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It’s that time of the year again, when we work with schools to determine our tuition bill for next year. and it got me thinking about how much the schools and yeshivos are paying their employees. I’m sure there’s a huge variation, but is it true that Rebbeim get paid in the range of $60,000 a year? What about teachers in BY schools? Anyone know anything definitively?
And what about other school expenses? Is there any organization somewhere that audits the schools to make sure they are spending their money wisely? I ask because I feel like the information is all one way. The school asks me for a lot of financial information to see if I qualify for Financial Aid, but would never open their books to me to make sure that my tuition money is being spent carefully. Do parents have the same rights to transparency that the schools have?
Where did you get that $60,000 figure from??
To the best of my knowledge, there’s a tremendous variation. I know of one MO school that pays quite well and has decent benefits. I was told of a kiruv school whose pay is shockingly low (probably less than minimum wage).
If the yeshiva/BY in question is a 501c3, then all expenses are made public. Just call the IRS.
I think it’s a leverage thing, or a perceived leverage thing. In most cities, it probably would not take much for a few baalhabatim to get the school to open their books. But good luck getting it in Lakewood, where few people pay significant tuition and everybody lives in fear of not having a school.
In general, I think it’s a good idea for several reasons. It would cause the school to only incur justifiable expenses. It would assuage the people who wonder where all the money is going (again, more of a concern where tuition is $18k rather than $4500.) It does stand to reason that if people are not given a choice where the money goes, they at least have some way to know where it’s going. And perhaps some more enterprising parents could make useful suggestions to a school that is doing a poor job of budgeting, or volunteer more when they realize that the school really needs the help.
I think the vast majority of parents have confidence that their childrens’ yeshivos and BYs do a reasonably good job of spending efficiently; there will always be malcontents, and exposing the budget won’t help much.
OTOH, there are major privacy concerns in exposing the schools’ finances; the staff has a right to privacy regarding their salaries, and parents have a right to privacy regarding their personal finances. It’s demeaning enough (although necessary) for 50% (or more) of parents to have to show their income and expenses to a tuition board. Must their finance become public knowledge?
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