appears to be a much,much better deal.In Texas,teachers can be middle class because housing prices are reasonable.Land use restrictions and zoning plus greedy unions have destroyed California's middle class.Texas teachers don't pay a state income tax while California teachers do.It's hard for California to compete when other places offer a much higher standard of living.