So, I still don’t have a teaching job.  I went to the “gosh it’s late and we need to fill our positions” HISD Job Fair yesterday.  On the good side, there weren’t nearly as many people as at the last one (they all got jobs), and there were several schools looking for math.  On the down side, the Tech Market collapse seems to have created a glut of “What do I do now?” math teacher applicants.  There were at least 15 people there and only a few high schools with openings.  They were all lining up for the middle schools as well (I passed on the middle schools).

I briefly talked to the lady from the Barbara Jordan High School for Careers.  She was just taking resumés, not interviewing.   It’s an alternative school with a vocational gist.  Located at Highway 59 & North Loop I-610.  (2/3 black, 1/3 hispanic; 2/3 female) I don’t give it much of a chance to hear from them.

I talked with the guy from Middle College for Technology Careers High School @ TSU, he had “good vibes” about me, and I noticed that he crossed Math off his openings after we talked.  He said there was also an elementary on the TSU campus.  He had a teacher in limbo and was to resolve that and call me today.  His secretary called me back and let me know the position didn’t open up.

I talked for a while to a woman from Sam Houston High School, but a lot of people talked to her.  The school is broken into 9 small academies (<400 students).   Each has 3 math teachers.  The acadamy with the opening is something like the “Lifetime Recreation” academy.  She said they wanted to interview people and would call me back to set one up.  Don’t know if that was a pat line or if it means I made it past the prescreening and will get a call.

On a whim, I asked a guy from Washington High School about his “Intro to Computers” class that no one was applying for.  He got really jazzed about my background and asked me to call someone in the morning and give him a call back.  Before I did that this morning, his secretary (?) called me.  And I’ll interview with him this afternoon.  The trick is, Math pays $1K more a year, and if I can teach the computers class it may be as a “deficiency” (the state doesn’t provide a test for it yet) and it might derail my certification.  Also, teaching with a deficiency reduces your pay by several thousand dollars.  We’ll see.