New York
Overview
The New York City public school system serves over 1.1 million students taught in approximately 1,500 schools, making it the largest school system in the United States. Thanks in part to the many reform changes in recent years, the high school graduation rate has steadily climbed by 29 percent since 2002, with 66 percent of students graduating in 2008. This still leaves behind 34 percent of New York City’s students, demonstrating a real need for corps members in New York to lead their students to significant academic achievements in all grade levels and content areas. While the vast majority of New York corps members teach in New York City schools, we also now have a small number of corps members making a positive impact on students from low-income backgrounds in the Greenburgh-Graham Union Free District, directly north of the city.
Life
New York City has long been hailed as one of the greatest cities in the world. It’s home to over eight million people and is comprised of five boroughs, within which there are hundreds of communities - each with a unique history and culture that offers something for everyone. Harlem, Washington Heights, and communities in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn - where New York corps members currently teach and where many live - are some of the most vibrant parts of the city. We are also excited to have a small group of corps members teaching in a low-income setting in Westchester county for the first time during the 2009-2010 school year. New York hosts a wide and diverse range of cultural and social activities, including neighborhood street fairs, sporting events, parades, and the region serves as a world center for the arts. New York City’s public transportation system runs 24 hours a day, making it convenient to travel across the five boroughs and beyond.
Corps Culture
New York is home to Teach For America’s largest corps, with over 800 corps members. Despite living in the country's largest city, many of our corps members live in the same apartment buildings or neighborhoods and frequently run into each other at the gym, on the subway, and in the city's countless restaurants and clubs. Corps members also come to our midtown office to attend professional development workshops, make photocopies, meet with their program directors, or to utilize our corps member space, an open area with resources designed specifically for our corps. Some examples of community-building and professional development events include the following:
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Targeted workshops for specific grade and content areas
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Group dinners
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Alumni networking events
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Panel discussions with principals and school leaders
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Several long-standing events:
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Ice Skating in the Park, in which corps members take their students ice skating in Central and Prospect Parks
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Project Cicero, a book drive where corps members fill up a suitcase of free books to take back to their classrooms
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The “What's Next” series, events designed to help corps members think through their post-commitment career plans
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The Corps Celebration and Alumni Induction events to celebrate the achievements of the exiting corps and welcome them to the alumni movement
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Annual Holiday Party
Teaching
New York faces monumental challenges in ensuring that all of its 1.1 million students receive the education they need and deserve. Although these graduation rates have improved over recent years, overall only 51.4 percent of black students and 48.7 percent of Hispanic students in the class of 2008 graduated from New York City schools in four years. New York corps members teach predominantly in schools where at least 80 percent of the students are receiving free or reduced-price lunch, and together with alumni corps members reach approximately 10 percent of the city’s children. In the Greenburgh-Graham district, 97 percent of students receive free lunch. To encourage close collaboration and support, corps members are often clustered at school sites, with an average of three corps members per school and over 80 percent of corps members teach in a school with at least one other corps member.
View a map of our placement areas.
Certification and Testing
New York corps members are certified to teach through one of the university programs we partner with and will earn a masters degree during their two year commitment. Based upon their Teach For America assignment, corps members in New York attend one of two university programs, with the choice to participate in a higher-cost third option. Teach For America established reduced tuition partnerships with these universities to ensure the program costs are financially feasible for corps members. Our university programs offer New York corps members additional support and teaching resources throughout their two-year commitment.
Teaching Resources and Support
|
University |
Tuition After Americorps Benefits (approx.) |
|
Hunter College |
$3,220-5,390 |
|
Fordham University |
$4,500 |
|
Bank Street College |
$15,525-17,940 |
If a corps member is already certified to teach in New York State, and the certification is aligned with his or her Teach For America assignment, the corps member is not required to enroll in a certification program. Similarly, if a corps member has teacher certification in another state that has a reciprocity agreement with New York, and the certification is aligned with his or her Teach For America assignment, the corps member is not required to enroll in a certification program.
Corps members must pass two certification tests, the Liberal Arts and Sciences Test (LAST) and the Content Specialty Test (CST), before the start of the school year in order to teach in New York. Accepted applicants receive test preparation materials and information about certification requirements upon acceptance to Teach For America and assignment to the New York region.
Placements
| Elementary |
39% |
| Secondary |
61% |
| Special Education |
17% |
Living and Education Expenses
Salary and Taxes
| Salary |
$45,530 - $51,425 |
| Taxes |
29.3% - 31.74% |
Cost of Living
| Housing Single |
$800 - $2,100 |
| Housing Shared |
$600 - $1,800 |
| Health Insurance |
$70 - $100 |
| Utilities |
$60 |
| Daycare |
$750 - $108 / month |
| Monthly Tranist Pass |
$89 |
| Car Insurance |
N/A |
| Car Required |
Access to car is essential |
Start-up Costs
| Testing Costs |
$176 |
| Up-front Certification Costs |
$350 |
| How do you pay start-up costs? |
Out-of-pocket |
Ongoing Costs through the Two-year Commitment
| Ongoing Certification Costs |
$12,670 - $13,950 |
| Use AmeriCorps award for testing/certification costs? |
Yes |
| How is teaching certification structured in this state/region? |
2 year - Through University w/master's |
| Is it possible to complete a master's degree at the end of two years? |
Yes |
| Is the completion of a master's degree required as part of the two-year commitment? |
Yes |
| Extra Master's Degree Costs |
$0 |
| Partner Universities |
Hunter College, Fordham University, or Bank Street College |
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.
