Tuition: Some Ideas Worth Considering

A Simple Jew pointed me towards this article from the Chabad website Crown Heights Info. Based on the comments on both this article and the previous installment, it is obvious that tuition and schooling is also a hot button item in the Chabad world too.

Of the 14 ideas presented, I have re-organized them categorized them as follows:
As always, add your comments.

Worth Trying

12) A bill for the future Some schools send their non-paying families a bill each year and tell them, “This is what you owe us. When you will be in a position to give, please do.”

I find the idea of a once a year bill reminding each family of the scholarship assistance that they have received to be an excellent idea. I do not personally know of a school that reminds families of the cumulative scholarship assistance that they have received every year. But, I recently met a lady who told me how her father "repaid" ever penny (!) of assistance that she and her siblings received growing up. A tzadik gamur? Probably. Something many families could strive to do in the future? At least partially, I'd hope.

Of course there are pros and cons to every idea. In general, I believe this is a very positive idea. However, I know there are families out there for which the cumulative tuition assistance is already in the hundreds of thousands. Receiving a "bill for the future" asking that the school be highly considered for donations when the bill is $25,000 is one thing. Sending a bill for $250,000 could be considered cruel and therefore halachically problematic.

Overall, I love the idea. But, obviously a posek would need to be consulted for extraordinary situations.

13) Signed IOU Other schools take this idea even further by making parents sign an IOU to be paid if and when they “make it.”

The idea of IOU's came up in the past (see minimum tuition post). This idea has already been rolled out successful in Cincinnati. Like many other communities, Cincinnati attracts a population of young and growing families who are pursuing residencies/internships and graduate programs. They benefit from school's tuition assistance programs in the present and often leave the community before they start earning a higher or more steady income. Because of this program, Cincinnati is seeing money that probably would never have seen.

All businesses should have a present plan and a future plan, and our schools are no different. Just because they can't bring in money in the present, doesn't mean they can't bring it in the future.

Part of the Long Term Puzzle

3) Educational subsidies/foundation for scholarships within each community
4) Better fundraising /better financial management Schools need to take on the obligation to raise more money. They also should have some over site committee that takes a look from time to time to make sure they are getting the most for their dollar.
5) Better formula for how much to charge each family
6) Tzedakah and Maaser as tuition to our own institutions

The above ideas are all part of the puzzle, but I still believe that we need more central/regional umbrella organizations responsible for future development. Efforts that are localized in the offices of individual schools produce far too much duplication. Jewish education is a "going concern," but individual schools and the current models may or may not be going concerns. Few carry a customer base large enough to attract large donors and the income that can be produced from a smaller pool doesn't do enough to inspire. In addition, returns will not be seen immediately and individual schools will loose interest because of this. There are kehillah models out there (Chicago comes to mind). Each regional area really should have its own "school district," but it shouldn't have to take Mashiach to establish them.

Worth Pursuing, But We'd be Silly to Count on it
1) Vouchers for school
2) Tax credit for tuition See below for a phone call you can make to help

I am a supporter of school choice and tax benefits for the tuition paying family. But, the chances of seeing vouchers in our lifetime is so minuscule that I'm frankly getting tired of the discussion. At this point I will just say. . . . . .someone just drop me a note when the average Jewish family starts benefiting from vouchers or when a bill goes to the Senate which would allow parents to itemize private school tuition.

Already Being Done
7) If you give extra ask for a voucher give to someone else If someone does give Tzedakah to a school they should ask for a receipt that could be used as a voucher towards tuition for someone who has a child in that school.
8) Adopt a child Those who can afford to should adopt the tuition of a needy child who would otherwise lose out.
9) Home schooling This option works for some, but would be a disaster for others.
10) School coupons Have parents buy school coupons to be used in local stores so that local vendors gain and the school makes a profit
11) Charity boxes Give daily Tzedakah in the school charity box

Number 7 is probably handled best by a gemach or something similar. I've heard from a reader that Baltimore has such an organization. Donors like to feel they are "buying" something and I've seen schools collect using method 8. I'm not sure if pushkes for schools generate more money, but the reminder is helpful.

It is nice to see "homeschooling" is no longer a bad word!

Unique to Chabad
14) Worth mentioning once more Schools like Yeshivas Tzeirei Hashluchim, in Tzfas, Israel which make it possible for every family to afford tuition and especially children of Shluchim.

Guest Post: Virtual Public Schooling

A reader sent me the following and is looking for comments and suggestions. Some public school districts are currently contracting with a virtual education provider. He believes that this could be rolled out in an area with a large Orthodox Jewish presence (he looks at Lawrence School District in particular) and benefit private school students as well as the school district. Below is his post.

Please leave your comments, address any of your concerns, and most importantly let us know if you would consider enrolling your own child(ren) in such a program if it were available in your area (even if only for a short period of time).

I have many reservations myself, but I find the idea intriguing and would certainly be open to such an option if it was available.

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I have an interesting and innovative idea that has the potential to:

Give private school students an alternative solution to the current yeshiva model.

Give parents of private school students a solution to the current tuition crisis.

What I am talking about isn't an original idea, however I believe it would be a fresh idea for yeshiva tuition paying parents.

I am talking about adding a virtual school to the Lawrence Public School district.

How does it work?

Education Management Organizations, like Connections Academy, work with sponsors State DOEs, Public School Districts, Charter Schools and other sponsor organizations to provide a free public school that students attend outside of traditional "bricks & Mortar" walls. Connections Academy's unique program combines the strong parental involvement of homeschooling, the expertise and accountability of public funded education, and the flexibility of online classes. The mission is to help each student maximize his or her potential and meet the highest performance standards.

How could this be applied to the current chinuch model?

First, this program would not be for everyone. In fact, it wouldn't even be a solution for the majority. But I believe it would be ground-breaking option and options are something we sorely need!

There would be a separation between secular education (the virtual school) and the Judaic education.

For the virtual school, each student would have his/her own unique schedule. That schedule can revolve around his/her Judaic schedule or vice versa. The virtual school schedule would be a personalized and flexible as each student learns at his/her own pace. With Connections Academy's model, Learning Coaches work with the teachers to ensure that the student(s) they are responsible are progressing. Learning coaches are typically stay-at-home family members or even hired individuals. The virtual school itself would be tuition free. Textbooks, lesson plans, online resources, curriculum materials and (usually) computers are included! A complaint often heard regarding virtual schools is the perceived lack of socialization. I believe The Judaic program (not part of the virtual school) would solve this problem.

The Judaic portion would have to be an "outside-the-box" solution as well. Of course, the Judaic portion of tuition would not go away. However, innovative and flexible Judaic teachers and Rabbanim could devise (diverse in scholarship and in cost) programs for students of this virtual school.

So, why would Lawrence Public Schools be interested?

• It can help reverse the declining numbers by attracting private school students.
• It can help bring higher scoring students under the ranks which would boost the School Report Card.
• Leveraging technology for education is all the rage!
• It would actually be a money-maker for the district. Typically, the district would receive per pupil funding in excess of what they would pay for this program.
• It would offer a solution for children of Orthodox tax payers without the separation of church and state challenges.

Just Some Rough Numbers: a Tax Tutorial

A commenter asked me to work out the numbers regarding the family in my last post who make $280,000 in combined income and pays $120,000 in tuition. Tax often baffles the average citizen, so I think this is a useful exercise.

Hopefully the original commenter can post up exact demographic information. But in the meantime, I assume the following whih I believe are all reasonable assumption.

--10 exemptions (2 parents + 8 children). I assume eight children as $120,000/$15,000 average tuition = 8.
--Each parent works full time and pays for child care (i.e. camp) during the summer, giving them a small state dependent care credit and a $1200 federal credit.
--Each parent makes enough to pay the maximum amount of FICA tax, i.e. $5840. For simplicity, I assigned $180,000 to the father and $100,000 to the mother.
--No income is deferred for retirement and there are no other sources of income.
--They live in a high tax state where there is a large Jewish community. Some high tax states I can think of include New York, California, or Maryland.
--For ease, I assume no charitable contributions and no mortgage interest income, but itemized using only state tax paid. With or without additional itemization, the family gets hit with the AMT due to the number of exemptions. Additional itemization could lower the tax bill at the federal and state level. So, there could be an addition $10,000 or so more for the family. It really doesn't change the theoretical per se.

Combined Salaries: 280,000
FICA, $5840*2 11,680
Medicare, 1.45% 4,060
Federal Tax, after credit 65,286
State Tax 19,000 (varies by state, this is a fair estimate)
-------------------------------------------------
Take Home Pay $179,974

Take away tuition of $120,00 and this family of 10 has less than $60,000 to pay the rest of their expenses. Between rent/mortgage, food, medical care, additional childcare and camp so the parents can work, basic clothing, and utilities, I can only imagine that a large family making over a $280,000 needs a helping hand.

(If that commenter emails me at Orthonomics, a gmail account. I can adjust assumption accordingly).

Parental Support: Houston We Have a Problem

I am hoping to follow up this post with a number of other tuition, camp, and tzedakah related posts.

It seems that the current generation of parents is being helped to heavily supported by their own parents, almost regardless of income level and regardless of their position in the community. From kollel yungerman to doctors and lawyers, it seems that a high percentage of families need a helping hand. And while it is nice when parents can help their children build financial security, I believe much of the help is not in the form of wealth building, but is just in the form of helping children make ends meet (i.e. the wealth will not have the potential to continue into the next generation). And that is scary!

In a previous post, an anonymous poster writes:

I pay over $120,000 per year on my children's tuition. Our gross family income is $280,000 per year. If we did not have relatives that help we could not make it. My kids yeshivos charge whatever the market will bear and ask for over $20,000 for high school and over $10,000 for elementary school. What a racket! This does not include lunch and summer programming.

At first I was astounded. Obviously this is a large family. But with such a high income, do they really need family help just to make it? Or is that family help really going to fund what something beyond the basics.

After guesstimating the number of dependents and plugging the figures into my tax software to estimate net-income, I answered my own question. Yes, a large, dual-income family with an enviable income more than likely needs help just to put food of the table after tuition and childcare.

And all I can say is "Houston We Have a Problem."

Eight Things Meme

I got tagged with the Eight Things Meme. Seems like I'm the last on board which is fine by me. I don't have to tag anyone. Since Memes are not part of the expected blogging material here at Orthonomics, I thought I'd tie this in to my blogging in general. Add your comments about you.

1. I wrote my first letter to the editor when I was in the 1st grade. It was my mother's idea: a thank you card. A men's service club built a little playground area in the local park and it was a bit hit. I spent a good part of my summer walking around the neighborhood collecting signatures from all of the kids for the thank you letter which was published in the letters to the editor section of our local newspaper.


2. I have attended a Chinese Auction. My neighbor asked me to accompany her and I tagged along. Watching Yeshiva educated, grown men, whooping and hollering over the winners like they were at a Monster Truck Rally, was far more disturbing than spending ridiculous amounts of time deliberating which box to put my tickets in, as if I was going to actually walk away with the set of silver that made me drool. I don't intend to ever go back.


3. I used to want a lot of children, as in more than 10. Since I've become certifiably Orthodox, the number of children that I desire continues to drop and I sometimes feel fairly guilty about it. I have to remind myself I can only have as many children as I can physically and mentally handle, and that number doesn't seem to be anywhere near 10 lately.


4. I have regular dreams. The most recent one involved one of our siblings building a tropical rain forest, complete with waterfalls, next to their dining room. Of course, everyone was ooohing and aahing the beautiful home renovations over the Shabbat meal. I too was enjoying the view until my mother-in-law turned to me and said, you should really consider doing something beautiful like this to your home. I was about to loose my temper. . . . and then I woke up.


5. I am the "spendthrift" in our house. My husband often needs convinced as to why we "need" certain things. In one of our more memorable convincing sessions, I had to convince him that we "needed" couches because I wanted to have something soft to sit on. He figured we had plenty of chairs for us and our guests and just couldn't see the need for another place to sit. Usually, these discussions are resolved when I remind him that as a homemaker, I spend far more time and home than he does and our home should be a pleasant place for me to raise our kids in (and sitting on hard chairs all day just isn't pleasant).


6. I practically run my own warehouse of non-perishable goods. I can't resist a bargain deal on things we use regularly. Lately I've been striking gold. I probably have 30-40 cans of canned tomato products in the 28 oz. size. I use no less than 2 a week it seems. I also have about 20 packages of diapers, and I'm heading out to get 3 more packages at rock bottom prices this week. After that, I probably will stop. I hope to have all children in diapers trained by the time I work through this huge supply. Instead, I will use our food budget to stock up on grape juice at the anticipated pre-Rosh Hashana sale. I'm down to 2 or 3 huge grape juices and I'm hoping the sale will be annouced before we are out. The lack of supply is making me nervous. At the anticipated $2.89, I will probably buy enough to get us through Pesach.


7. I don't think there is a countertop spice rack big enough to hold all of the spices I own (and use). I'd like to have them at arm's reach from the stove, but I'm thinking they will have to go in the pantry on an over the door organizer.


8. I dream of catering my own sons' bar mitzvah parties. I'm sure this would not go over well at all with my in-laws in the least. But I think the idea is fantastic. If I'm blogging when the day comes, I'll write up a post about the good, bad, and ugly of catering your own affair.

Thank You Cards, A Thing of the Past?

Thanks to my mother, writing thank you cards is practically a reflexive action. I remember when I was young, she would bring out all the supplies the day after my birthday parties and put me to work. Basically the rule was that you didn't go anywhere until the cards were completed.

This discipline has continued to serve me well into my adult life, although I'm embarrassed to say that after my babies have been born I've been somewhat delinquent with thank you card writing, often leaving my gifts unacknowledged for a number of weeks. Someone once called me to ask if I received the gift since they did not get a card. For me this was very embarrassing. Maybe I just felt embarrassed since I had all of our wedding thank you cards in the mail no later than a month after our wedding, even though Miss Manners gives one year or so I'm told. [Update: My readers are far more familiar with Miss Manners and have informed me that a couple has a few weeks to put out the Thank You Cards and gift givers have a year to give their gifts].

I don't keep a running count, but I have noticed that we do not always receive acknowledgement for our gifts. My guess is that we receive more Bar Mitzvah acknowledgments than Wedding acknowledgments. And I believe we are running a near zero on birthday acknowledgements, while birth/brit milah acknowledgments are hit or miss. My husband points out that most of the birthday gifts are for family members, but that never made a difference to my parents. But maybe this is just a convention I'm unaware of.

Questions for my readers: Am I the only one not receiving acknowledgment often enough to notice? Do you insist your children write thank you cards (where capable)? Do you help them where they are not capable? Do you write thank you cards for gifts you receive? Do you write thank you cards to your own parents and/or in-laws?

Or, alternatively, are you of the opinion that thank you cards are "old fashioned" and an oral acknowledgement is enough?

Just in case you are interested, we help write the thank you cards for our kids and plan to continue to insist that gifts be acknowledged in writing. It is just the way I grew up and writing thank you cards is an ingrained habit. But, I'm learning that this custom is by no means universal, so I try not to take offense at the lack of acknowledgment.

Sleep Away Camp

In much of the Orthodox world, sleep away camp is practically a given. I'm not sure of the age when one is "required" by the powers that be to send their children away to camp, but somehow I recall hearing from a NY family member that the age to send away is between 7 and 10. My research is showing around 3rd grade, which I presume is about 9 years old.

In a recent post, Orthomom writes about how liberal telephone usage policies make the adjustment to being away from home all the more difficult. Another mother writes (no editing on my part): "I am absolutely DREADING visiting day because of said phone calls. the camp mother at my daughter's camp actually allowed her to call me THE FIRST NIGHT she was there, which set a horrible tone for the following days. after two nights she refused to go to sleep until she spoke to me, and we had to stop that, but it was a tough few nites for her after that."

I hate to reign in on the party, especially since I can't even relate to pre-teens, tweens, and even teens going to sleep away camp since it was nearly unheard of where I grew up. But, call me naive and inexperienced (I'm probably a little of both), but emotional dependence at this age is perfectly normal and healthy. And while I would agree that every camper and his/her cell phone/laptop is unhealthy, I think regular contact with parents is crucial and desirable.

I believe that parents should ideally have day to day involvement with their children. And somehow I get the feeling that many parents try to push their children to emotional independence before they are ready.

Anyone with me?

Gambling Addictions and Chinese Auctions

In this week's Jewish Press, a social worker wrote to the "Dear Rachel" column about gambling addictions that she has seen manifested through the ever popular Chinese Auctions. She claims that there are families who diverted needed funds for food or clothing in hopes of winning a coveted prize in a Chinese Auction.

I share her discomfort with using gambling as a form of fundraising (although the suggest that we return to the bake sale and yard sale model strikes me as ludicrous at best) and I have stated so in other forums on j-blogs like Hirhurim.

Rachel dismissed the letter writer's concerns and I think the Jewish Press should be called on the carpet for publishing her advice when it is clear that she knows very little about the subject, its many forms, and the way that the problem can manifest itself. I may have to sit down and pen a well written letter myself this week, even though I am hardly the expert and would prefer to hear from the psychologists/psychiatrists in the frum community that deal with addictions.

I am not that expert needed to address the question, but I have seen enough to know that gambling takes on many forms and that Rachel's assertions are severely mistaken. Two of the assertions include the following (please, please read the entire letter and response for full context):

• If one is a gambler at heart, his/her craving will not be satisfied at a Chinese Auction charity gathering..
• The person who was of the opinion that people need to exercise self-control is onto something. Everyone knows his/her own limits. If someone ends up spending more than what s/he originally intended to in order to secure a better chance to win a preferred item, then the money will have been well spent.

Regarding the first assertion: Gambling takes on many forms. Some people gamble in a regular way, e.g. casinos and their addiction can be more easily spotted. But other people gamble in a hidden way, under the cloak of another activity, for example "investing" or "recreation."

I know a (now ex) husband who borrowed nearly six figures against their home to "invest." He would sit in front of his computer for hours on end watching his "investments," neglecting his (now ex) wife, child, and other obligations/interests in the process. He thinks of himself as an "investor," but I believe he would be diagnosed as a "gambler." I don't believe this person has ever spent any time in casinos, but he satisfies his problem through borrowing to invest with the intention of making money.

Regarding the second assertion: I'm in shock!!! This is probably one of the most ridiculous assertions I've ever seen in a Torah Oriented Jewish Publication. "Everyone knows [their] own limits." Surely if every individual and every family knew their own limits, we would not need a program to help bochurim quit smoking. We would not have a problem with young men and not so young men drinking themselves into comas on Purim. We would not have a problem with fathers or mothers taking money needed for the basic upkeep of their homes and spending it on luxuries.

I agree with the original letter writer: we should be concerned about the proliferation of Chinese Auctions. One never knows who the blind person is and what his/her stumbling block is. While the issue of gambling is one of halachic discussion, the fact that a professional gambler is excluded from eidut should give us a clue that gambling is not a preferred way to raise funds or spend our recreational time.

The Jewish Press should have never published her response.

Approaching Shabbat Calmly

I have discovered an incredible blog written by a mother of a large family who shares her fantastic ideas complete with pictures (many of them mouthwatering-yum!). As a "mom in training," I'm enjoying myself as I take a look, try to take in some of her wisdom, and find ideas that I could adopt as my own.

In this post, "Adventures of a Supermom," Juggling Frogs writes a little story about dealing with the frustration and chaos before Shabbat by taking getting a bit of fresh air and refocusing.

The adrenaline rush before Shabbat plays out differently in every family. Just as some athletes perform well under pressure, I am convinced that families use the adrenaline rush before Shabbat to their benefit. They experience a "high" and keep fighting. And when the game is over they feel satisfied and exhilarated.

But other athletes crumble under the pressure. They get a lump in their throat and start to choke up. They feel frustrated and can't seem to find their pace. Despite their talents, they just can't find their groove amidst the adrenaline rush. I've been in some homes where the looming deadline causes tempers to heat and the kids suffer the consequences. I can't imagine that the pressure is good chinuch.

This athlete who falls into the second category must take a different approach to the competition. He or she must learn to control the adrenaline because anything else is disastrous.

Not too far into our marriage, I discovered that our "team" fell into the second category. I think I was a bit surprised because when I was single and I hosted others for Shabbat I worked well under pressure. Not so married. And certainly not so with children.

Since this discovery, I started to play with different ideas to find the right pace so that stepping into Shabbat/Yom Tov is a pleasant experience, and one that leaves me with enough left to actually enjoy the day.

Here is what works for me and help me keep my sanity:

1. My dishwasher: As I cook, I throw in the things that need washed. As soon as I have a full or almost full load, I get the dishwasher started. I tend to take out things and stick in other things as needed. But an almost empty sink helps me feel less overwhelmed.

2. Keeping with a schedule: I try to do my inviting on Monday, my menu planning on Tuesday, my shopping on Wednesday, and the bulk of my preparations on Thursday, and my baking on Friday. Whatever I do on Friday, I try to include my kids since they relate to Shabbat when they help with anticipation. Adrenaline hasn't got the best of them yet.

3. My freezer: I keep a supply of frozen soups in the freezer and frozen challot. If I'm feeling crunched for time, I raid my supply and replenish another time.

4. Cleaning and Delegation: I try to keep up with my cleaning during the week and avoid getting into a major cleaning project on Friday. I can't take dirty messes, but have learned to put up with unfinished, but neat, piles of work like laundry, papers waiting to be filed, etc.

I try not to involve myself in a major cleaning project on Friday even if I have the time with the exception of cleaning up unexpected dirty messes. For me, cleaning is contagious. So, it is better to bite off cleaning is spurts during the week than try to pile it on before Shabbat.

I've also learned to delegate the last minute toy cleanup to my husband and kids, as well as bathtime. He also helps the kids get dressed and I stopped putting them in Shabbat clothing on Friday night. Pajamas it is.

5. Shabbat Seudot: Over the years, I've tried to do away with the fear that we will not have enough food and make what we will need and enjoy. My basic Shabbat dinner is usually made up of three courses: soup, the main course, and dessert. For Yom Tov I usually add in a fish course. Otherwise we eat our fish on Shabbat at seudah shlishit.

What I like about soup is that it is easy to make in bulk and it freezes well (with some minor exceptions). I enjoy all types of soups and this adds the variety that I seek. The chopping can be time consuming, but I can usually get 2 meals worth in one batch.

My main course normally includes three main entrees: a meat or chicken dish, a starch, and a vegetable dish. I try to limit my efforts to two of three of the dishes. If I am spending time making meatballs and the vegetable dish, I will just make steamed rice or couscous If I am spending time making a fancier rice, I might just steam vegetables for a side dish.

Dessert is normally just fresh fruit or a mix of frozen fruits. If I'm having a bigger crowd I might make a dessert. If it is just us, I usually avoid it because I don't really want the leftovers around.
Lunch I approach with flexibility. Many of the foods I serve on Friday night can also be served at room temperature again on Saturday. So we often eat smaller portions of the dinner menu on Saturday. If I'm having guests I might add a cholent or soup from the crock pot, or a nice salad or two. But, we tend to host on Friday night, so more often than not, we just see a repeat of everything that can be heated on a blech or served cold or at room temperature.

If I am feeling sick during the week, or I just have too much to do, I pull out a one dish meal. My favorite is a Moroccan Chicken stew with a side of couscous. It can be served hot or cold. I call this a wonder food! I once saw a letter decrying households that do not prepare a proper Shabbat meal. The writer theorized that parents who do this are hurting their children's religious development by not treating Shabbat with the proper kavod. I can guarantee you that my family would be far worse off if I tried to pull out all the stops every week.

I learn so much from my readers. So please share your tips for entering Shabbat calmly. I love to hear them. Chances are I will find something I can adopt now or later.