Correction appended

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German American School in Beaverton is one of seven in the U.S. 8 Gallery: German American School in Beaverton is one of seven in the U.S.

German language classes are disappearing from schools, and it hasn't gone unnoticed.

A group of local students are fighting to keep their program, while educators nationwide and in

are keeping a self-interested eye on the U.S. trend.

Supporters of the language program say wiping out the once-ubiquitous high school course is short-sighted. With the world's third-largest economy, Germany commands

Many metro-area high schools have cut courses and some districts have cut the program entirely, according to data from the Oregon Department of Education. Beaverton, Hillsboro and Gresham-Barlow have all seen dwindled enrollment.

Educators say students are often choosing Spanish because it's widely spoken.

Staffing is also a factor. Though many schools have multiple Spanish teachers, most German language programs are taught by a single person. The

estimates there are 12,000 German language teachers in the country, down 8 to 10 percent in the last decade.

Bucking the trend is Portland Public Schools. Although Wilson High has lost students, the schools who still offer it --Lincoln, Madison and Cleveland have seen numbers rise.

Cleveland High's vice principal, Kevin Taylor, attributes higher enrollment numbers to an extra section of the course offered this year. Wilson High planned to cut German classes but

in September saved them.

Still, districts such as Lake Oswego, North Clackamas and soon Tigard-Tualatin, have or are wiping out the foreign language entirely from their high school offerings.

German fades at Tigard

In 2009, administrators cited low enrollment numbers and budget cuts when they decided to eliminate German at Tigard High. The phase-out process started this year, when the school no longer offered a first-year German class.

The program at Tualatin High was already eliminated six years ago.

The 30 students in the German Club at Tigard High have taken the issue to the board, asking for a chance to bring back the program by advertising it to incoming freshmen. They have collected support letters from professors at Harvard, Stanford and the University of Oregon. In a one-day petition drive, they also got 400 student signatures.

Lauren Chan, 18, acknowledged that students choose Spanish for its usability in America, but called it "limiting" on a global platform.

"I hope the district can understand: What they're doing is lessening our horizons and limiting us," said Chan, a German Club member and student body president. "German is not a language that is fading out. We're causing it. We're choosing to not study a language that is popular."

Mickey Toft, the school's associate principal for curriculum, said the cut was a business decision based on trends and lack of student interest.

"We don't want to cut anything but we don't have enough funding to offer everything we want to," Toft said. It would be imprudent to keep such a program despite its value to supporters, he added.

"If you bring it back, what will you cut?" he said.

Saving programs

In contrast, the

is thriving, with more than 90 percent of students completing the program through fifth grade, according to principal Blake Peters.

The German-language immersion school is

accredited by the German federal government. Based in Beaverton, the school also offers German language classes for adults.

Some students of the school are native Germans or of German heritage, but the majority of the 165 students have no ties to the language or culture. Most parents enrolling their kids want a language immersion program, Peters said, and choose the school for its academic rigor.

"Finally, the U.S. is waking up that language learning is more than a 9th grade elective," he said.

Last fall, Peters was a part of an unofficial task force commissioned to look at the declining number of German language learners across the United States. The task force included 35 people and represented the German Embassy, German American Chamber of Commerce, New York Times, Modern Language Association, and universities.

The task force was organized by the

, a cultural center connected to and funded by Germany's ministry of foreign affairs.

Peter Rosenbaum, the institute's educational liaison, said the center is working to "rescue, defend and expand" German language programs. Most notable of the

, which have been presented to foreign affairs officials in Germany, is a focused ad campaign promoting German and Germany.

"We realized we need to change our strategy," Rosenbaum said. "Students don't learn German anymore."

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The article reflects a correction published 3/16/2012.

The number of students taking German classes in Portland high schools are: Wilson - 70, Cleveland - 151, Lincoln - 112 and Madison - 64. Thursday's front-page article about the demise of German classes misstated the enrollment figures.