I tend to agree that everyone has a right to post and if I don't like what someone has to say, I simply won't read it... I think it's healthy to have different points of view even if they come from opposite directions. You never really know when someone bashes a school/place/adminsitrator if they just have a grudge or if it's truly a bad place. The same goes with glowing reviews..Is it the administration trying a little PR in order to more easily recruit people?

Personally, I always prefer postings from someone that is able to see both sides of a coin. It's rarely black or white and there are many shades of grey.

Frankly the question you need to ask yourself is how much you can put in the bank and whether you are prepared to work for that amount. I also have about the same amount of experience and have accepted a position for less than that for the joy of going to my next school/country. Yet, In my last position, I was putting more money in the bank than the salary you've been offered.

I would be a lot more interested in finding out about the working conditions and the reputation of the school , the students and the colleagues you'll have and what it's like living in the country you chose than the $ because that's what will make the difference between being happy or miserable.

I had a job offer at Narmer school, I received this with no interviews and no reference check. Sent me a contract by email pretty well right away...

Needless to say I declined... that certain smell of desperation wasn't enticing at all!

There is absolutely no need to file a determination of non residency. I've consulted many tax professionals on the matter and in fact they suggested NOT to do it as it raises flags with Revenue Canada.

I know tons of canadians that are not abiding by the rules and doing things like keeping cars, houses, credit cards, driving licenses, going on unpaid leave from their teaching jobs, have their spouse still working in Canada. I mean these are fairly big things not to do yet I know of no one that has had any problems. It only becomes an issue if you get audited which doesn't seem to happen very often. That being said, I wouldn't want ti to be me. Then it becomes up to you to prove you were not a resident at the time. As usual, Revenue Canada is never clear with the rules but since teachers salary are never an enormous amount of money, I think it's unlikely there would be serious problems as long as you didn't break any serious rules like using your healthcare and keeping a job waiting. There's absolutely no need to fill out a tax return unless you have revenue coming in such as a rental property.

I have over 15 years of teaching experience in a variety of countries and I've almost never taught what I was trained in which is PE and when I did teach it, it was never full time. Most schools will assign a teaching load based on their needs and your ability. As long as you can get through the paperwork to get your work visa, the rest is usually worked out during timetabling. In smaller school, it's very common to land in subjects you are not necessarily comfortable teaching because there are gaps in the timetable.

If you're very interested in a subject, it's also very common to position yourself after a year or two and move towards that area once you've been hired and have experience at the school. In a precious post, when it was time to renew, I said I'd be interested in staying only if I taught in the area I was most interested in and since they wanted me to stay, I got the change. Frankly most good administrators know that a piece of paper doesn't make a good teacher and they'd rather look at your experience and references to make their decision.

I have worked for ESF and the salary is more than adequate. You can easily save 40 000US/year if you're single, have more than 10 years experience and you don't go on crazy spending sprees. Although there are currently serious issues because of a subsidy cut from the government, the staff and admin are very professional and the students are great.