Application Ratio: This really depends on the schools location. Despite all the talk of elite schools on this board, there are a LOT of tier 2 schools. The problem for you is very few if any of them do special ed, so while there arent a lot of candidates, there also arent a lot of vacancies.

Stepping Down: Yeah you pretty much have to move up or stay where you are. The only time you can really step down is when your moving from say teaching to administration. Any head is going to have serious concerns why you took a step down, and more then likely they will make assumptions, without ever having the opportunity to explain why.

If your going to take a step down for a short term assignment or post, its better to just leave it off the resume.

Yes i worked as a consultant in HK. It was in education and involved some training but it wasnt actually teaching kids.

I'm also single, so my costs and expenses would be different then a happilly married couple with/without a family.

No they wont accept solely a recommendation letter from a parent. What I'm saying is that in ADDITION to your usual "supervisory" letters of reference, the higher tier and elite school often would like to see testimonial letters from parents, staff, students, etc.

I hate to guess, because in a city like HK, "modest living" can mean very, very different things depending on who you are, how many kids you have, etc, etc.

Can two people live off two incomes at that level in HK, sure pretty well actually.
Can you find housing on the mainland, yeah, but youd make up for it with more costs to transportation.
Is there "reasonable" day care in HK, well depends on what you define as "reasonable"?
Honestly, HK is just an expensive city no matter how you cut it.

Here are some very general figures for living in HK (this is an AVERAGE, Discovery Bay/Victoria Bay would be a lot higher, etc.)

The Consumer Price Index is 80.5 (that means that HK is about 19.5% cheaper to live in then New York City (NYC)).

The Rent Index is 98.6 (meaning apartment rental costs are only 1.4% lower then NYC)

Local Purchasing Power Factor is 89.4 (meaning your discretionary income "buys" about 9.6% less then you could afford in NYC).

Some average prices (all prices are AVERAGES, and are in USD):

Restaurants:
Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant 7.57 $
Meal for 2, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course 52.40 $
Combo Meal at McDonalds or Similar 4.16 $
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter draught) 4.14 $
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) 2.65 $
Cappuccino (regular) 4.57 $
Coke/Pepsi (0.33 liter bottle) 1.33 $
Water (0.33 liter bottle) 1.07 $

Markets:
Milk (regular), 1 liter 2.88 $
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g) 1.82 $
Eggs (12) 2.55 $
Fresh Cheese (1kg) 15.15 $
Chicken Breasts (Boneless, Skinless), (1kg) 6.28 $
Apples (1kg) 3.05 $
Oranges (1kg) 2.63 $
Potato (1kg) 1.38 $
Lettuce (1 head) 1.03 $
Water (1.5 liter bottle) 1.79 $
Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) 14.34 $
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) 1.19 $
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) 1.52 $
Pack of Cigarettes (Marlboro) 5.61 $

Transportation:
One-way Ticket (local transport) 0.98 $
Monthly Pass 59.04 $
Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) 2.35 $
Taxi 1km (Normal Tariff) 2.22 $
Gasoline (1 liter) 2.02 $

Sports And Leisure:
Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult 82.49 $
Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) 5.37 $
Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat 10.35 $

Clothing And Shoes:
1 Pair of Levis 501 103.51 $
1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, ...) 55.93 $
1 Pair of Nike Shoes 78.30 $
1 Pair of Men Leather Shoes 114.53 $

Utilities:
Basic (Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) 122.23 $
1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff (no discounts or plans) 0.09 $
Internet (6 Mbps, Flat Rate, Cable/ADSL) 24.24 $

Rent (Per Month):
Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre 1,762.69$
Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre 1,112.67$
Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre 5,540.20$
Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre 3,164.25$

All of this I heard while eavesdropping on various conversations, mainly in out teachers work room. I was trying to piece some of it together.

First, in my opinion Chinese International Schools where ever they are tend to have some of the least generous packages.

The salary for a BA+4 years is $69K, and for an MA +8 years is $70+K. They offer a relocation stipend of $7,500 which is pretty high and would equate to most schools packages if you added the individual components. Yes they pay a little higher, but this is offset by the lack of a housing package. Its very similar to a european package, and really they just want to simply the process. After all those benefits at the end of the day are just different forms of money. Id actually say its a plus, because you can control where you want to live and how much you want to spend as opposed to living in provided housing. You also dont have to haggle over dependents and spousal benefits. You get $7,500 you buy your tickets (which you can shop for cheaply0, and you find a short term apartment or hotel until you find something more long term. The school does provide support and assistance in sorting these things out.

The lack of tuition waiver is something i cant really excuse. The honest answer is they rally dont want teachers (single or couples) with kids.

When elite schools hire someone they want "best fit" and that means with everyone at the school. Hiring committees at elite schools can include parents, teachers, staff, even students. Its not that uncommon. Parents want to know how you relate to the, same goes for students, staff, and other teachers. Are you a team player or a management suck up is what it really comes down too.

Its more of a trend in International schools really. (You need a parent referral for your Search profile). Do they count, yes, how much thats not a question I can answer, depends on how much influence any certain sub group has in the hiring process.

Im interested in what teachers globally think of their licensing certifying authority? What do you think? Do you pay too much? Do you have too much professional development? Are the rules overly restrictive. Does teaching internationally create more problems for you? Does your agency/ministry "do anything" for you?

Lastly, what do you pay to maintain your certification?

So I sent off my email to our canadian teachers regarding, and di the go crazy. So i dont get it whats with canadian teachers and the BCCT??? The impression i got is one of mortal enemies, which just caused a lot of conversations about how such and such country/province really puts the screws to its teachers to maintain certification (London, and Australia seem to be the worse offenders, or at least most talked about). So what am i missing about the BCCT???

Thats not all that impossible, depends on the lifestyle you live and where you are at. The elites pay very nice packages. You need a school with a low cost of living that pays well, and you need to be frugal.

Personally i blame the "ESL/Language school" crowd that tried to do a couple years teaching ESL and using that for forgiveness.

I'll admit international teaching and loan forgivness is not my area of expertise at all, and I think its pretty muddy water.
In my experience a LOT of it has to do with which particular examiner on any particular day just happens to get your application packet in front of them. You might get lucky, you might get unlucky. All totaled the schools with a "better" chance are pretty few.

My biggest gripe is that theres so many different interpretations depending on what web site you go through, or who you ask. I've gotten a dozen different answers when I was deeply looking into this, and I think the majority of customer service people just have no experience in this type of scenario.

I pretty much gave up, and have over a quarter million in student loan debt, which unless its forgiven I have no hope of paying back. I guess the one good thing is they cant garnish salary/wages outside the USA.

If you find anything out keep me updated, please.

@BobStrauss

Are you trying to qualify for loan forgiveness under the USA "2007 College Cost Reduction and Access Act" or the "Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program"???

If you are I want to wish you better luck then me. I was denied under both programs. For the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program the school pretty much has to be a US school. For the College Cost Reduction and Access Act the school has to be "public" non-profit, privates dont qualify. It was one of the factors for me taking my current position as were a municipal school (public) and even then im not sure it will count (fingers crossed).

About the only thing you can get forgiven working overseas was surprisingly my Perkins loans which are fine with non profit schools anywhere in the world really, or for profit schools if you teach in special education. My Perkins loans werent a lot but this will be my fifth year, so afterwords my Perkins loans will be gone.

The only other ways to get loan forgivness teaching abroad are:

1) Teaching overseas in the Peace Corp. (not because your teaching but because its the Peace Corp.).

2) Teaching for DODEA (DoDDS).

3) Teaching at a DOS assisted school (and only if you teach in a critical needs area). Some people i know have made it work. Though my understanding is that "overseas" applications are THROUGHLY reviewed, and many are rejected.

We check the certification online of every finalist candidate. Its just to easy not too, and when it comes to various accrediting and regulatory bodies, thats not something you want to have to explain to the media how teacher x has been teaching in your school without a valid teaching credential.

That being said its less the school you have to worry about, and more the parents. They are pretty savvy when it comes to computers and they often google teachers and check their background when their kid has a new teacher, and while its not EVERY parent, it only takes one, to bring to the heads attention your certification has expired or is not valid. When they do find out the question is going to be "WHY" was it suspended, and thats when rumors and stories and the gossiping start.

Aside from that the non practice yearly fee is $60 and the practice is $120, yeah its double but thats really a small difference in amounts. It wouldnt be worth it to me for $60 to try to sneak by.

Average salary with a BA is around $38K-$40K a year (USD). Thats a very rough estimate.

As for cost of living the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is 56%, meaning that costs (excluding housing) are about 44% less then costs in New York City (NYC). The Local Purchasing Power (LPP) is 105, which means that you can "buy" about 5% more then you could in NYC given the average local wage (which is about $1,600USD a month in disposable income). I give both numbers because most school provide housing.

Below are some "average" costs: (all prices are in USD)

Restaurants

Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant 4.51 $
Meal for 2, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course 22.20 $
Combo Meal at McDonalds or Similar 4.82 $
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter draught) 3.94 $
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) 4.99 $
Cappuccino (regular) 1.91 $
Coke/Pepsi (0.33 liter bottle) 0.35 $
Water (0.33 liter bottle) 0.29 $

Markets
Milk (regular), 1 liter 1.39 $
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g) 1.09 $
Eggs (12) 3.32 $
Fresh Cheese (1kg) 9.68 $
Chicken Breasts (Boneless, Skinless), (1kg) 5.81 $
Apples (1kg) 2.06 $
Oranges (1kg) 1.74 $
Potato (1kg) 0.96 $
Water (1.5 liter bottle) 0.93 $
Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) 12.62 $
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) 1.89 $
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) 1.30 $
Pack of Cigarettes (Marlboro) 1.84 $

Transportation
One-way Ticket (local transport) 0.51 $
Monthly Pass 35.00 $
Taxi 1km (Normal Tariff) 2.60 $
Gasoline (1 liter) 0.31 $

Utilities (Monthly)
Basic (Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) 39.90 $
1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff (no discounts or plans) 0.17 $
Internet (6 Mbps, Flat Rate, Cable/ADSL) 74.25 $

Sports And Leisure
Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult 47.68 $
Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) 20.00 $
Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat 8.20 $

Clothing And Shoes
1 Pair of Levis 501 70.87 $
1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store 47.36 $
1 Pair of Nike Shoes 93.47 $
1 Pair of Men Leather Shoes 74.93 $

I left out some of the more "adult" orientated activities as they arent appropriate for this forum. They also represent costs in the overall region, not a specific city, which could vary considerably. The largest expenditure of discritionary income is on restaurants.

Do you have a link or source people can go to??? Several of my teachers are Canadian certificate holders and i'd like to give them a heads up and information they can go to.