[quote="one2many"].... and his name wouldn't be BobStrauss would it? :-)[/quote]

Haha nope, though I wouldn't mind trading salaries with the guy. :wink:

BAndung International School has a great reputation among the local expat community. If you do choose to look into working at BIS, I'm sure you'll find many other people willing to say the same.

Now, the local Indonesian government on the other hand...

Bandung International School sounds like the perfect fit. Plus, from everyone I've spoken with, the principal there is an incredible man to work for.

[quote="heyteach"]Bob, I can say with 99.9% certainty that a school in a foreign country, unless it's a DODEA school, isn't going to qualify for your loan forgiveness. The implication in these laws is that you are doing public service in the U.S., and often in "underserved" areas; teaching kids from wealthy and powerful families in another country probably won't cut it. I used to teach on a reservation and had several colleagues who were able to work off their loans teaching there. That place was much more third-world than someplace like Bangkok or even Quito, where I used to teach. Those were probably the best 19 years of my life.

If I were you, I would check and double- and triple-check whether a school in foreign country would qualify, and get it in writing. And please feel free to correct me if you find out it does!

On the other hand, if you can land a good-paying job in another country with housing thrown in, you can start paying down those loans. You'll just have to be somewhat frugal.

I wonder if serving in the Peace Corps qualifies??[/quote]


I know what you mean, and I understand entirely what you're getting at. But if the rules state that all 501(3)(c) organizations qualify if they provide school services, then I plan to push for that as much as I can. It's not as if corporations and lobbyists don't exploit tax loopholes themselves with great regularity - and success as well.

Unfortunately my lobbying power doesn't quite match GE's. :wink:

I'll let you know what I find out nonetheless.

This really wouldn't concern me too much, if it weren't for the fact that I am 28 and owe 100k. Even if I paid it off in 10 years, I'd be starting my retirement savings from scratch at age 38 - with a likely chance of a late and frugal retirement.

Worst case scenario, perhaps I can work at Saudi Aramco or some place like that for a few years to pay it down quickly.

I know what you mean, PsyGuy. I did my best to ensure a non-profit school would work, and everything that was listed online awhile back verified that. Now the IBR site has posts indicating it must be US 501(c)(3). Frustrating.

Well, maybe I'll have to change my list of requirements to "any school that allows me to save $20-25k + per year".

:)

Q23 What private non-profit employers qualify as eligible employers for the PSLF Program?
A23 Eligible non-profit employers include those that have received a 501(c)(3) designation from
the IRS. These include [b]most private schools,[/b] colleges, and universities, as well as thousands
of other organizations, agencies, and charities. Your employer will easily be able to tell you if
it has the required IRS designation. The IRS has a searchable database of 501(c)(3)
organizations at http://www.irs.gov/app/pub-78/. (February 3, 2010)
Q24 Can a private employer that has not received a 501(c)(3) designation qualify as a public
service organization for the PSLF Program?
A24 Yes, if the employer is a non-profit organization that meets certain requirements (see below)
and provides one or more of the following public services:
• Emergency management,
• Military service,
• Public safety,
• Law enforcement,
• Public interest law services,
• Early childhood education (including licensed or regulated childcare, Head Start, and statefunded pre-kindergarten),
• Public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly,
• Public health (including nurses, nurse practitioners, nurses in a clinical setting, and full-time
professionals engaged in health care practitioner occupations and health care support
occupations),
• Public education,
• Public library services, and
• School library or other school-based services.
In addition, the employer must not be a labor union, a partisan political organization, or an
organization that is engaged in religious activities (unless the qualifying public services it
provides are unrelated to religious instruction, worship services, or proselytizing). (February 3,
2010)


Private, non-profit schools actually should qualify. But maybe you were right, because now that I'm looking at it, it says that organizations must be 501(c)3, and that if it's not a US non-profit, it probably does not count. Doesn't confirm it one way or the other, however.

This would be really disheartening if that's the case. I probably wouldn't mind going back to public schools in the U.S. for ten years, but I would feel REALLY trapped in doing so. I looked into this in-depth a few years ago, and at that time there was nothing listed about requirements for the non-profits to be US organizations.

Maybe a few international schools are actually based as US non-profits? Might be my only hope.

Just noticed that the schools under this foundation might fit the bill:

http://www.isdfoundation.org/

There is also a Taipei American School Foundation that is registered as a 501(c)(3) that would qualify - but I'm not sure if working for the school is the same thing as the foundation.

[quote="matt"]I could definitely see you in Korea or China. There are a lot of schools that are Tier 2 that would take you. Maybe Seoul Foreign School? Or Shekou International School? Could go to Rumaradee in Bangkok, too.[/quote]


Shekou I will definitely have to consider. The reviews on ISR aren't great, but beggars can't be choosers. ;)

Seoul Foreign School and Ruamrudee in Bangkok are religious schools, however, and that would disqualify me for public service loan forgiveness (which is the reason why I'm seeking non-profit schools).

These are a few other schools I'm thinking of, but I think I might be setting my sights too high. Can't hurt to simply apply though, can it?


Bandung International School (local hire)
Jakarta International School (local hire)
International School of Bogor (local hire)
Nanjing International School
Beijing City International School (snowball's chance?)
International School of Tianjin
Xiamen International School
Utahloy International School Guangzhou
International School of Penang
Korea International School
Qatar Academy (snowball's chance?)
Australian International School Saigon
Saigon South International School
New International School of Thailand (snowballs chance?)
Fukuoka International School
Yokohama International School (snowballs chance?)

My teaching experience will be in English (not ESL) at the 4th and 5th grade levels. I'm also a form (home room) teacher and am involved in CCAs.

I'm not interested in working in Europe at all. Right now I'm in Indonesia, and would prefer to stay in Asia, though the Middle East somewhere (not Saudi) would be okay.

By next year my profile will be this:

BA in Poli Sci
MA in Int'l Studies
US Teaching Cert in ESL (+ Elementary and K-12 Social Studies endorsements)
Two Years (one post-cert) experience in 3rd Tier International School

And these are my priorities (in descending order of importance):

1. non-profit
2. savings potential
3. reasonable work load
4. IB curriculum (training opportunity)
5. general quality of life

Any advice on schools I should apply to? I do understand that I'll be quite limited with my lack of experience.

[quote="PsyGuy"]@Hallier
That's before taxes. You start retirement your first year.


@Daisy
Could be, its one of the areas they are recruiting for. It doesnt really matter though. We wouldnt be a good fit, Id work too much, and get tired, and resentful. They would think I was lazy an uninterested in contributing to the school community/family. I'd either end of quitting or getting fired before the end of my contract. The money with that cost of living is very attractive though, but i became a teacher for the time off.[b] If i wanted to work 50 hours a week id have stayed in the corporate sector.[/b]

(This is where you reply with some personal attack.)[/quote]

Now this is something I can agree with.

The thought of having a reasonable work load and a US pension is VERY appealing.

One problem that I've noticed is that recruitment must be done from inside the US in order to qualify for living quarters allowances. That would be a big problem for me, and many other teachers here who might not be willing to move all the way back to the US in order to have the small chance at getting a DODEA job.

I also wonder if some of these schools are a bit less intense than their Japanese counterparts (ASIJ, Yokohoma IS, etc.)

Anyone have experience working for one? Any feelings about the schools you'd be willing to share?

I did some poking around the DODEA website, and it seems like the packages offered for overseas teachers are fantastic.

The base salaries are fairly standard (45,000 for a MA), but once you add in pay locality rates and giant living allowances, it really gets up there. I did a calculation for a teacher working in Haneda, Japan ... I would be making something like $122,000 - at the bottom of the rung even.

Granted, this is taxed as US income, but the packages offered still sound too good to be true.

[quote="Danda"]Because tax-advantaged accounts are off limits I've been investing in a simple target retirement fund through Vanguard. It adjusts over time and should save me the hassle of adjusting my allocations and paying taxes as I change my allocations over time. After researching and talking to several friends in the investment industry they felt that was a good option. I will be putting untaxed money into these funds and then only have to pay capital gains on them. Also, it's really easy to set up an auto-deduction from your US account, which makes it all even easier.[/quote]


This idea is the best, imo. Some funds (Vanguard's Total Stock Market, for example), are geared toward taxable accounts, with very high tax efficiency.

You may also look into applying for an income tax deduction versus foreign earned income exclusion. Some countries have relationships with the US that provides for this, where every dollar taxed by a foreign government qualifies for a US tax deduction. By using this option, you could still file your income taxes (paying nothing if your foreign tax burden is high enough), and remain qualified for IRA contributions. I'm still looking into doing this myself.

Most importantly, if you are a US citizen, the last thing you want is an overseas brokerage or retirement account. The fees you will pay at overseas brokerages are typically sky high, and then you may have huge tax complications (and real possibility of double taxation) in reporting or transferring any of those funds back into the US. American brokerages also handle paperwork issues (tax reporting forms, for instance) that make your life a lot easier when it comes to dealing with the IRS.

Vanguard's as good as it gets. I'm a converted Boglehead. You should check out their forum sometime if you want to get more answers and ideas on allocations.

[quote="heyteach"]I'm at one now. My schedule is embarrassingly easy. In a two-week cycle there are only two days when I teach five periods. There are a couple of days I only teach two periods, and one day I teach just one class. However, the elementary teachers seem overwhelmed with implementing the PYP, which is new here.

My last school I felt was fairly low stress as well, once I got settled in.[/quote]

What is a "period" exactly .. 30 minutes? 1 hour?

I've heard from some that PYP can be really intense, but I am still very interested in the differentiation and IDP aspect of it.

If it's okay to ask, which country are you in? I'm getting the impression that the Asian schools tend to be more intense, while the schools in South America are a little more laid back. Is there any truth to that generalization?

Do they exist? Are there many good international schools out there that don't give 55+ hour workloads to their teachers?