I have been watching this site for the last 5 or 6 months, sometimes I make some comments, but most of the time I just read them. We are planning on moving to Montana this summer and I am wondering if some of you wonderful people could give us some advice.

I am currently a teacher at a residential facility for young males 12-21, so I am considering looking for a teaching job in Montana. I can teach Art, Reading, Special Education and/or Elementary.

My husband is a CDL truck driver who plows snow in the winter and thought maybe he could get a job doing the same in Montana. He also knows how to use heavy equipment such as bulldozers, backhoes, dump trucks, loaders, skid-steers etc.

We have a 15 soon to be 16 year old son who likes sports and is a good student. So how do our prospects sound? Do you have any suggestions for us as to where we should be looking for jobs and or housing?

You may know that Miles City has a youth correctional facility - Pine Hills so if you still find that work rewarding you might apply there.

Jobs in Montana - particularly in Miles City, appear to pay far less than jobs in Seattle, where I came from, but living really is cheaper here.

The folks who have lived here longer might be able to give answers to some of your other questions. Good luck.

Energy companies are adding hundreds of jobs in the MonDak region over the next year. Sanjel has offices in Miles City. They announced earlier this week they are adding a large training center in Billings and are hiring very soon. No oilfield experience necessary, but a CDL is. More info an a link here:

http://www.examiner.com/e...g-facility

MT Dept. of Transportation occasionally is looking for maintenance workers to drive plows and run equipment.

There is a huge difference between eastern and western Montana, in jobs, in housing prices, in topography. Most eastern Montanans are familiar with western Montana as well so we can probably help there. So, which part of the state were you looking at?

I am currently a teacher at a residential facility for young males 12-21, so I am considering looking for a teaching job in Montana. I can teach Art, Reading, Special Education and/or Elementary.

A certain poster named "mule train" has been engaged in those occupations in the past, and albeit that he lives out-of-state, can probably make some positive suggestions on where to look.

As far as your husband is concerned...the other commentors have offered great advice. This is a good time to be a truck driver with a CDL in eastern Montana, considering all the economic setbacks going on in the rest of the country.

You might check with Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch in Billings. Housing in Miles City is extremely scarce. You can get a house in Billings for the same price as one in Miles City right now. There are obvious differences in the two places. If you want slow, small town head to Miles City. If you want a faster pace and a larger variety of entertainment such as theatre, movies, and museums, then Billings would be your best bet. I grew up in MC and lived there before moving to Billings about 8 years ago so I know both pretty well.

http://www.ybgr.org/employment.php

For your son, MC is a great place to be. Of course, there is the "there's nothing to do", but if he is into sports, MC is the town! High school football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, all good choices for quality (if not some of the best in the state) programs.

Even though I too had to "get away", Billings isn't all that much better than anywhere else, and if you're going to come to the beautiful MT, MC is a great choice for smaller, but not too small area. It truely was a great place to grow up!

Thank you for the great responses. I forgot to mention that my husband is an avid hunter and we all enjoy fishing as a past time, not that it will make a huge difference. We haven't really decided on a location, my thought is if one of us can find a job, that will get us out there, then the other can look in the same area. I think it would be better if my husband got one first, because I am willing to work at most anything, but he isn't. I once owned a floral shop, a greenhouse business, taught for headstart, worked as a photographer and even worked at K-mart. Looking into Sanjel, he did drive for a gas well drilling company once. Once again thank you!

Hunting for deer, antelope, and upland birds is outstanding in this area. Lots of places to go fishing as well although you will have to drive to red lodge if you want to catch trout from a mountain stream.

Re: Housing in MC isn't as desperate as it was. We had three pipe laying crews living in the area and they filled any available space. This has changed since the first of the year. But many are electing to build as there is plenty of space. Which brings up an often over looked expense. We travel long distances at will, because of the "space", and think little of it. Commuting isn't much of a challenge were you to choose to live and work in different places.

[This message has been edited by Bill Zook (1/27/2011)]

My advice to is get out the residential treatment industry and find a job in public schools if you have the proper licenses.

Why do you say that? I did think about getting out of teaching all together, but it is what I know. I have taught at a residential facility for 9 years. We have come under some HEAVY scrutiny lately for several reasons and I am tired of the stress.

Having taught for 20 years at our residential facility, I think the suggestion to teach outside of a government facility is prompted by the inadequate pay compared to our public schools. Plus, the levels of administration aren't very clear resulting in several bosses, some of which are ligitimate and some that are presumed. I found the administration most frustrating due to a lack of understanding of the role education played in the facility. Very difficult to plan an organized and meaningful approach to helping kids who have been in trouble with school for the most part of their lives. We dealt with much whimsy on the part of administration.

[This message has been edited by Bill Zook (1/28/2011)]

Thank you for putting that out there. The school I work in sounds so very different, still stressful. The pay is totally the opposite. I make more where I am than I ever dreamed of making in a public school. The administration, although they are probably the biggest downfall of the job, are still very supportive in most areas. Teachers have a principal, the aides have a trainer, and everyone else also has a hierarchy to follow. The rules seem to change and that I can fault to the administration. When I started 9 years ago everything was black and white. Now we have a lot of grey areas and very little black and white.

On our own behalf I think we too work with kids who have been the terror of their home school and it doesn't take us to long to show them that school can be a good place to be. We also test at the bottom of our states "report card" but we have 200 of the kids no one else wants. We hear reports monthly about our facility being shut down because of our test scores, but as we all know we do our job with what we are given. On the other hand we are not a juvenile justice system, we are a last chance before jail for some of these kids.

The so called therapeutic holds are being phased out bit by bit and then I know it is time to move on. All in all though in 9 years I have been lucky, only 1 punch, 1 kick, several bites, got spit on once and threatened almost daily. I know some who have had broken bones.

Sorry didn't mean to go on and on there.

Well said. It should also be said, after visiting with someone who is currently working in our facility, that the new superintendent is making some changes that have been long over due. Good to hear.

Ok, so I have been looking on the state job site and all the jobs seem to be in the eastern part of the state is there a reason for that?

Most people that move here want to go to the mountains.

And Levi you moved to CA instead?

So I see a job opening for a heavy equipment operator in the Fort Peck Res. Anyone know anything about that? Also one for a company: Victory Equity Construction in Missoula (not east!) any info anyone could give me?

Thanks

I'm not in CA, although I did live there for a while. I'm about 50 miles east of MC, but my satellite internet shows me at wherever it happens to come back down, which lately has been CA.

Fort Peck is quite a ways North of Miles City. If you like lots of open space and not a lot of people it might be for you. If nothing else there's a really big lake you can go boating/fishing in.

[This message has been edited by Levi Forman (2/1/2011)]

Fort Peck is very open and very pretty...although also very cold and very snowy at the moment!!!

One thing to consider about Fort Peck are the opportunities for you if your husband gets a job there. Glasgow and Wolf Point are both very small towns so the chances of both of you finding a job might be lower than in Miles City or Billings.

My husband is more picky about the amount of money he makes and the types of jobs he is willing to do. That is why I think he should get a job first. I did see an ad for someone to work in a flower shop in Wolf Point, but I am sure it will be filled by the time I get there. I have applied to work for the Cooperative Extension and they also have "agencies" scattered around the state.

You answered your own question...stress is the key. Working in an environment where I have to wrestle 15 year old kids who are trying to kill themselves or others is a nightmare.

The money in public schools is better, at least out West. East coast has more people, so more contracts...out here (CO) they have to import crazy kids from out of state to make ends meet.

Residential treatment facility schools are run year round. In public schools you get an average of 13 weeks off a year...you won't find that in residential.

But then again I left Montana because the pay sucked for public school teachers. Not sure that has changed.

If pay sucked for public school teachers in Montana and the few teaching jobs I have looked at are almost what I make now, then tell me where you work, because I want to make the big bucks too. I thought Montana was comparable, you want to see sucky teachers pay look at the Carolina's.

What do teaching jobs pay in Montana?

Our Districts starts new teachers (first-year out of college) out at around $40K. We provide housing during the school and pay for travel to and from the lower 48s three times a school year. We provide stipends for continuing education / professional development. Maximum class load is 10 students.

What district? I have my Masters Degree and 11 years experience, are you hiring?

[This message has been edited by Karla Gleason (2/3/2011)]

I think there are still some openings, but I'm not certain in what areas/specialties - shoot me an email if you want contact info.

Have you considered North East Wyoming? The terrain is very similar to SE Montana, we are an hour from the mountains, there is no state income tax, a teacher with your experience would start at 45-50K, there are plenty of truck driving or other such jobs that all start at $18-22/hr. The community has some drawbacks...building friendship can be a little difficult, housing and food are a little higher priced than other places. Still, it is a decent place to live.

FYI... the US Census Statistics for average teacher pay...Alaska #12, Colorado #24, Wyoming #29, and Montana #46.(2006)

#1 was California and #50 was South Dakota.

I would caution trying to get a teaching job in CO though...the state is broke. They cut k-12 education. Most of the larger school districts have had to cut anywhere from $30-40 million over the last two years, and they are expected to do the same this year. My district is projecting a #25 million dollar cut. Translation, unless you have tenure in public schools in CO, don't expect to find a job.

Lastly...NY is #5.

The pay may not be bad. But living in NY sucks! Our wonderful new governor has some great ideas. Consolidate all the small school into large schools, close all the alternative schools, cut out state workers like Department of Transportation workers and social service workers, and he is proposing to close all small town post offices, there should only be one post office in a 50 mile radius. When we get these governors that grew up in New York City they have some crazy ideas that they want to force on the rest of us. This one even refuses to live in the governors mansion in Albany, because he likes his own town house in the city and his children go to a private school in the city and he doesn't want them to have to move, also his wife is a talk show host and works out of the city. We once "voted" to make New York City it's own state, but they like the benefits of being attached to the rest of us. Do I sound bitter toward NYC? I am, great place to visit once in your life, but it really sucks when you have to support it.

Our taxes go up every year. I own 28 acres in the county with a four bedroom, three bath house that I have built, a bit at a time. My taxes are well over $4000 at this point and now we aren't even going to have a small town school like I wanted when we moved here. Our sales tax is 8%, we pay about $3.40 for a gal of gas, the rest is probably comparable. Business are moving out of town and the people will follow. More of a retirement community as it is. So all of that is why we are looking to move.

I think we should get a new flag. Ours is kind of boring. Plus, it should say Oro y Plata y Coal.

So how many state motto's still hold true for any state?

Bob, I thought it was: "Hold my beer and watch this!"

I think it should say : "At least it's not Utah."

I must say Karla, that your governor is espousing the Republican littany re: downsizing govt. by eliminating jobs and services. Consolidation of schools has nothing to do with education, only the costs. We battle it constantly here in MT too. Remember, we are a 'red' state even though we're also smart enough to elect 2 D. senators and one R. representative. We mostly go for the best candidate but lean to conservatives.

That would be "Oro y Plata y Carbón".

A few years ago, the anit-immigrant crowd was hot to get every state to make English their official language and not allow any other language to be used in official state business. It was noted that to do that in Montana we would need to change the state motto and the name of the state.

Bill, the problem I see with consolidation of schools is for one, the bus rides for my son at this time is about an hour. To consolidate with the larger school district would add at least an additional 30 minutes or more, so does that mean he misses some of the school day or he then leaves the house at 6:30 in the morning and returns at 4. Also, being in a graduating class of 60 means smaller class sizes and better opportunities of being "chosen" for teams, clubs, etc, whereas in a larger graduating class of say 300 students some will fall through the cracks or be left out because you can't have a fourth of the class on the soccer team.

Finally, by consolidating means fewer teachers of which I am one and if I lose my job, I guess we might as well move! The area we live in has a large teachers college and when a job opening occurs in local schools they often get over a hundred applications for one job. Many teachers work as aides to get into the school in hopes of getting a job later. Maybe consolidating will mean saving money, but is it really worth it? When budget cuts are too drastic I guess they see it as an only option. I try to be open minded, but I also know what I want for my family and I am willing to work hard to achieve it.

That's not the state motto, Hal. That's what Barkus said right before impact.