What cuts would YOU be ok with in schools

amother

Zinnia

Fri, May 24 2024, 4:07 pm

amother Pear wrote:

Teachers.

I remember when I taught first year teachers got 10k a year.
The old Bubby’s got 25k a year.
I’m sure by now the starting and the cap is higher.

Only have teachers strait out of high school. You can pay them a lot less.
Once they get married and need to be paid more replace them with out of high school teachers.

This is hilarious

amother

Geranium

Fri, May 24 2024, 4:13 pm

I'm pretty sure it is tongue in cheek.
But just in case it's not, yeah I remember those days:
I mostly had either teachers just out of high school (who didn't know what they were doing) or older bubby types (who were phoning it in/checked out/had no patience for the kids). The rest of the teachers were mostly mothers who were obviously doing it for a tuition discount (they were always a disorganized mess with papers flying. They also didn't have too much patience or liking for the kids in their class, and they were always running late or leaving the room to deal with their own kids). There were a few exceptions, but those were rare. I don't have too many fond memories of school.

I think that's one thing that has definitely improved over the years, the teachers now are much more likely to be interested and invested in their job/students. We don't want to go back to what things used to be like in the classroom.

pause

Fri, May 24 2024, 4:14 pm

Yeah, while we're at it, we can cut janitorial staff (have the kids clean up for 10 minutes each day), lunchroom (kids can eat at their desks and use space for more classrooms), and electricity (kids can bring flashlights from home when sunlight doesn't suffice).

amother

PlumPink

Fri, May 24 2024, 4:18 pm

pause wrote:

Well, that's what they want the parents to do in their homes. They expect the parents to cut every basic level of comfort to pay tuition. But the crisis is so bad now, both parties need to do it to make it work.

pause

Fri, May 24 2024, 4:21 pm

amother PlumPink wrote:

Would you, as a parent, be ok with these cuts???

amother

Geranium

Fri, May 24 2024, 4:24 pm

And just to add, those posters saying incentives and prizes aren't necessary, after all, they weren't used 40 years ago...well, sure. Because we were petrified of the teachers. Teachers could be mean, screamed at the girls, humiliated them in front of the class etc. Now, I'm not saying that applied to all, but there was overall a very authoritarian and emphasis on being overly strict in order to keep the girls under control. I don't think parents would stand for that nowadays.

amother

PlumPink

Fri, May 24 2024, 4:32 pm

pause wrote:

Would you, as a parent, be ok with these cuts???

Which cuts - shabbatons, expensive trips, costly arts and crafts, upgraded buildings, expensive playground sets..? Absolutely!

amother

Cantaloupe

Fri, May 24 2024, 4:41 pm

Didn't read the whole thread, but the super expensive car the administrator drives, the yearly trips to Israel he takes with his whole family, in addition to the family vacations he takes with them at least once a year. And this is a bp school where it's a rules for thee not for me situation.

amother

Olive

Fri, May 24 2024, 4:42 pm

amother Geranium wrote:

My daughter just came home with three prizes -- a large spinning top, a slinky, and a buildable eraser. I asked her what they were for. One was for finishing a packet that they give kids who are bored for after they finish their work. One was for finishing a packet of something academic (maybe a math packet? not sure). And one was for finishing a "Neat Work" chart for writing neatly on their classwork.

That was one day. Again, I have no problem with using incentives and charts. But this is ridiculous.

amother

Geranium

Fri, May 24 2024, 5:19 pm

amother Olive wrote:

Were these prizes given for doing those things in just one day? Or a build up of working towards them over a period of time? Like, how long was she working on those packets for--a day, a week, 2 weeks? Longer, possibly? If that's the case, I don't think that's super excessive.
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the prizes came out of the teacher's pocket. Mostly, the teachers pay for those kind of things on their own, not the school.

amother

Black

Fri, May 24 2024, 5:33 pm

How about going to a recording studio to record every last song that the GO sings. How about picking up a mic and singing live and- GASP- going off for one note???
Every song is professionally written and recorded. Every job comes with it's own sweater. Every extracurricular thing comes with so many unnecessary add ons. Cut out the whole GO. It's anyway manufactured responsibility, given to the girls that the school owes something to....don't think it adds much of anything to anyone.

amother

Sienna

Sat, May 25 2024, 11:28 pm

amother Blonde wrote:

I’m a secretary in a hs. You cannot compare what yob back in the day offered to what the schools do today. Yom iyun, Rosh Chodesh assemblies, chessed programs, Shabbatons, g.o activities etc etc. if I tell you the office is a ZOO I mean it. Girls coming and going, orders being placed, admissions, photo copies, make up tests, grading, report cards, attendance and I can go on and on. It’s very nice for someone who doesn’t know what goes on behind the scenes to just assume things get done on their own. Every email that goes out, someone writes. Every phone that rings, gets picked up. I don’t think someone who is outside the system can understand the amount of work that goes on in a school. If anything, a high functioning school, needs to be well staffed.

High school secretaries run the school!

amother

Crimson

Sat, May 25 2024, 11:36 pm

Often there are no visible cuts needed.

One large frum school sent out a brochure years ago mentioning that they had hired a financial auditor who found wastage in spending totaling over a million dollars annually. On one hand, amazing! On the other hand, how many parents suffered to pay tuition that essentially went in the trash.

I think that every school should get an audit first.

Just like in a house, often you don't have to cut things out entirely, you just have to be willing to be more flexible. Brand name supplies are not always needed. There may be utility discounts you're not availing yourself of. You may have used the same phone company or payroll program for 20 years but there are much cheaper options nowadays. Switching to LED bulbs may save thousands in electricity.

Then you set a budget. There can be a prizes budget, a janitorial budget, and a copy machine budget. Just like parents are expected to do, you prioritize your expenses in those and don't spend more when you're over budget.

Another idea from Yeshivat He'Atid is that many extracurricular programs are not part of the school's budget. If a parent wants them, they sponsor them.

amother

NeonPurple

Sun, May 26 2024, 3:14 am

I think we need transparency on the financial end. And yes a yearly audit.

I think people would feel better about tuition in that case. But it won't make a huge difference really.

Long term we need a long term solution.

amother

Crimson

Sun, May 26 2024, 3:23 am

amother NeonPurple wrote:

Maybe we go back to the drawing board. Start from how much money we HAVE instead of how much we WANT.

Calculate what an average family, average salary, average number of children, can realistically afford along with a reasonable quality of life (including cleaning help as needed, occasional pizza and treats, clothing, saving for weddings/retirement, reliable vehicles, etc.).

Figure out a workable class size.

What kind of education can we provide with this budget? What kind of administrative support? What kind of building?

If we need more, how can we fundraise it or have services/products donated? Might wealthier parents be willing to support extracurriculars or other "bonus" services (library, resource room, playground equipment)?

You know, the whole "living within your means" thing.

amother

Razzmatazz

Sun, May 26 2024, 4:45 am

amother Junglegreen wrote:

Teacher here:
Cutting back on text books is a terrible idea, would you teach if you had to photocopy pages instead of kids writing in their math book? It doubles or triples prep time, makes it harder to keep track of , etc

I don't understand. When I was at school, text books were reference only. The school handed them out at the beginning of the year and handed back at the end of the year. Each book had its number, and it was noted which student had which book, and failure to produce it at the end of the year meant that you had to pay for a replacement. Writing in them was strictly forbidden (though it sometimes happened.)

We copied maths problems into our exercise books as necessary. No photocopying involved.

Iymnok

Sun, May 26 2024, 5:01 am

amother Razzmatazz wrote:

Same here. Every student wrote their name and year in the front. We tried to get our sister's book!
Only in the very young grades did we write in the books.
We borrowed for math, social studies, language arts, science, chumash and Navi.
Obviously if we lost or ruined a book, we (or our parents) would have to replace it.

imaima

Sun, May 26 2024, 5:13 am

amother Steel wrote:

My kids school always looked like an old appartment building from the outside. Last year , they upgraded the outside. It looks now like a fancy school. I was wondering why they waste money for the looks until my sister is law made a comment to me. She is looking for a school for her oldest daughter. I thought that the school that I send my kids would be appropriate for her daughter. She told me that she does not want an old run down building. I told her that they just upgraded the outside of the building. She then decided that she will apply to this school. It is sad, but I guess if they wants to please the younger generation then they have to have a fancy building.

I guess she is not the one who struggles with tuition.