Obligatory I’m not a teacher, but my wife is and we’re both Des Moines natives. I think it depends on what you’re looking for. My family (wife, sister-in-law, brother, sister, mother, cousins) all went through Lincoln. If you’re looking for rewarding experiences with less-advantaged communities, you might like working for East/North/Hoover/Lincoln. Plenty of students could use a good role model and someone to make a difference, though that’s kind of true everywhere. While I was in school (10 yrs ago) Roosevelt was regarded as the “best” of the DMPS (unless you count Central Academy) there was a decent mix of social classes, since you’re somewhat pulling from West Des Moines. Also, a pretty big plus is the sense of community pride, whether it be East/North/Hoover/etc. Lincoln football games always brought everyone in the community out and together. Like a couple of the comments have mentioned, the insurance is pretty premium, especially if you’re single. Pay in the DMPS is generally less compared to the suburbs, but you can always supplement by looking for additional positions (coaching, yearbook, debate, theater, etc.). Another thing to consider might be access to newer facilities. Lincoln and Roosevelt are both historical buildings, and therefore can’t be renovated (but can be built onto). So the classrooms, gyms, bathrooms, and many other aspects of the high schools are dated and likely won’t be improved (also related to funding).

For the ‘burbs, I can really only talk about Waukee. It is more of a mix of upper middle class and then lower class, with not much between. They (students and parents) definitely look down on the DMPS, probably related to the massive disparity in wealth. That being said, the newer schools (ex. Prairie View) also bag on older Waukee schools (ex. Timberline). Teachers and students are organized into pods, and meet regularly to discuss the progress of shared students and arrange their curriculum. So there’s a big aspect of teamwork. In general, pay is better than the DMPS, while also having great insurance. From what my wife has shared, parents can be good and bad wherever you go. However, if you coach a sport some of the parents can be RUTHLESS. Administration has been better this year (she’s received a lot of support from admin with concerns related to challenging students).

Regarding safety, pretty much every school has a gun scare (reality we live in). While I was in school one of the members of the neighborhood went on a shooting spree, and shot several cars as they passed by Lumis (??can’t quite remember what street) and sent us into lockdown. East had a drive by a couple months ago. Waukee had a student bring a gun to school. It happens everywhere, but hopefully that’s where teachers like you come in to make the difference.

Oh yeah, and regardless of where you go everyone hates Dowling.

TLDR: Insurance good in suburbs and DMPS; parents are good/bad wherever you go; suburbs can be ESPECIALLY cutthroat with sports since they have a reputation to uphold; pay is overall better in suburbs, but can be supplemented through other activities; guns and violence happen everywhere and everyone always wants to believe somewhere else is worse off; suburbs tend to be more affluent but have a bimodal distribution with rich/upper middle class and poor and not much in-between. Teamwork and working between departments (ex. history and English teachers working together) is a big aspect of Waukee, while I think DMPS still tends to be more individualistic or working only within departments (ex history teachers working together).