How hard is it to get a job as a teacher in New York City?

That depends on her credentials. Right now the Department of Education has only just lifted a hiring freeze for teachers. But that doesn't mean that all jobs are easy to come by. The easiest jobs are in positions where there are not enough certified teachers. The highest need right now is for teachers certified in Special Ed., Math, ESL, and Science in that order. The hardest jobs to get (either because the schools are cutting these positions or because there are just more people with these certifications) are for arts teachers (this includes Art, Music, Dance and Drama, particularly at the elementary level, foreign language teachers, and elementary classroom teachers. Truthfully, if your mom is coming to NYC to teach after being a substitute and a teacher's aide, she will probably need to go back to school and get a special ed. license or something if she wants to get a job. EDIT: Hey, wait! Aren't you the kid from Chicago who wanted to move here to go to Laguardia High School? If you think you can just get your mom to relocate so you can go to Laguardia, you are sadly going to be disappointed. You cannot persuade your mom that she will be able to find a teaching job, just like that, and that everything is going to be just great. I'm afraid that you just are going to have to live with the fact that you can't attend Laguardia High School. It's just the way it is. Many other kids are in the same situation. Not everyone can have what they want in life.

Also, teachers in New York state are required to be working on an advanced degree until they reach a Master's degree, in order to maintain certification. You should be able to find info about teacher certification at the NYS government website.