Alienating You Supporters

If this letter is true (from the 8/21 Yated), I can only shake my head. For years I have read letters in various publications of "cruel" administrators who have told a struggling parent to pay up or take their children out of school. My compassion has always been ignited, but I know that a school needs a certain amount of money to function and that those funds can't all fall on the shoulders of a few. I also know that when word gets out, as it inevitably does, that a "customer" is being heavily subsidized that a great deal of animosity can grow towards a school and issues can arise. I don't know what the proper answer is regarding a student here and there that is not/cannot make payment.

But what about a parent that has fallen into arrears, but was a pillar of support to the school both with donations and loans. Is the heavy handed treatment warranted? If a story like this leaked out, would it alienate you as a potential donor? I personally find it very distasteful.

Comment away. And more to come the big Bais Yaakov of Boro Park story.


THE TUITION CRISIS
Dear Editor,
After reading the Chinuch Roundtable about tuition and the letters in response to the column [if anyone has this, please feel free to scan and email me], I felt that another side should be discussed. The following story was heard from a close friend. It shook me to my core, and it should do the same to you.

This baal tzedakah was a classic case. He had a large house, he had fancy cars, and his name was on all the committees. Yeshivos would come; few left dissatisfied. Schools and individuals would come to borrow money all the time.

As tighter times began, tenants began falling behind in rent, and money became scarce. Borrowers defaulted on loans. Deals didn’t quite work out as expected. Those trappings of “success” became an additional burden. Gone were those “sneaky” Sukkos trips to Eretz Yisroel en famille. In short, there was no cash. Expenses weren’t covered and he was behind on tuition payments. Most of the school directors were quite understanding and patient, except for one.

For years, full tuition had been paid promptly, with a smile and without an argument. School functions and dinners were generously supported. Now, a half year’s tuition was owed and was being paid slowly. The sum total owed, is a significant amount of money. During the second phone call this person received from that school’s director, the latter asked, “Should I raise money for you? A letter that followed stated that since tuition was seriously in arrears, the student would not be allowed back to school until the balance was paid in full.

The total amount this person donated to that particular school over the past years, including what he gave before his child was a student in that institution, exceed the present balance owed in tuition. However, this does not stand to the father’s credit and the school administration does not prevent letters such as the above-mentioned one from being sent.

If the school vaad were to peruse the income statements, they would learn a lot, but the facts on the ground read differently.Hopefully, the future will bring economic improvement. But how will people respond to this executive director’s requests for donations if stories such as this one leak out? There is no question that schools have challenges, but donations of the past should be, at the very least, a reason for forbearance.

In respect to the yeshivos not showing their books, Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l is quoted as having commented that a yeshiva that doesn’t have open financial books is choshud on gezeilah. I also highly doubt that anyone would have the nerve to suggest that our rabbeim should earn less.

Signed, Frustrated and Sad