I agree! By Carolyn

I worked with two teachers who were hired over the telephone (mainly because they were from out-of-state), and they came to the school, sight unseen. They had also not really had a chance to meet the faculty, see the school, know the school's and the school district's philosophies, know the class they were getting, etc. Both got stuck with horrible schools and in horrible classroom settings. Both quit after one year, picked up and moved back to where they came from.

If you sign a contract without visiting the school, meeting the faculty, and knowing your class, you run a high risk of getting what you don't want. Administrators frequently like to stick the new teachers with the difficult classes while blessing the experienced teachers with the good classes.

I worked in a job once where I was hired on the spot. I hadn't really investigated the workplace or the students, and I hated the job. Instead of being in the classroom building, I was stuck out at the back of the school building with no support from administration, in a stinky, mildewy trailer with a falling down ceiling and tiles which were coming off of the floor. The trailer had roaches. The class I was given was a wild and unruly bunch of fifth graders, one of which had tried to commit suicide. Most of the kids had ADHD, emotional problems, were SPED and ESL. I quit the job after one month, even though I knew I would have no prospects of employment as a teacher in October. I decided that my health and happiness were more important to me than the job.

Think very carefully before you accept such a teaching assignment! If you are paying to move somewhere, it could cost you a lot of money to move there, then move back again.