What is "AACA Venezuela"? Do you mean ECA (Escuela Campo Alegre) in Caracas, Venezuela?

Nice post Jesatlarge...

As another person who has worked at top tier Asian schools, I think it's also important to look at cost of living. For example, while JIS' starting salaries may not be "as high as rumored", the cost of living in Jakarta, Indonesia is way below Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for most people. Thus, from my experience you'll save more money in Jakarta than in Malaysia if you're even moderately fiscally responsible.

Now that said, most people like the city of Kuala Lumpur more than Jakarta, so overall, so it depends on your lifestyle to a large extent to determine where you will be happiest. I.e., I've been to Singapore many times, and couldn't stand it, but numerous people enjoy the city.

That Director gave you the wrong answer, Pink! Definitely heed the other's advice and move on. This is the real value of this forum- to connect with other international teachers about issues such as this (much like the heads connect on difficult situations they face on the HeadNet).

All valid points, Traveller. Although I over-simplified my observations, there are obvious regional differences and other factors that need to be taken into account. With that all said, we could still easily compile a list of the top 50 international schools world wide based on perceived quality of education, and pay/benefits (which in my mind includes savings potential). The "lifestyle factor" of the destination is so subjective that I believe it would be nearly impossible to quantify since some people prefer an urban lifestyle vs. rural, hot climate vs. change of season, ocean vs. mountains, cultural preferences, proximity to home country, etc. etc.

I understand the "bottom line" decisions of some schools to hire a teaching couple to cut expenses but I can say that the top tier schools I work/worked at are/were willing to suck up the "extra" expense of a better qualified single candidate than hire a team with one questionable candidate. Now the "poor" school I worked for was definitely more interested in saving money and there was way more pressure from the board to do so. Indeed, the better schools I worked for always had a strong Head who was not afraid to communicate assertively to the board that a good school starts with good teachers.

Hey John- I believe you are smart to stay out of the "parent complaints" situation, unless it directly involves you. That's not your role and it could quickly blow up in your face, however well-intentioned you are. I would continue to deflect the situation by informing the parent that there is a process for this type of situation: First, try to resolve it with the teacher in question. If that intervention doesn't work, contact the Ass. Principal or Counselor (if your school has them), and then finally, the Principal. I'd be interested in hearing how other educators handle this situation.

I'm sure you're one of the exceptions, John. :-)

I knew this was going to stir things up but IN GENERAL I believe "those in the know" would agree that schools like Singapore American School in Singapore and/or the Graded School in Brazil are going to have access to better quality applicants than say... Escuela Sampedrana in Honduras or Bali International school in Indonesia, both of which offer poor packages (although located in intersting places).

Some international schools are simply more interested in keeping tuition as low as possible regardless of the quality of education and these are the schools that I avoid. Working with too many local hires and new teachers can be a drag.

Wow, this forum has such potential but the lack of participation is disappointing!

Let's stir things up... :-)

I know this is quite a subjective topic but I have worked in both "lower end" and "higher end" international schools in terms of benefits/salaries and have found that there is no comparison in terms of quality. To put it simply, those international schools that offer better salaries and benefits seem to have "better" teachers and reputations as quality educational institutions. Of course, educators at the lower paying schools would disagree with this- no surprise there and my intention is not to criticize that population. Certainly there are some good educators at all schools, however, all I am saying is that there seems to be a higher proportion at the "good" schools. And this is not to say that all teachers at the "big boy" schools are top-notch either.

Reasons for this?

-Obviously most of the "best and brightest" will be drawn to the better schools, the desire to work with more competent educators, and in a "system" that treats them better

-Educators that feel taken care of better will obviously give more for the institution

-Good teachers at schools with poor pay/benes tend to be younger and leave very quickly to the better schools. Disappointing because those are exactly the types of folks you want to see stick around for longer than the initial 2 year contract! The rich get richer and the lower-tier schools are left scrambling for new candidates more often.

-You can't blame teachers for seeking better jobs as soon as possible as international school teachers in general need to be more careful in saving for retirement than our home country teachers. We don't have the nice pensions to fall back on in our 60s so it is imperative that we save as much as possible as early as possible.

I think there are many international schools that lose sight of this. Are there exceptions to this? Which ones? For example, when most international educators talk about Latin America they mention 4-5 decent schools that pay well and are quality schools, while the rest seem to have negative reputations.

There are numerous schools that will hire educators with non-teaching dependents, however, they are usually for positions that are more difficult to fill and you must have excellent credentials (this is for the quality schools).

Now for the lower paying usually lower-quality schools, you have a much better chance of being considered for a position, however, you will thus be making a low salary with minimum benefits. You need to ask yourself if it is "worth it" to work in such a place. Good luck!

Thanks for the response, Raphael! I found it very enlightening. It's amazing that anyone can make MUCH more money at comparable 3rd world countries in Africa and Asia than in Central America. Even the top schools in South America (ECA-Venezuela, Graded in Brazil, Nido in Chile and a couple others) pay MUCH better than the schools in Central America. It's not even close.

Hopefully, a couple of Central American schools will eventually understand that if they want to compete for the best international educators, then they need to pay competetive wages (and NOT just list their salary as "competitive for Central America"). It does indeed start with the school board and the parent community, though.

Although I am not an English teacher, I have a lot of experience in international schools. It is my opinion that you will be fine with those fantastic credentials. I have known NUMEROUS teachers and even specialists who have filled positions with different degrees or certifications than was posted on the job description. I've seen ESL teachers hired with no ESL endorsements, P.E. teachers without a PE endorsement, Learning Resource teachers with only general K-8 endorsements, School Counselors who have School Psychologist certifications, etc. And that is just off the top of my head. These were all at some of the top schools in the world. This is not to say that these people were unqualified (in fact, without exception they all did a fantastic job), it is just that international schools tend to be more flexible when filling positions (due to a variety of reasons).

They are both quality schools with mostly good reputations and strong packages. You need to ask yourself if you prefer a medium-sized school (Prague) or a large school (HKIS)? Also, do you prefer Europe or Asia? Can't go wrong either way in my opinion.

Like many educators, I have bills to pay at home and other financial goals I hope to achieve. I'm interested in Central American schools but as far as I know, they all seem to pay little.

I know the cost of living is lower in most Central American countries- but the cost of living is also low in places like Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Argentina, Venezuela, and Romania and schools there pay at least moderately well. So are there any central American schools where a teacher with a masters plus 10 years experience can pull in at least $30,000 a year (not including health, moving expenses, and other benefits)? Or is this not in line with reality? Any feedback would be appreciated!

I have a friend who was hired to start next year at ISY. We have been hearing some rumors (Note to school Heads: I refer to them only as rumors at this point until they are confirmed, so please don't write another critical piece in TIE! :-)) that up to 16 current teachers at this school are leaving (this person used the language "desperate" to leave) and that the school is "not being helpful" at all in terms of visas, leaving benefits, etc; That basically, there are some bad feelings between current Admin. and most of these leavers and as a result, Admin. is not being professional.

Can anyone comment on this since I certainly don't want my friend to be put in a bad situation in an unstable country. Does anyone here know anyone who works there to verify the situation. Obviously, my friend can't get any unbiased info. from the Head or other contacts there at this point. Thanks in advance.

It was, overall, a quality fair even though all the vacancies at some schools won't be known for another month or so. There also seemed to be several "tiers" of schools in terms of professional reputations and benefits offered. For example, the "top" schools who garnered the most interest seemed to be (all from my perspective and from numerous talks with other educators and administrators):

Top Tier

-Escuela Campo Alegre in Venezuela (even with the political issues)
-Graded School in Brazil (solid school- only prob. is the tax issue and if you can "handle" Sao Paulo)
-Nido de Aguilas in Chile (Chile is a great place to live)
-Lincoln School in Argentina (school is supposed to be mediocre, package ok, but living in B.A. wonderful)

Middle Tier

-FDR in Lima (some loathe MYP/PYP programs, though. also, the pay isn't as high as the 4 mentioned above)
-Colegio internacional Puerto La Cruz in Venezuela (great package, but tiny oil school)
-Escuela Bella Vista (good package, mixed reviews on the school and Maracaibo)
-Academa Cotopaxi (package pretty low but supposed to be a good school)
-American School of Asuncion (an improving school with a personable, new Headmaster, package is mediocre)

Those were the schools which stood out to me. This is just my perspective, and more opinions are encouraged.