With the issue of girls school teachers exceedingly low salary having come to the forefront of communal awareness in recent months, those involved in the issue are taking massive leaps towards rectifying the problem.
On motzei shabbos at the Torah U’Mesorah convention, a panel was held in which the topic of low salaries for teachers and the related crisis of schools not having teachers to hire was addressed.
During the panel, a stunning announcement was made by Torah U’Mesorah: askanim involved with the situation have pledged to raise $25 million to assist in raising teacher salaries.
Few details are yet available regarding this effort, but it marks a momentous step forward in assisting teachers – as well as the schools desperately searching for people to hire.
How long would it take to raise that kind of floose?
$10,000,000 was already raised last night.
Joke! The extra $1000 a year each teacher will get? How does that make any sense?
@interesting
I too am leary of having the funds going through the mosdos and allowing them to get their hands on the monies
Perhaps TU can issue checks directly to teachers – they would receive a roster of teachers and mail out checks biannualy
Just a thought
Nailed it. That’s the only effective way to do it. Better yet, teachers should be able apply directly to TU with their paperwork and info, current salary and financial situation etc. to be eligible for the bonuses. Hatzlacha!
Exactly @interesting. Who is on top of the owners? How much salary are they taking? Is there any oversight? Teachers work very few hours. Per hour they make a decent amount. I work 40 hours a week as a professional. If we break it down per hour teachers are ahead of me who has a masters degree. If the rich who are living in abnormal mansions and living insane gashmius lives want to give more money to teachers so be it. But they better not dare raise our tutuion. My girls school has raised it every year. Wonder where that money goes.
A) If you think teachers and rabbeims hours are limited to the classroom, you are making a mistake.
B) Maybe your masters degree and the money you invested in schooling wasn’t worth it if you aren’t happy with your salary. It certainly didn’t help your writing skills.
I am not a teacher or Rebbe (nor do I have a masters), but I make it a point to give all my children’s rabbeim and teachers nice checks twice a year. If you think you are paying a lot of tuition, maybe check out some other communities. Tuition is extremely low in Lakewood and even if every parent were to pay in full, it doesn’t come close to paying the schools budget.
To “Interesting” Chaim Jacobson, “Yup” and “Corrupt” your comments reflect your distrust in your child’s school. So why would you entrust your child to them? If you don’t trust them with your money how can you trust them with your children?
he trusts the teachers not the school owners…..
u r thick
corrupt and interesting: you have corrupt minds. why don’t you try to run a school and then talk. it’s easy for you to judge these mosrei nefesh. I challenge you to open a school . go right ahead and let me know where i can reach you to register my child
Kudos to Torah Umesorah for tackling this important issue, and a big thank you for all the money that was already raised!
A teacher/Morah working in a school will most likely never earn as much as someone in a private sector, we all need to do our best to raise their salaries, but more importantly, we need to genuinely appreciate them, and laud their sacrifices, dedication, and accomplishments..
We need to create a value system where Mechanchim/Morah’s/Teachers are as respected, and revered as the G’virim who are funding these initiatives. Often it seems that we pay lip service to the Rebbe/Morah’s, and genuine appreciation for the ones that are such that are supporting them.
The opposite needs to happen, with this paradigm shift in our priorities, the Rebbe/Teacher/Morah will receive genuine appreciation and this will serve to alleviate the current crisis
I’m so happy for the rebbeim, I’m so happy for the teachers and I’m so happy for kollel yungerleit for all the help they receive from all organizations and govt programs. I’m just sad for people like myself who have no support, no govt programs, no help from an organization, we work full time and can barely cover our simple expenses. No-one ever cares about us. My kids ask me why their classmates get to bring fancy lunches and snacks to school and I know it’s their food stamps. My kids ask me why their friends have normal cars and ours is very old. My kids ask how come their friends have big houses and ours is small and I know many of them have HUD or parental support to help buy a house. Many of them are teachers, rebbeim and kollek families. I don’t know how they can afford it. I definitely can’t. Hopefully one day a tzaddik will open an organization to help all struggling families not just those that are in a certain category.
I agree with every single thing that you posted about.
It really hurts to be in the middle class.
We work hard and can barely get by.
While all these people that are on every single program are enjoying the good life.
As you can see from the previous comments there is a major trust issue. Parents and donors do not trust that the school owners will be responsible with the funds. Our Mosdos became people’s personal businesses and it’s a huge problem and it might be too late to tackle.
Another great idea is to have a checkbox on the tuition form that allows parents to write in a specific amount of money they want to pay per month in addition to their regular tution of which every dollar will go directly to their children’s teachers. A raise in tuition comes with a lot of skepticism as to how much of that raise is actually making its way to the teachers….
@Alan stop being so negative. Everything is a start. Nobody needs the world to be accomplished overnight. You need to start so,where.
ok now its time for a new crisis……
Bus drivers dont get paid enough…
Hello torah umesorah…
hello Rechnitz…….
hello Reb laizer………..
Middle claa, I’m with you!!! I hope you’re situation changes quickly for the better! Be open minded and see if any job in your field is available that pays more. There are opportunities out there!
Cf, I actually like that idea, an amount that can go straight to the teacher each month! Brilliant.
I am totally in for teachers getting paid more although they work 180 days a year and are off every convenient day needed, while those that work don’t have that luxury. But are schools willing to open their books just to Tora umesorah to make sure there actually isn’t extra funds in the school?
#food boxes where is all that mone?
Can torah umesorah have access to all schools books as a pre condition ?
If everyone would give a tip of what they can afford at Chanukah and pesach taking into account their overall lifestyle they teachers can have nicer income. Everyone has their priorities. If your children would be first priority over other expenditures you would be more generous. You tip a haircut guy a waiter and a cleaning lady and camp counselors. Why not teachers and Rebbes
As a husband of a teacher I want to clarify a common misconception. Teaching is not just the hours clocked. Parents call at all hours of the night, tutors, and on top of that there is prep, test grading, report cards, therapists. I can attest to the fact that in many ways a teacher works more hours than a nine to five job. It doesn’t make sense when people says how many hours do they work. If they clocked it instead of salary your tuition just went up big time.
To all those questioning how you can entrust schools with your children but not trust the money will go to the proper hands, here is a little insight. The chinch of our schools are wonderful and they are doing unbelievable work in helping to raise our future doros. However, as someone who knows the inside workings of some local mosdos’s financial offices, when a school is privately run it automatically turns into a business, and there is no oversight as to where exactly all the money is going. No school has extra cash, and many are in the red but possibly with proper boards being set up as is actually mandatory for a non for profit businesses everyone would feel more comfortable knowing their donations are going to teachers, running the schools….and not the owners pockets. Since this is not happening so fast I think it is IMPERATIVE that TU issue the raises directly to the teachers or figure out a way they can track the money. Again, our schools are wonderful, and roshai mosdos do unbelievable work for the klal, and most people would not want to be in their place, however, since schools are privately owned and have no oversight, if we want to ensure teachers’ salaries will improve this would be the best option.
Girls schools are BUSINESSES. With owners making very respectable salaries. Good for them but don’t say we need to raise tuition
The Middle Class comment needs to teach their children to be grateful to Bore’ Olam to be happy with what they’re given and to compare. Shevoatov.
So sorry. I meant to reply to Middle Class: Not to have your children compare their situation to others. Shevoatov from Brooklyn.
Pretty evident from horrible rotten attitude that parents have towards teachers why we have a crisis. You should be ashamed of yourself! you go ahead and tip waiters and cleaning ladies and treat with more respect than you do to teacher. Is it no wonder that people go into the professional Arena like I do where we get respect? One thing is for sure everybody agrees for social worker we pay 150 an hour no one says I also work I should be in top of that money we agree to pay for a plumber $175 for parts on the service call without thinking we go to the mechanic we can spend a couple of hundred dollars because you realize the parts are needed for the car. Why when it comes to teaching our precious children and we all agree that it’s important to have good staff because you all can say how much we suffered at the hands of our teachers and that would you have qualified people why don’t we feel when you could pay them a wage that’s worth of the professional instead of using them as some nobody who all they can do is be a teacher? If you agree that the administration is hiding money or not is not the discussion here. Nobody can force anyone to do anyone any one’s job. The person who’s getting $35,000 a I totally understand them frustrating. I don’t feel though that they get the computer to the skill set that’s required to teaching. And if they feel they’re not getting paid they should definitely take it up with their boss. The reason that you’re getting paid that salary is because their boss can get away with it and today is Dave we can’t get away with it because qualified teachers able to get the other positions. In short it’s a disgrace that the comments that are listed above unless you guys change your attitude more and more people will leave the field. Find a teacher who left the field after being mistreated and underpaid.
Let teachers work more than 4 periods a day. How does anyone working so few hours, except a salary to live on. ??????? Yes they’re doing great work and avodas kodesh. But let’s get real. They get all yomim tovim paid days plus almost 3 month summer vacation!!!!!!! Find another job in the world that has these benefits. Break down the salary to the actual work hours and some for prep and meetings, and see what you come up with. Enough complaining about MONEY all the time. Start Thanking HaShem for all your blessings. We’ll all be much better off
it is very interesting TU announced 3 years ago at their Presidents Conference 2 NEW wedding halls in Lakewood for Rabbeim and their families.
Did anyone ever ask what happened to those monies and that EXCITING announcement?
Is this spin all about announcements or will they deliver on their promises?
Did anyone ever wonder what happened to the millions of PPP monies that these same schools received? where is it, who received it? why aren’t Moros raises coming from there?
Lakewood mosdos are private businesses, so is the TU coup of 25ml will now go to whom? lets have a list of approved mosods who will receive it.
Very sad day when klal yisroel is continuously being misled and fooled with hype and no transparency or accountability of TU nor the schools.
let the people finally wake up and realize what’s really happening.
I think a fair solution and one that would allow teachers to earn a more decent salary would be to pay for all of the extra hours that are put in (example: preparing, marking, calling parents, PTA)
shlomo, why don’t you open a school and then talk
To Sam
why do you assume I don’t have one.
Not in Lakewood, I know the truth.
why is transparency a threat to any school or organization.
why should tzibur tzedakah monies be given without any accountability or transparency.
not you nor anyone else answered these simple basic questions.
why should their not be an auditing system of our schools and institutions to see if they operate properly.
our children’s lives are at stake.
How would we compromise any level of Torah, Chinuch or chesed if we had CPA”s auditing the finances of our organizations.
what are we afraid of?
does anyone agree?
Lmaaseh the government programs are supplementing the teachers salaries and making it livable. I wonder what a raise will do to the eligibility of the programs. If may not be kdai. For example… Still wondering how much of the new kollel check is additional income after each income change within each program.
Hatzlocha to all!
Shlomo , you are right TRANSPARENCY , are the relatives of the Principal making a substantially higher salary … there are some Mosdos where there isn’t transparency and the results are immoral behavior.
TU should push for TRANSPARENCY
It’s all going to go back to the fact that for the hours they are working, they are getting paid decently.
Perhaps in addition to a raise in salary, a stronger focus should be put on the benefits that should be added. Keep in mind that raising the salaries too much can hurt the eligibility for government benefits that are priceless to many.
1. Schools should figure out a way to get teachers enough clocked hours to be entitled to CHS, free childcare. The schools can open up the CHS facilities if they want to profit off them or have the teachers register elsewhere. Most teachers are income-eligible but simply don’t have enough working hours on paper.
2. With these additional hours, teachers can take an afternoon job in the actual school teaching English while knowing their children are taken care of, allowing them a proper double salary.
3. Teachers deserve free tuition for ALL of their girls, and perhaps their boys too. Schools should speak to one another to ensure that this is happening.
4. Teachers desperately need the financial assistance making Simchos sometimes even more than Rebbeim. A special fund is necessary for that.
We need teachers. We need good teachers.
To Shlomo
There is no problem with transparency and audits. I discussed this with a friend who runs a school. His response was that he has no problem opening up his books totally on one condition. That whoever audits them takes the responsibility to cover the deficits and make sure that all teachers get paid decently and on time and that this person takes responsibility for paying the mortgage and raising the funds needed for his extensions needed for new classrooms. Its a 2 way street. If you want full transparency and want to treat the schools as public institutions, then they have to be funded by the public. This friend takes no salary and has pumped many hundreds of thousands of dollars into the school as ” loans ” which he will probably never see repaid. So if you want to take the responsibility for repaying the loans and then coming up with the big dollars to cover the payroll and other expenses, you are definitely entitled to audits and transparency. If however you are not doing that and just nosy ,then you can audit yourself but not other hard working people who are sacrificing their lives and finances for our children. If the tzibur would have stepped up years ago and fully funded our Mosdos, then they would not be private institutions. The only reason the Mosdos are private is because the tzibur doesn’t care and does not fund education and chinuch ,so by default, private yechidim had no choice but to open Mosdos by themselves. I would like to see all the audit seekers, step up to the plate and come up with the millions of dollars to make the publicly owned schools that will be fully supported by the tzibur, and accept everybody from the community and also pay the teachers a nice wage. According to the complainers, this should be a very easy job as they claim the schools are money making operations so they should have no problem .
Most Mosdos that did the food boxes earned close to 1 million dollars , that should be a start for either lowering tuition or raising salaries.
If TU wants to raise salaries it will cause tuition to go up that is a fact. The only way to do this if there is a separate fund established that each teacher can apply to for some type of bonus depending on the amount of hours they teach.
I don’t normally comment, but I’ve reached a point of frustration where I feel compelled to comment.
It is very nice that Torah Umesorah has deco to raise money for teachers and I have no issues with that.
However, this whole uproar about salaries is really frustrating.
We BH live in a world of capitalism and free economics. In EVERY SINGLE profession in this country, salaries are paid based on what the “market” DEMANDS for that specific position. If employees aren’t satisfied with the salary being offered, employers can easily find additional employees who will happily take the position. If there are no qualified employees at that salary then AUTOMATICALLY salaries rise for that position.
Additionally, if an employer hired employees who aren’t well qualified to fill the position there would be an decrease in customer satisfaction and they would lose business and again they would be forced to automatically raise salaries.
Pertaining to this conversation, there is no reason whatsoever that schools should be different than any other business. So long as there are qualified teachers to fill the positions at these salaries there is absolutely no reason for salaries to rise.
Again, if there weren’t a sufficient amount of qualified teachers then salaries would automatically and organically rise.
And if the current supply of teachers (based on current salary) were not qualified enough then schools would feel the decrease in customer satisfaction and would need to find more qualified teachers at a higher salary.
Being that schools are able to find an ample amount of “qualified” teachers (again who sufficiently provide the services according to the customer’s demands) with their current salary offerings, there is no reason whatsoever for salaries to be raised.
Schools are businesses just like any other. So long as they can operate with the pay they are offering why should they be paying more?!
If there were actually enough teachers who would opt not to take the job because of the low salaries, there would be a teacher shortage and schools would be forced to offer more. So far I haven’t heard anything about such a shortage. So apparently there are enough teachers out there who are willing to take this job along with its salary and perks that there is no issue.
If a teacher feels she is not getting paid enough she is more than welcome to leave the industry and find higher pay somewhere else.
If outside help would like to do a favor to the teachers and raise money for them, no problem. But in now way should this be demanded from any employer. That would be similar to the liberal argument for minimum wage!
That being said, saying “the teachers do so much for our kids” or they “work so hard” is completely irrelevant to the conversation. It can all be true and they can be very much valued but so long as I can get this same quality of service from someone else at this price, there is no reason for me to be paying more.
Schools are businesses not tzedaka organizations. If someone feels they need help with tzedaka there are plenty of organizations that can help.
Regarding gov program eligibility
Over 50percent of kollel at BMG did not take the kollel $1000 raise as it would make them loose programs , if the money would have gone to kupas yom tov it would accomplish much more.
And this should be in discussion here also because what we raise TU is giving it is not enough that will make it a viable profession , or pay them adequately
Klall yisroel and Lakewood needs the daas torah of Rav Elya Svei tz”l more than ever.
To improve the quality of the teachers, the higher salaries should be reserved for experienced teachers (which is where there is a shortage). There are many inexperienced teachers available, and a low salary is not unfair for those with no experience, if there is opportunity for increases over time. Offering childcare is a good way to retain many of those teachers with a few years of experience, though it would unfair to some (unmarried/without children).
alternatively, to make the TU funds go further, they could be directed to schools willing to compensate above average (to incentivize that), E.g TU pays an additional 4K/year, for each Morah having a salary of at least 20K/year (numbers used as an example).
As a member of the financial board in my daughters school, I believe this whole “transparency” idea is a huge sad joke. I would like to give you just the simple math, so you can see how foolish that notion is. If you take a typical class with 24 girls that are paying the typical full tuition of $500 a month, you’ll get 12k. Minus at least 10% for tuition breaks etc., -2500 for Kodesh teacher,-1900 for limidei chol -$1500 on average for 2 principles and their assistants, -1900 for teachers assistant,- 500 for crafts and extra curriculum,-1100 for rent/mortgage,-1000 for utilities/maintenance, 250 for cleaning. -800 average office staff. And your already in the RED! So this whole EXTRA money idea is false. How dare you mock these mosrei nefesh administrators who spit blood just to push through the month!
The only real way to solve this issueif for teachers to
1.form a union a demand better pay . Everything else is just kvetiching without wanting a real permanent solution.
2. Get rid of the multi school system. They need a single community school system and get rid of the rest. Costs will go down and teachers would be able to be paid more.
To Corrupt and all others that think like corrupt,
My wife is a teacher in a Lakewood School for last 10 years. The amount of hours these Teachers put in including but not limited to: preparing, marking, Teachers meetings, PTA, speaking to parents, report cards etc. goes beyond the hours they actually spend in School. These teachers are paid way below what they deserve or what they could get in a office. Experienced Teachers are going from Schools to offices every year because that is actually a 9-5 or 9-3 workday.