Jacksonville
Overview
Teach For America and Duval County Public Schools are excited to welcome more corps members to Jacksonville. The 2010-11 school year is an exciting time as the Jacksonville region focuses on having a continuing impact on student achievement, while building a foundation for long-term change.
Situated in Northeastern Florida, Jacksonville is the 14th largest city in the United States with a population of over one million residents. As members of the “the new, bold, city of the South,” Jacksonville corps members will have a multitude of opportunities, landscapes, and recreational options. Forbes magazine often ranks this southern hub as of one of the top 10 cities to relocate to and find a job. Like other corps before them, Jacksonville corps members will help to further the vision for Teach For America’s role within the greater community and school system.
Life
Jacksonville is a conglomeration of many small towns with unique histories and communities. The metropolitan city is informally divided into the Westside, the Eastside, the Northside, and the Southside, all of which surround Downtown Jacksonville. While corps members will be placed in high-need schools in the urban core of the city, corps members can choose to live in any of a variety of neighborhoods ranging from vibrant retail areas to relaxed beach communities to small farming towns. Whether on field trips with their students or unwinding on the weekend, corps members can explore the range of activities and sights that Jacksonville has to offer including award-winning beaches, parks (it has the most parkland of an U.S. city), Jacksonville Jaguars’ NFL games, or the plethora of art galleries, museums and theaters.
Corps Culture
The Jacksonville community—including prominent district, community, and business leaders—is vocal about its support of Teach For America and its corps members. In addition to building partnerships with the school and community leaders, Jacksonville corps members can directly impact the development of regional programming and corps culture. As with all Teach For America regions, Jacksonville corps members can expect to participate in all-corps gatherings, exchange best teaching practices with other corps members of the same grade level or content area, and attend cultural and social gatherings with colleagues and friends.
Teaching
In 2009, Teach For America placed 100 corps members in 23 schools in Duval County, Jacksonville’s largest and most diverse county. The Duval County Public Schools (DCPS), serves approximately 125,000 students and is the 19th largest school district in the country.
Now more than ever is a critical time for corps members to have a profound impact on student achievement. Under the Florida Department of Education’s school report card system, which assigns grades to schools after a complex analysis of their student achievement results, Duval County Public Schools had the second highest number of failing schools in the state. Over 11,000 students are two or more grade levels behind and 33,000 are non-proficient readers for their grade level.
The 2010-11 school year will be a pivotal time for students in Duval County Public Schools. Leaders in and outside of education in Jacksonville have taken deliberate steps to reverse educational disparities that exist for students living in low-income communities. The region’s partnership with Teach For America is a critical part of this strategy, and corps members will join a reform effort that is already gaining momentum.
View a map of our placement areas.
Certification and Testing
Accepted applicants who are assigned to Jacksonville will receive further information about certification opportunities, requirements, and fees as they develop, but these are the current costs associated with beginning the teaching process in the region.
Placements
| Elementary |
70% |
| Secondary |
30% |
| Teach at a school with another corps member or alumnus |
100% |
Living and Education Expenses
Salary and Taxes
| Salary |
$37,000 - $38,000 |
| Taxes |
14.83% |
Cost of Living
| Housing Single |
$600 - $900 |
| Housing Shared |
$300 - $600 |
| Health Insurance |
$0 |
| Utilities |
$60 |
| Daycare |
$625 / month |
| Monthly Tranist Pass |
$40 |
| Car Insurance |
$100 |
| Car Required |
Access to car is essential |
Start-up Costs
| Testing Costs |
$400 |
| Up-front Certification Costs |
$150 |
| How do you pay start-up costs? |
Out-of-pocket |
Ongoing Costs through the Two-year Commitment
| Ongoing Certification Costs |
$200 |
| Use AmeriCorps award for testing/certification costs? |
No |
| How is teaching certification structured in this state/region? |
Through Teach For America |
| Is it possible to complete a master's degree at the end of two years? |
No |
| Is the completion of a master's degree required as part of the two-year commitment? |
No |
| Extra Master's Degree Costs |
N/A |
| Partner Universities |
|
Notes and Clarifications
- Beginning teacher salary: If you have a master's degree in education, are placed in a bilingual classroom, or in a math/science classroom you may receive additional compensation.
- Avg. health insurance: In some placement districts, health insurance premiums are pre-tax deductions.
- Total tax rate: Federal + state + city. Only applies to starting salaries.
- Up-front certification: Expenses that must be paid before your first day of teaching.
- Paying start-up costs: Can you pay for testing and up-front certification costs with transitional grants and loans or do you have to pay out-of-pocket?
- Ongoing certification: Total certification costs over two-year teaching commitment.
- AmeriCorps award for certification: Can you use your AmeriCorps award to pay testing/certification costs?
- Master's in two years: Is it possible to complete a master's degree at the end of two years?
- Master's required: Is the completion of a master's degree required as part of the two-year commitment?
- Extra master's degree costs: Additional total cost to obtain a master's degree (on top of ongoing certification costs); does not include AmeriCorps award.
- Partner university(ies): These universities partner with Teach For America for ongoing certification requirements, and in some cases, the fulfillment of a master's degree in education.
