The Germans Are Coming

By Ellie McGrath

Short of math teachers, Georgia gets some foreign aid

The U.S. predicament in math and science education is no secret. More than 40 states have reported a serious shortage of math teachers. Of the students being trained in math and science at the nation's universities, many are expected to bypass teaching in favor of better-paying jobs in private industry. In West Germany, on the other hand, 40,000 teachers are unemployed, many of them qualified in math and science. This imbalance gave University of Georgia History Professor and German Emigre Lothar Tresp an idea. Why not use one country's surplus to offset the other's shortage? Earlier this year Tresp made contact with Georg-Berndt Oschatz, education minister in Lower Saxony. Oschatz had already begun to make inquiries about job possibilities in the U.S. for the 6,000 unemployed teachers in his state.

The result: if all goes well, Germans will be coming to Georgia in August to teach math. Although the program is being termed a cultural exchange, it flows one way. Tresp and Georgia education officials will fly to Hanover early next month to interview between 20 and 30 German teachers. All have the equivalent of a B.A. in mathematics and an M.A. in education. Says Eloise Barren, math consultant to the Georgia state education department: "Math is a universal language. Trigonometry here is trigonometry there. The only problem is, can they communicate that knowledge?" The chances are good, since the candidates have studied English for an average of nine years. If satisfied, the Georgia contingent is empowered by local school systems from urban Atlanta to rural Cherokee County to offer a standard one-year contract to as many as 20 teachers. Even this complement may not be enough; Georgia high schools will need 93 new math teachers this fall. The state's universities are training only 61, some of whom will probably be siphoned off by corporations.

Once hired, the Germans will be issued visas good for one or two years. They will earn Georgia's standard beginning salary, which for those holding a master's degree is $15,400 (compared with $15,800 in West Germany). During their first year, the German teachers, like their American counterparts, will be required to pass the teacher-certification test. The Germans will pay their own way to the U.S., although local districts will help them find housing. Some Georgia educators worry about culture shock, since German teachers could be disconcerted by disorderly American students and by nonacademic duties like lunchroom monitoring. Says Bob Adams, personnel specialist for Atlanta schools, who has hired foreign-born teachers in the past: "They find it very frustrating in terms of discipline, the American attitude toward education, and the role of teacher vs. students."

Georgia is not the first state to turn to foreign aid for teaching talent. In the past 14 years, Louisiana has hired as many as 300 French teachers a year from Belgium, Quebec and France to teach in Cajun classrooms. Although the state has been trying to train Louisiana natives to teach French, the supply of teachers continues to lag behind demand. Furthermore, in the 1985-86 school year, all public schools in Louisiana will be required to teach a second language in grades 4 through 8, which will create the need for about 360 new French teachers.

The importation of foreign teachers may be a growing trend.

As states increase requirements in math, science and languages, they exacerbate the shortage of teachers with those specialties. Oschatz has so far contacted twelve states about employing German teachers. Last month he visited New York, Illinois, Colorado, California, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. New York, he says, showed so much interest that "expectations had to be restrained."

While teacher unions are on record as supporting teacher exchanges, they are less enthusiastic about one-sided deals.

National Education Association President Mary Hatwood Futrell argues that Georgia's move merely "underscores the fact that teachers' salaries are noncompetitive with industry. We don't need to go outside this country to find bright people to teach math and science." Georgia officials insist they see German teachers as a short-term solution. Says Barren:

"If qualified American teachers walked in off the street tomorrow, they'd be hired."

--By Ellie McGrath.

Reported by Rhea Schoenthal/Bonn and Kelly Scott/Atlanta

With reporting by Rhea Schoenthal/Bonn and Kelly Scott/Atlanta