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First and foremost, I want to give a heartfelt yasher koach to everyone engaging in this important conversation. For the longest time, from browsing magazines and media, it seems that the most pressing issues facing Klal Yisroel are presented as the shidduch crisis, debates over which singer is the best, and then topics like kiruv or luxury vacations. However, when you examine the amount of attention given to the tuition crisis and the significant harm it causes to families, it’s minimal in comparison. So, I want to commend everyone here for keeping this critical discussion alive. Keep it up!
I’d like to propose a simple yet impactful solution to address many of these concerns. Every school’s executive board should include a dedicated board member who is elected by the parent body and financially supported by the parent body. This individual’s sole responsibility would be to advocate for the parents’ best interests and bring their concerns to the forefront. They should have set office hours during the week, allowing parents to reach out and discuss pressing matters directly.
This position should come with a defined term limit to ensure accountability and fresh perspectives. Importantly, the representative must be a current parent with a child enrolled in the school. If the executive board argues that a parent cannot be included in confidential meetings, I call baloney on that. After all, they already include accountants and lawyers from the community who aren’t board members. To address any concerns, a Rav could be consulted to vet candidates before elections.
This idea might sound like a pipe dream, but if parents unite and collectively demand this reasonable change, it could lead to significant, positive ramifications for our schools and families.
@eddie
My kids go to far right schools and there’s no way that it costs $40,000 per kid and they’re fundraising the difference. At around 1,000 students Bli Ayin Hora, they’re not raising over $30,000,000 every year. I’m not affiliated with other schools and don’t know what goes on there.
(As a side point- the local public schools receive about $20,000 annually per kid. The Frum schools don’t have the same bloated budgets as public schools, they don’t have unionized teachers and they don’t have the same benefits that public school teachers have. I’d expect the cost per kid to be much less than in public schools.)
Chaim87: We are in total agreement as to Govt programs.
Dr. Pepper: Please understand. As I said in one of my earlier posts, much of the costs of running the school remain the same no matter how many children are in the school. Once te classroom is opened, the costs are pretty much the same whether there are 5 children or 30 children. That being said, if a school has upwards of 1000 students, the income goes up at a much more rapid rate than the costs of running the school. All schools that I dealt with had under 250 students in total. Even with your 1000 students, if it is a far right school, I highly doubt that even if everyone paid full tuition, it would cover the budget.
As such, (even though Chaim87 would disagree, we can agree to disagree) my scholarship is not coming out of your pocket, you belong paying that figure anyway as it is not covering “your” portion of the budget. and since there is in most instances not dollar amount of total scholarships available, I am not taking away from your scholarship.eddie: (repeatedly) full tuition is not made by taking the budget and dividing it by the number of students (see above) It is a number that the school feels that their clientele should be able to pay, for the most part.
Accounting works with cold numbers:
School’s revenues = tuition + donations + endowment + gov funds
school’s costs = salaries + rent + expenses + taxes.
Cost per person = Cost/(number of students)For one person,
donation = tuition (and other payments for little things here and there, including unpaid labor) – (cost per person).
If donation > 0, you should get a receipt to write off the taxes. Is there a problem for the school to define this is as a donation? affects their taxes or reputation?
if donation < 0, you are getting charity and should try to earn more and spend less, make your shabbos like chol, but try to pay your fair share.there is a complication whether costs are “fair”. They may include spending that you do not consider needed or spent right, or even spent to the benefit of school-affiliated people, H’V.
hashalem, a board member representing parents is a great idea!
This is similar to European/German way to run businesses – where “stakeholders”, not just “stockholders” join the board. One can argue that US corporations that focus on stockholders are doing fine business, but schools are already not run as competitive business, so German model might be beneficial. At minimum, this board member can make public what can be made public from school finances, such as cost per student.
I wonder whether anyone tried this model and what was school response was?
xctL > I have never been through the tuition/scholarship application process.
I don’t know whether having professionals, as you suggest, will solve the problem.
A system that will keep dignity should either be free or heavily subsidized by the community or fully competitive where parents have a lot of choices and competition determines price, not inquisition.
Dr Pepper > We choose schools based on where our kids are going to succeed the most- not to show the schools that we have other options.
Respect. We all want the best for our kids. There are still limits. And, by the way, the kids grow up with expectations that they’ll be getting the best regardless of price their whole life … As a Rav from, Ithink, Lakewood was telling Borough Park parents – when you indulge in a little of luxury, you understand that it is luxury, but for our kids this becomes necessity.
For example, when I showed kids that paying extra school tuition easily includes what we could spend paying for their college, they suddenly became more price-sensitive. I also showed them that without (good) college-based profession, they’ll not be able to afford that tuition, that they take for granted, for their kids.
So, _IF_ your school is not reasonable in terms of pricing and providing schooling you want, then I found it pretty healthy to explain to the kids where schools acts in their own interest, and how we can achieve our goals in a different way, even if they are not going to see their friends often. I also pointed out that friends who stop being friends because you are not in the “right” school are not real friends. Of course, if you think that your school provides the right education for you and it is just you are asking for something that is expensive, you have no reason to change.
AAQ: I am not going to discuss your formula, as I fundamentally disagree with your premise as to how the full tuition amount is calculated.
As far as the tax receipt goes, that is a question for a tax attorney. As a layman, I would have serious doubts as to its legality, but I would be happy to to be told by someone knowledgeable that I am wrong, and it is perfectly above board. If that would be the case, Then I would agree with you 100% and please issue the requested receipt.
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