In Germany, education is the responsibility of the states ("Länder") and part of their constitutional sovereignty ("Kulturhoheit der Länder"). Teachers are employed by the Ministry of Education for the state and usually have a job for life after a certain period (verbeamtet) (which, however, is not comparable in timeframe nor competitiveness to the typical tenure track, e.g. at universities in the US). This practice depends on the state and is currently changing. A parents' council is elected to voice the parents' views to the school's administration. Each class elects one or two "Klassensprecher" (class presidents; if two are elected usually one is male and the other female), who meet several times a year as the "Schülerrat" (students' council).