To all of you who think getting certified is hard - try actually teaching ;-)! wifemomteacher is dead on - kids are hard but you can work with them - its the rest of the job (duty, curriculum, parents) that is inflexible and you have to adjust, develop a thick skin and tenacity. As far as "Highly Qualified" status goes you can thank "No Child Left Behind" for the difficulties there - if you don't like it I encourage you ALL to write/call our Representatives and Senators in Washington and tell them exactly why.

Teacher 56: Wake County has a program entitled, "Bridges", that is designed specifically to mentor lateral entry teachers with no teaching experience. It is an excellent program.

Your husband should contact individual schools that post science job positions on the WCPSS website. Also, another way to get your foot in the door is through substitute teaching.

To those considering lateral entry in Wake County: be careful and have another idea in the back of your mind. My husband has a Ph.D in science, is NC certified in several areas, and has been trying to get into WCPSS for 4 years! He finally spoke with one principal who laid it on the line with him and said that my husband has no public school experience and WCPSS principals have so many public school experienced applicants that they can and do overlook other candidates. They want people who know what to do and not have to mentor or waste time with helping them learn the ropes. I am fed up with WCPSS saying how there is a shortage of teacher applicants...that is a lot of baloney.

funstuffhere, we have many veterans working in the area school systems as teachers. Some are lateral entry and are following the protocol of receiving NC certification. Others realized the value of getting certified while still serving our Country, and entered with a valid certifiticate.

There is a big difference in teaching in the military classes and teaching in the public middle and high schools. Also, Wake County has the financial resources to pick and choose their employees from the candidates that meet NC certification requirements. If you REALLY want to teach, apply to the school systems in the surrounding counties that are less wealthy, and I bet someone will give you the opportunity. But you will still have to meet the certification requirements of NC within a reasonable time frame.

gabi wrote "I left the degree program and completed the psych degree after fighting with my advisor over a lesson plan I created that integrated a full learning of a math topic instead of being a lesson that was entirely dependent on the graphing calculator to do the work for them"

gabi, if you could not stick with the degree program because you disagreed with your advisor over a lesson plan, you made the right choice. That disagreement is nothing compared to the ones teachers have everyday with administrators over the curriculum and methods we are expected to teach. Truely good teachers feel the calling enough to put up with this and still find ways to do what is best for students in spite of conflicts. Teaching is not a shut your door and do what you want profession. You have to follow the "rules" of the current curriculum, administration, and team you work with. Great teachers accomplish this while also finding creative ways to meet the needs of their students.