Got a question about taxes in China for USA teachers. I know other countries have a tax treaty with the USA, so you don't have to pay local taxes for a set number of years. I was wondering if China has something similar. I see on the IRS website (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/china.pdf article 19) it looks like it, but I was wondering if anyone has actual experience trying to use it. Much appreciated!

I've heard some not-so-good things, can't really get into specifics here. PM might be better.

[quote="sid"] When someone says 'I want to get my first admin post', it's doubtful he means to become a librarian. He'd say that. The preparation is completely different in terms of coursework and job experience, there is no common chain of promotion from teacher to librarian/counselor to principal, and schools often, but not always, have librarians/counselors on the teaching pay scale, not the admin pay scale. There is no need to first teach before becoming a librarian/counselor. Librarians/counselors are different from teachers, a good one is worth their weight in gold, but they are not generally admin. [/quote]

I agree with this perspective. Personally I think of admin as those who directly supervise others, usually as a principal/vice principal. Maybe it's just my experiences in the west, but I've never heard of regular counselors/librarians being considered admin.

This is not including the "librarian who supervises 3 campus librarians, 3 additional campus assistant librarians, 6 pages/clerks, a small staff of IT support personal as well as his/her own assistant, in addition to managing a substantial budget". It seems disingenuous to equate this to the duties of a regular librarian.

This is also something I have been considering. How much teaching experience should one have before transitioning into admin? I've heard there's a sweet spot (10-15 years) and having too much can actually hurt you.

Psy mentioned this in another thread, but getting that first admin job seems to be the hardest hurdle. You would almost have to go home to get that initial 2-3 years in admin before going to an international school, right?

[quote="PsyGuy"]Still not that great. The only top tier IS in Vietnam is UNIS in Hanoi. Pearl in HCMC is a solid second tier school. Everything else either suffers from continual problems, is just how the school is run, or is "new".[/quote]

Don't want to change the subject (too much), but have you heard anything about Vietnam - Australia International School? I see they're advertising, and 'preparing' to be accredited via CIS, but can't tell if they're accredited at the moment.

Thanks for the input everyone. It's good to hear different perspectives, since we've all had different experiences. I've decided to not take the position, so the job search continues...

Appreciate the response Psy. Some people may give you a hard time but you always seem to provide honest info, keep it up.

Specifically Ulaanbaatar. I've been offered a job there but I'm not sure, haven't heard much (good or bad) about the country.