La patria ti chiama ad insegnare!

Ma non in Italia!

In Usa, i laureati che  vogliono dedicarsi all’insegnamento, devono superare esami e acquisire abilitazioni che necessitano di studi lunghi e impegnativi, per uno stipendio, che seppur notevole rispetto a quello degli insegnanti italiani, è  sotto la media nella pubblica amministrazione.

Si spiega quindi la carenza di docenti e il ricorso, da parte delle scuole, all’assunzione di precari senza titoli di studio adeguati (a New York, nelle High Schools, è stato chiamato a insegnare inglese, prima lingua, perfino  personale  ispanico… S.C.).

A peggiorare la situazione  saranno i pensionamenti  dei prossimi 10 anni: 2 milioni e 200 mila insegnanti, che verranno a mancare nel sistema scolastico statunitense.

Il Governo cerca di correre ai ripari, anche con operazioni di notevole impatto mediatico.

Chiama, ad esempio, l’attuale first lady Laura Bush (ex insegnante) e la precedente, Hillary Clinton, per azioni di reclutamento all’insegnamento.

Ma la situazione deve essere al limite del collasso, se  la  Clinton suggerisce di utilizzare gli stessi  toni, che hanno contribuito al successo della campagna di  reclutamento nelle forze armate durante le ultime guerre:

“ La Patria ti chiama ad insegnare” (Uncle Sam wants you to teach”).

Il Governo italiano, invece,  ha  per i suoi  insegnanti, per quelli precari in particolare, altri slogans, altri progetti… (S.C.) 


February 26, 2002

Mrs. Bush Promotes Teacher Recruitment

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two women who know something about starting new careers -- first lady Laura Bush and first lady-turned-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton -- joined to put in a plug Tuesday for recruiting teachers by luring mid-career professionals from other fields.

The event at a Washington elementary school was the first time the two women had promoted a favorite issue together. They greeted each other warmly, Clinton at one point admiring a ring Mrs. Bush was wearing.

Last month they were at the same hearing on early childhood learning in the Senate, Mrs. Bush testifying while her predecessor sat across the witness table listening. Clinton, D-N.Y., is the only first lady to ever be elected to office.

On Tuesday, Mrs. Bush, Clinton and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, told a small auditorium filled with teachers and fidgety third- and fourth-grade students that 2.2 million teachers must be hired in the next decade to handle an expected surge in retirements.

Mrs. Bush and the lawmakers promoted a program in the education bill recently signed by President Bush that allows certain professionals to enter the teaching field without going through the traditional time-consuming teacher training.

Clinton and Hutchison helped push through the amendment last year authorizing teacher recruitment efforts including the Transitions to Teaching program.

Similar programs are already in place in schools in some cities, including Washington.

Mrs. Bush, a former teacher and librarian, said on Tuesday that since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 there has been rising interest in public service. She urged Americans to consider teaching.

``I believe teaching is the greatest community service of all,'' Mrs. Bush said.

Clinton said the program might take a cue from another successful recruitment effort in the U.S. Army and adopt the slogan ``Uncle Sam Wants You to Teach.''

``I have no doubt there is a tremendous untapped pool of potential teachers,'' she said.