German classes take deep cuts

Foreign language education in the US has taken another hit as Carolina education departments cut back. Marilyn Metzler, a German language teacher sees enrollment in her German classes fluctuate each year. But now she's more worried than ever about the future of the program -- and her job.

For the first time since the language program's start over a decade ago, German classes will no longer be offered in Chapel Hill-Carrboro middle schools. High school German has also been slashed, with some schools combining class levels and others losing all courses in the language.

While Metzler's program at Chapel Hill High remains mostly intact, she said she's worried that cuts to other German programs mean the school board will soon want to say "auf Wiedersehen" to the language altogether.

It's not just happening at Chapel Hill-Carrboro, either. To make up for severe cuts in the state budget this year, school districts across the Triangle have been forced to reduce electives that school boards and principals once proudly touted. Teachers and other employees are being cut.

"I understand that budgets are affecting programs," said Metzler, 57. "But I hate to think money is the single, defining issue in determining what students can learn."

Although the district is cutting German from middle school, an upper-level class will remain at Smith Middle School for eighth graders who want to continue the language in high school. Metzler is teaching the section.

"I was pretty devastated when I heard the news," she said. "This will affect our future numbers. Students who start the language early on are more likely to continue in high school."

East Chapel Hill High's German program has been cut entirely. Students who want to take German will either have to travel to one of Metzler's classes at Chapel Hill High, four miles away, or enroll in online courses.

"I don't want to take a foreign language online. You lose a huge chunk of instruction that way," said Micaela Arneson, a senior at East Chapel Hill High who had intended to take AP German after more than five years of instruction in both middle and high school.

Niel Lebeck, a senior at East Chapel Hill High who also wanted to continue with AP German, said part of the problem is that German has "less of a hook" than other languages. Spanish is useful, he said, because of the growing number of Hispanics in this country. And offering Japanese means the district has an Asian language, which is smart in a global economy.

Metzler doesn't like it when people say German isn't a useful language.

"There are many reasons why German is still a valid language to learn," she said. "It prepares you to be a global citizen, and it also helps you better understand how language works."

Frau Metzler, as her students call her, runs one of the best German programs in the state. In her 14 years with the school system, her students have regularly won national and state awards, scored high on exams and traveled abroad in exchange programs. Her German Honor Society students even started a German club where they taught elementary school students.

Despite her growing trophy closet, Metzler said she feels that she's being pushed away from teaching.