My sweetheart and I are planning a move to Oregon soon. I just finished my teaching degree and I will be attending an Educators Fair in Portland this April. Anyone here from Oregon? We are looking at Salem, Eugene, or the Portland area. I was wondering if any of you might recommend any others. Thanks!

Kim J.

(Susan, does O/T mean "off topic"? I don't want to break any board rules here with posting this - thanks. Let me know if it is inappropriate)

FYI - I have heard through the teaching grapevine, and from a teacher relative there, and from relatives with kids in the system there, that Oregon's K-12 public ed system is screwed up. Lots of funding issues. I'm a WA State teacher.

I will give you this - Oregon is a beautiful state. It would be on my short list as a place to retire.

What are some of the better school districts in WA?

You're looking at a beautiful area--northwestern Oregon. I've lived there. The forests are lush with ferns and mushrooms. There's so much precipitation that many locals call the rain "Oregon sunshine." Some of the small towns are a bit Klannish, so do your homework.

Bend, (central Oregon) Is a great place to live. Western Oregon when I live now is beautiful but LOTS of rain. I would go back to Bend in a minute. Loved living there. Most all of Oregon is great. Lots of small towns. Portland is too big and seem to have a lot of crime but also has lots of things to do there. Sherwood, Tualatin, Are nice towns just south of Portland.

I lived there until I was 32. I love it there. Close to the mountains or the ocean. Beautiful place to live. I always lived more in the suburbs of the city.

Now that i'm from Wa. I love to go shopping there. No sales tax. I'm sure they probably make up for that in property tax.

Live in Eugene, but would rather live in the Bend area. Closer to Mt. Bachelor! Also has a drier, healthier climate IMO.

We have a huge exmo group in Portland and we'd love to add more! My hubby and I left the church about 20 months ago.

Have been to Oregon numerous times and just got back from a five day visit. Some major observations from this trip. Traffic, traffic, traffic around the big cities...rain, rain, and more rain...torrential at times. Plenty of fog with a cold and damp drizzle. Delightful countryside especially when the sun shines as it did on our last day. Antiquated speed limits on the freeways...I assume a ploy to raise money from unsuspecting out of state visitors. I second everything said about Bend and despite these negative observations I still enjoy visiting.

I live in Portland. One son still in school. I have to say up front that while the school system is hurting, like many others, it far out ranks many in the nation. My daughter just finished at George Washington U in DC with a large scholarship and she attended public school here. I would definitely not worry. Just watch the particular ranking of the schools as you look for homes. Cannot beat Portland for diversity, culture, collective intellect, beautiful surroundings...and Voodoo Donuts - oh yea!!

Oh yeh!!! VooDoo Donuts!!! One of my favorite places! We stop there every time we visit!

If you are still considering teaching positions you may want to consider Vancouver, WA and surrounding areas. The advantages are great retirement and health benefits in the Washington K-12 system, no state income tax, tax free shopping across the border in Oregon, the same beautiful landscapes and mild weather. We have a farm in the Salmon Creek area next to a beautiful wooded 600 acre park reserve, and absolutely love it!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2014 12:04AM by polly.

There are down sides to everyplace, but of the cities I've spent time in, Portland is one of the few I'd seriously consider living in. And Eugene is another, albeit smaller, one.

Schools are a problem everywhere.

And, hey, folks, sorry to burst your bubble, but all that sun is not really good for you. Lovely, soft rain is your friend. Just wear appropriate clothes and you will be fine. I can tell you from a lifetime of experience that (short of a few things like sunbathing --- which, as I may have mentioned, is not actually good for you) you can do anything on a rainy day that you can do on a sunny day. If you dress appropriately.

I agree. Schools have problems everywhere. Coming from AZ I think just about anywhere has better schools. And we absolutely LOVE the rain so that is not a deterrent for us at all. We spent many days hiking in the rain - very nice.

If you want to stay in AZ. Page is not a bad place to start out. Okay they over work you with new teacher stuff but they are just hoops to jump through.

Only 30% LDS or so. Got The Lake to use and the weather is nicer than Phoenix area.

I've been living in Portland for eight years now.
The Good: beautiful landscape, mild climate. Lots of fun things to do. Foodie paradise.
The Bad: mediocre economy, jobs situation is rough. Political environment is utterly dominated by ultra-liberals itching to spend other people's money. Portland views itself as friendly to local businesses, but in reality the business climate is very unfavorable. Not a good place at all to own a business. Very obvious problems with homeless bums and drifters, who flock to the area because Portland is known to be a lenient and forgiving haven for their ilk. Living in Portland is very expensive, and rentals are hard to come by.

The Ugly: The public school system is not good. Portland Public School District is particularly rotten (I'm a former teacher who worked there). Also, the state retirement system is not good at all for teachers. Check into it. You'll retire with a miniscule pension.
Hope this helps.

I agree with Thaddeus about looking closely at pension payouts. Young teachers seldom think about this but it can make a huge difference once you retire. For instance my pension will replace about a third of my salary when I retire. But I've heard of payouts that are more than double that depending on the state.

Usually all of the public school pensions are under the state teacher's system. So you might compare the pension payout in Oregon with that of Washington state, for instance.

Thank you for this information. That is something I had not thought about yet.

I love Oregon.

What grade level do you hope to teach? I will be at the Portland Fair looking to hire teachers for K-12 schools in the mid-Willamette valley. If you slip me the patriarchal grip I will know it is you. :-)

I am happy to give you more information and advice in private and/or meet you at the fair. I'm a seldom poster and not sure how to exchange emails privately.

Susan I/S can help you exchange emails if both parties are agreeable.

I hope to teach the intermediate grades 4-6. I taught 6th grade math as a student teacher and substituted in many 4th grade classrooms. Right now I am working in the Reading Intervention program working with all grade levels. I am registered for the Education Fair in Portland. I don't know how to contact you through e-mail. If it would help, I could wear my green apron so you can spot me - patriarchal grip and signs to follow :D

I grew up in Oregon. Lived there until I was about 30.

I always will love Oregon...but it is a difficult place to make a living. I have always said if I could figure out how to make a living there, I would go back.

I also remember that funding for schools and teachers was always an issue. And by the sounds of the previous posts, it is still an issue.

I lived in a few different locations around the state - eastern Oregon, Columbia Gorge, along the coast, small town east of Salem, suburb of Portland. I loved every location. If you like the outdoors and mild climate (and can put up with some rain) Oregon is a great place.

The political views is similar to many areas. The bigger metro areas are very liberal and the rural areas are very conservative.

I live in Keizer, on the North side of Salem. I grew up here in the mid-valley, northwest Oregon. I'm a retired steelworker, so I don't know much about teachers situations here. Portland teachers union just settled a contract, so there won't be a strike issue for several years.

Oregon is a beautiful place to live. Lots of outdoor activities, and places to go and see. Half way between coast and mountains. I love it here.

You all are making me homesick. I was born in Salem, went back for a visit last year, felt like I could breathe for the first time in years. Oregon is a beautiful state, Washington is lovely too, if I could ever live back up there I think I would be the happiest person ever.

I lived in Eugene for a couple of years and I liked it a lot. It was a big enough city that it had everything, but it feels much smaller because of how the neigborhoods are layed out.

I live in Oregon City in the Beaver Creek area. It's been incorporated into a Hamlet so urban growth can't happen. It's a few miles off I-205, but it feels like you are way out in the country....zoned for ranching and agriculture so its all fields and forest.

Eastern Oregon is drier/ flatter, sunnier....but western is green, mountains, ocean, etc....and summers are nice and typically dry and sunny.

Lots of nice places around the Portland area for sure, and Portland is a great city. The schools do have some issues, but as a teacher, maybe you can help fix that :)

Difference between Oregon & Washington:

a. Spelling of name
b. Oregon: Income tax; Washington: Sales Tax

Washington courts are just putting the finishing touches on a school funding lawsuit ( plaintiffs want schools adequately funded, they Won), but leg says no teacher raises this year.

in Wa, the leg sets the basic formula for teacher salaries, not sure about Oregon.

Both states are liberal politics, WA hasn't had a Repub governor 'forever', even tho some respectable ones ran for it.

Native Oregonian here - think ORYGUN - :) I have Kids in first grade Barnes in Beaverton it is ranked 4 out of 10. It sucks..my kids are depressed...they hate going. Teachers are incompentent. It is Spanish Immersion - not good. We are looking to moving to Bethany - just a short hop..Best schools in the westside of Portland are: Findley -elem School, Stoller - Middle School, Sunset - High School. Agree with Thaddeus - Jobs are low pay even with a master degree. Way too Liberal politics..

Haa..I spelled incompetent wrong - ouch!!

Dual immersion is a fantastic model and well-supported by research. If I had kids I'd be more likely to move TO a community that offered it than AWAY. Fortunately my town in Oregon has Spanish/English immersion all the way from Kindergarten through HS graduation.

Glad to hear you're considering Oregon :)

I live here now and I'm involved in teacher education at one of the state universities.

In my opinion, schools are no more messed up in Oregon than anywhere else. In cities like mine (I'm about 45 minutes north of Eugene), schools are a high priority and levies for education almost never fail. I'd rather we had not joined in with the Common Core movement, but it's hard to avoid no matter where you move.

I will admit to being one of those "ultra-liberal" folks and don't see it as a negative that progressives have strong influence in urban areas (conservatives dominate in rural Oregon). It means we have strong support for the arts, public transportation, and the environment just to name a few of the benefits. The rental market in the Portland area is indeed tight and there are plenty of other issues we're grappling with, but on the whole you'll find that the quality of life here is very high.

There are some big changes in the works in our K-12 system, by the way. The state agency that oversees teaching (TSPC) is planning a transition to a new all-inclusive K-12 authorization rather than offering separate authorizations for elementary/middle/high school. You might want to check the OR Department of Ed web site to see what's going on.