AIBU to ask you some questions about the USA?

[BreakfastInAmerica]

I've been reading lots of US fiction over lockdown, I've never been there.

What's the big deal with joining a fraternity house at College? What is the benefit of it? Why the Greek frat house names?

Is public access television still a thing?

Why do they call savoury muffins English Muffins when I'm more likely to see a blueberry or chocolate muffin when I'm out and about?

How do Americans eat things like thick pancakes with cream for breakfast, even the people who are slim?

What are grits?

Why are Automatic cars so prolific in the US, rather than manual/stick shift?

I'm sure I've got lots more questions and please pitch in with your own questions and answers.

AIBU to ask for your answers and questions about the small differences between the US and the UK?

Have the American schools gone back yet? If so how are they finding it in Terms of COVID ?

Regarding the legal age of drinking in the USA I have never really understood why people are classed as adults at 18 but can't drink legally untill they are 21?

I wouldn't say teachers aren't respected - in my experience they are. It just isn't seen as a particularly lucrative career

I have to disagree, but perhaps private school teachers are more well respected as they typically have some experience outside the classroom? Also, they make more money in private education than in public schools.

And yeah, nearly all my teachers worked second jobs (or had a farm lol) but I think it was more due to the long school holidays than lack of money.

Most of the teachers I know have an undergrad degree in a subject and teaching as a masters degree. I only know one teacher with a degree in education at undergrad level, and that is for special education (her masters is in something different.) So they are very highly qualified individuals even at the state level. I know a good mix of state and private educators, but as with anything in the US it's so very regional.

Regarding second jobs, there are only a few I know that have to have them -- most districts here equalise pay around the year so they get paid in the summer holidays; I know a few districts don't do that so the teachers work a second job as tutors, etc. over the summer. I dated a teacher some years ago that taught ballroom dance lessons over the summers as his second job.

@x2boys most of our schools haven't started the term yet; they generally go back after the bank holiday. Of the ones that have started back, there are some widely publicised shutdowns due to covid-19 cases; my cousin's school made it less than a week. It would be impossible to say how many have successfully gone back, I don't think that data exists.

My state is allowing for all remote options and increasingly our schools are switching to start that way. Our district is offering both an all-remote and a "hybrid" option allowing for half of the students to be in at any given time, with a deep clean in between, and live streaming the lessons on the days they aren't in (so everyone will be learning 5 days per week.)

We are going all remote because I really do think it will only be a short period before we see cases rise again and the schools close.

On average teachers in state schools in the US make more than teachers in private schools. It's important to note that those averages take into account the fact that many private schools in the US are church-based and are not all that well funded. Also private schools can often pay less because the working conditions may be better.

Schools in my district have delayed opening because of Covid. They usually go back in early August, but are now aiming at early September.

As to second jobs, the teachers I know don't have second jobs, but most of them come from two income families.

Regarding the legal age of drinking in the USA I have never really understood why people are classed as adults at 18 but can't drink legally untill they are 21?
They did lower the drinking age to 18 many years ago. The accident rate went through the roof, so it was raised up to 21.

I am a teacher in a private school. Private schools do pay less than public. The church ones often pay a shockingly low amount, with parents also helping out for things like lunch duties etc. These schools are quite low-cost for private schools and some of them are more like a cooperative for faith-based learning. Others are more like faith schools in the UK. My school is not faith-based, and I receive about 20% less pay than if I were an American in a public school (as an immigrant, my previous UK teaching doesn't count, so I'd drop to the bottom of the pay scale, but the private school I'm at recognizes my decades of teaching, so I'm an anomoly who gets paid more in private).

School districts are funded by local taxes, so lower-income areas have poorer schools, pay less (pay is determined by district, not state) have fewer facilities etc. You can see how inequality is perpetuated. I really wish that schools were not funded this way.

Many teachers I know do tutoring or after school clubs (these get a stipend) or work at summer camps in order to boost their income. I live in a small town, close to a medium city in a nice white mc liberal educated enclave. Teachers are generally respected, and earn just about enough that a teacher can afford a reasonable family home even if they're a single parent or the only working parent.

Move 50 miles to Detroit and some districts have ceilings falling in, teachers on low pay, drugs in school, etc. There are some incredible teachers working in poorer areas, but they literally take in supplies like pencils etc, and can be threatened by students/parents/school shootings.

Housing districts were deliberately 'red lined' - planners drew red lines around areas and decided where the white and black people could live. Then they built major roads through black neighborhoods to prevent any kind of community, and had low-cost housing built. Those areas have crappy schools, motorways through the middle of them, fewer healthcare facilities, no parks etc. It's a very effective way to make poverty almost impossible to escape and it was completely a deliberate act of racism to build cities like that.

My DC went to a US private school (only because it was originally paid for as part of an expat package). I know nothing about the salaries the teachers were paid, but the school really got their money's worth out of the teachers.

They all had to coach at least one term of sport and either coach another term or run one of the competitive clubs, like debate or robotics. Those teachers who coached a fall sport were back at school for half a day at the beginning of August.

Like @KickAssAngel said, school budgets are so unfair if you have children going to school in a deprived area. School monies should really be distributed from a state budget, and our school taxes going to the state for distribution, rather than to local school districts, then all students would be allocated the same amount, regardless of where they live. Children in poor areas don't deserve less resources just because their local area doesn't collect as much tax, which is what happens now.

As ours went to private school, the school tax we paid wasn't used on our children. It would have been far more useful if it had been collected at a state level and redistributed more fairly.

It isn't just a local town/city funded thing for schools in every state. I'm in Massachusetts and the state subsidises all school districts and poorer school districts way more than the richer ones.

On average teachers in state schools in the US make more than teachers in private schools

Genuinely did not know this. The teachers at private school seemed so much better qualified than public with relevant experience, I assumed that had to be paid for.

That said, public school teachers can make a lot of money towards the end of their careers....

School monies should really be distributed from a state budget, and our school taxes going to the state for distribution, rather than to local school districts, then all students would be allocated the same amount, regardless of where they live. Children in poor areas don't deserve less resources just because their local area doesn't collect as much tax

It would be nice, but can’t really see this happening. Wouldn’t home values plummet if they no longer reflect the quality of the school district? I can’t imagine people voting for this.

My school district was incredibly poor with local home prices to match. And the school levy never, ever got passed because no one wanted to vote to pay for higher property taxes, even if the value of the homes themselves were not high.

It’s actually funny to think about this in the context of another thread about banning private schools in the UK!

Housing districts were deliberately 'red lined' - planners drew red lines around areas and decided where the white and black people could live. Then they built major roads through black neighborhoods to prevent any kind of community, and had low-cost housing built. Those areas have crappy schools, motorways through the middle of them, fewer healthcare facilities, no parks etc. It's a very effective way to make poverty almost impossible to escape and it was completely a deliberate act of racism to build cities like that.

This is true, and quite shameful, but to provide a bit of historical context the practice was outlawed by the Fair Housing Act in 1968.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining

yes, but like all other aspects of racism, the law may change but the effects continue. Those districts that were built like that stay very much intact. Even Detroit, with a very proud history of civil rights, the millions that Motown brought to the poor areas, the decades of job security at the motor companies (until 2008) still has very distinct districts that adhere to those red lines. Build a system well enough and you don't need the law to support it.

Life expectancy in Michigan can vary by 29 years - and some of those districts are literally next door to each other, but one built for the white middle classes, and one for the poorer, black (and now other PoC) groups.

I don't dispute that the effects of redlining linger but your earlier post could have been read to conclude that such restrictive deed covenants are still legal. They are not and many minority families have exercised their ability to buy houses anywhere they please and can afford.

Great thread. It is amazing to read about life in other states that is so different to my experience here in San Francisco.

California has very liberal leave policies, benefits and is very pro employee. I hire folks and most start with three week's vacation, 10 sick days and 9 holidays.we often add 4-6 extra holidays over the Christmas period, but not always. I regularly negotiate time off. Pregnant women in San Francisco get 18 week's with some or full pay equivalent and can take additional unpaid leave in many cases. We are very flexible with new of parents, but not nearly as much as in Europe.

Where I live we have few guns, excellent recycling and very progressive education. We also have high state taxes, home property taxes and cost of living. We get fabulous foodstuffs, especially fruit and veg, but we pay through the nose for it.

I can't imagine another state I'd be happy in, but always fancied the East Coast for its proximity to UK. I worked in DC for years, and loved it. Non white DH did not!

Highly recommend a book called “Evicted” for anyone interested in understanding more about housing poverty / inequality (along both race and class lines)

It’s a really evocative, if shocking, read and very well written