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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Most of bilingual is Spanish-English bilingual.  If you could find a school hiring Russian bilingual staff for a bilingual classroom, you might be able to get an emergency certificate and agree to go get a masters within a certain period of time and teach.  ESL teachers are different than bilingual teachers.  ESL does English support as a resource teacher who pushes into classrooms or pulls small groups out of classrooms.  Bilingual is a grade level teacher who teaches a grade level, but in the native language plus helps kids transition over to English.  There's a lot of different models and the details vary by school.

Sped is in high demand.  I'm not sure what your state requirements are, but because of federal sped laws, you probably would actually have to have a sped certification to teach.  (meaning you can't get your degree while teaching, the degree would have to come first)  But some states are kinda backwards and might allow it, who knows how it is where you are.

I'd say Russian, while valuable, is MUCH less in demand for bilingual teachers.  Talk to your state board of education about their certification requirements for each of these.  You can also talk with a university and one of the profs would likely be able to advise you.  Be aware that you are talking about 60+ hours a week of work and for sped, it's more like 70+.  Good luck.  It's a really hard career.  [/quote]

Sorry, my wording was a bit confusing. I'm looking at ESL positions and under requirements, it says "Bilingual (Spanish) preferred." So I'm wondering if it would be a huge hit to my chances if I don't speak Spanish or if there's enough demand for me to get a job even if my second language is Russian.

I'm in VA and it looks like I can get a provisional license for SPED after taking a course at GMU. [/quote]

Keep in mind that getting a provisional license requires actually getting a principal to hire you, and that's not always so easy without experience or an endorsement.  The best way to guarantee a job is to start as an aide and get your certification while working full time.  I know a lot of people who became teachers that way, and they were able to have a guaranteed job waiting for them when they finished. I think the district paid some of the degree, too.  This was in FCPS.  I currently am in PWCS, which has a very high need for ESL right now, although I don't know to what extent they will actually hire on a provisional.  It's possible, but no one likes to do that if they can find certified.  [/quote]

That's a great idea. I wish I'd worked as a school para in when I was younger first.

I used to work in DC Public Schools but moved to another state in the northeast, and with the funding model, special Ed provides more funding based on need but not ESL. Thus ESL teachers are less needed. Plus with the current administration, I'd bet special Ed is a bit safer. However, I don't think not speaking Spanish as an ESL teacher is a huge issue. At least a few ESL teachers I've worked with didn't. [/quote]

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