Growing up, I loved summer vacation – a period of swimming, reading, and traveling. After nearly three months of fun, returning to school each September could be a shock. But it was made better by the exciting rituals of that time of year.
The U.S. doesn’t have a formal Einschulung, but we have a so-called annual back-to-school period. In late August, schools release students’ class assignmentZuteilungassignments – and friends begin cross-checking their schedules. American students are placed with new teachers and students each year of school.
Teacher assignments are critical to a student’s term. In fourth grade, I didn’t get the teacher I had wanted. But in my senior year (N. Am.)Abschlussklassesenior year of high school, my best friends and I were placed in the same English literature section. (It was a riot (ifml.)hier: der Hammerriot.)
After the drama of new classroom assignments, we met our new teachers at an open house. They gave us a list of supplies we’d need for the year. It included expected items like binderHeftmappebinders and pencils. But there were also other requests, including tissuePapiertaschentuchtissues and hand sanitizerDesinfektionsmittelsanitizer. We were expected to purchase these not for ourselves, but for our teachers.
Statistics show that many American educators are exiting the profession
Due to inadequate state funding, public school teachers in America rely on the goodwill of their students’ families to supply their classrooms. When that’s not enough, educators frequently use their own money. A recent study by the U.S. Department of Education (US)BildungsministeriumDepartment of Education found that 94 percent of teachers have spent their own money on “classroom necessities” – close to $500 each per year, on average. American teachers earn notoriously low salaries.
During my restful summer vacations, many of my teachers took on second or third jobs to make ends meetüber die Runden kommenmake ends meet. Come fall, they worked hard to make the back-to-school period exciting for students like me.
In 2011, then-President Barack Obama urged change. “In South Korea, teachers are known as ‘nation builders,’” he said in his State of the Union Address (US)Rede zur Lage der NationState of the Union Address. “Here in America, it’s time we treated the people who educate our children with the same level of respect.”
At the time, I was optimistic that teachers’ working conditions would improve. Now, I am less hopeful. In the aftermathFolgeaftermath of the pandemic, American educators face book bans, politicized curriculum, curricula (pl.)Lehrplancurricula, and the grimdüstergrim reality of school shootings. Many of my former teachers – whom I first met at back-to-school open houses – regularly post on Facebook about their problems.
They are not alone. Statistics show that many American educators are exiting the profession. This is not good for the future of the United States.
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