Photo by Christopher Penn

The United States Department of Education is a federal agency that is responsible for establishing and administering education policy at the national level. It also coordinates the dispersal of most federal education assistance. It is a Cabinet-level agency and is headed by the Secretary of Education, who reports directly to the President. The Department of Education is referred to as ED or DoED (since DOE is an acronym for the Department of Energy).

The majority of education administration is carried out at the state and local levels, including the establishment of schools, development of curricula and creation of requirements for admission and graduation. The majority of school funding (about 88 percent for primary and secondary schools) comes from state and community sources. Since it is not a major funder or administrator of school systems, the Department of Education focuses on filling gaps in state and local support for education, as well as responding to national crises in education.

According to Ed.gov, the overall mission of the Department of Education is to promote achievement in U.S. schools and prepare the nation for global competition by promoting academic excellence and ensuring equal access to education resources. In this capacity, the department makes recommendations for education reform to the President and assists in preparing legislative proposals that are presented to Congress by the White House.

In order to determine areas where education support is most needed, research and data collection are two of the main tasks carried out by the Department of Education. When areas of need are identified, the department brings them to the attention of the president and Congress. The department also uses its research to define education goals. Once goals have been defined, they are used to determine how federal education funds will be dispersed.

The Department of Education uses the national media to draw attention to education issues and gain support for its goals. ED uses articles and speeches to promote its education messages. It also sponsors education programs and initiatives like Blue Ribbon Schools and No Child Left Behind. In addition to working closely with the President, the Secretary of Education promotes education goals by making personal appearances in schools and other public settings. A glance at Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s schedule will give some idea of the extent of the department’s outreach.

Besides conducting research and focusing national attention on important education issues, the DoED is responsible for enforcing federal laws that pertain to education. This often means protecting the civil rights of students who are denied equal educational opportunities due to race, color, national origin, gender, disability or age.

ED is by far the smallest of the 15 Cabinet agencies in terms of staffing but has the third largest budget (only the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services have larger budgets). The department has about 5,000 employees, with 3,600 located in Washington, D.C., and the other 1,400 working in 10 regional offices located throughout the United States. In 2007-08 (the last year for which ED figures are available), approximately 55 million students in grades pre-K through 12 were served by the Department of Education. These students attended about 100,000 public schools and 34,000 private schools. Support in the form of financial aid was provided to about 10 million college and university students in undergraduate programs as well.

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Photos by Tulane Publications

Any individual has to consider many factors when moving to a new city, ranging from professional opportunities to quality of life. For a teacher, those facts might include job prospects, salary, school quality and any number of personal factors having to do with culture, landscape and taste. The great cities for young teachers listed in this article offer competitive salaries, good job prospects and also take into account other important factors that are often overlooked.

Due to the recent state of the economy, teacher layoffs have become very common, and it is difficult to finds a state or even a school district where some layoffs have not occurred in the last few years. And in most of the nation’s school districts, layoffs are determined by seniority, meaning that young teachers — regardless of passion and talent — are the first to go. While it is obvious that veteran teachers deserve respect, admiration and job security, a number of compelling arguments have been made against these rules. The cities listed in this article have all either managed to avoid the recent spate of layoffs and/or include factors other than seniority in their decision-making process.

1. Fort Worth, TX
Full time first-year teacher salaries begin at $45,405 in Fort Worth, with higher salaries offered to teachers in high-need areas. Texas has a particular demand for teachers of ESL, foreign languages, science, math and special education. And while many of the nation’s school districts have been forced to lay off teachers to meet budgetary needs, Fort Worth has recently managed to avoid making any cuts by offering a retirement incentive program.

2. Phoenix, AZ
The average teacher salary in Arizona is $46,378, according to the National Education Association. Arizona has a particular need for ESL and math teachers, with shortages in some other areas as well. And Arizona is one of eight states that have legislated against first in, last out layoff decisions, providing effective young teachers with a degree of job security.

3. Washington, D.C.
Washington D.C. teachers average higher salaries than teachers in any of the 50 states, with an average of $62,557, according to the NEA. The District’s controversial IMPACT program rewards highly effective teachers with bonuses as large as $25,000 and yearly salary increases as high as $20,000. While those numbers are attractive, they come at the expense of a certain degree of job security as teachers rated as ineffective risk quickly losing their jobs.

4. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
According to the NEA, the average teacher salary in Oklahoma is $43,846, which may not sound impressive. But Oklahoma also has one of the lowest cost-of-living indices in the nation. When adjusted for cost-of-living, Oklahoma teachers make more money than most U.S. professionals. The city is also home to one Newsweek’s most highly rated high schools in the nation, Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics. Oklahoma has a particular need for teachers in the areas of business, math, science, English, foreign languages, music and special education. Oklahoma has also passed legislation prohibiting layoff decisions from being made solely on the basis of seniority.

5. Colorado Springs, Colorado
The average teacher salary in Colorado Springs is $46,000. Colorado teacher shortage areas include foreign languages, math, natural sciences, music and special education. Colorado prohibits school districts from making first in, last out layoff decisions, and Colorado Springs ranks 15th on Parenting.com’s 2011 list of the best cities for families.

6. Toledo, Ohio
The average teacher salary in Ohio is $50,314. With a graduation rate of 86.7 percent, is it any wonder Toledo is one of Parenting.com’s top ten cities for education? Ohio teacher shortages exist in the areas of art, English, foreign languages, math, science, social studies and special education. And Ohio has banned first in, last out layoffs, so when layoffs do occur, effective young teachers will have a degree of security.

7. Boise, Idaho
The average teacher salary in Idaho is $45,178, according to the NEA. Boise even makes Dailyfinance.com’s list of the the ten best U.S. cities for raising a family, due in part to generous education funding. According to that website, 92.8 percent of Boise’s adults hold high school diplomas, ranking it eighth in the nation for high school graduation. Idaho has teacher shortages in many areas including art, English, economics, literacy, math, health and music. Like most of the other states on this list, Idaho has banned first in, last out layoffs to protect the jobs of effective beginning teachers.

Photo by Anthony Turducken

The top schools in Louisiana offer teachers the opportunity to work with high-achieving students from all backgrounds, with the support and resources that make it possible for both students and educators to succeed. Getting hired by these institutions will require more than Louisiana teacher certification, but dedicated and passionate teachers have nothing to lose by applying to these fine school:

Benjamin Franklin High School
Benjamin Franklin High School is not just one of the top schools in Louisiana, it is one of the top schools in the nation. This charter school serves New Orleans’s brightest youth, including about 40 percent who are economically disadvantaged and 50 percent non-white. In 2009, Businessweek rated Ben Franklin the No. 1 high school in Louisiana based on overall academic performance, and Ben Franklin rated 27th on both U. S. News & World Report’s and Newsweek’s 2011 national high school rankings, higher than any other Louisiana school. The school is located in the Orleans Parish school district in the city of New Orleans, but as a magnet school, it draws qualified applicants from school districts throughout the city.

Baton Rouge Magnet High School
Baton Rouge Magnet High School is the second-ranked Louisiana high school on Newsweek’s 2011 list of the nation’s best high schools. The school is located in the East Baton Rouge Parish school district in the city of Baton Rouge, and with a 100 percent graduation rate and a 92 percent college enrollment rate, working with these engaged and successful young people will be a rewarding job for any teacher. The 26-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio will allow you to work a little more closely with your students than you would be able to in most public schools.

Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts
Located in the city of Natchitoches, Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts is a competitive residential magnet school which students attend for their last one, two or three years of high school. LSMSA is the third-ranked Louisiana high school on Newsweek’s 2011 list of the nation’s best high schools. The school has a 98 percent graduation rate and a 99 percent college enrollment rate. The 15-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio provides educators with the opportunity to really get to know their students, fostering a level of academic and creative engagement rare in public schools.

Calvin High School
Calvin, in the Winn Parish school district of the city of Calvin, is one of only three high schools listed on the Louisiana Department of Education’s list of “High Performing, High Poverty” schools. Of its students, 60.4 percent receive free or reduced lunch, yet 85.7 percent graduate — which is 15 percent above state average. One key to the school’s success is its small size, serving 316 students with a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.5-to-1, according to SchoolDigger.com. Calvin is the perfect destination for teachers interested in working closely with economically disadvantaged children in one of Louisiana’s best schools.
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You can find out how to become a teacher in Louisiana here.

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