tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post8906489343639154772..comments2024-03-24T05:22:27.179-04:00Comments on Orthonomics: Orthonomicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07892074485262548496noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-45862350792348908832009-07-29T00:28:00.275-04:002009-07-29T00:28:00.275-04:00Why can communities like Monroe have a system and ...Why can communities like Monroe have a system and us MOs cannot?Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08429860519425999235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-3309569915279090382009-07-28T21:59:00.053-04:002009-07-28T21:59:00.053-04:00Dan,
I am a believer in free market system and a b...Dan,<br />I am a believer in free market system and a believer in vouchers. But it just isn't happening. Even Utah's voters overturned a modest voucher proposal (search the blog for links). <br /><br />The frum community has lobbied for many years for vouchers. There is strong support from the black community for vouchers. <br /><br />Why do you think that making our voice louder will change the situation? <br /><br />You may be right that our pockets aren't deep enough. If so, I'm afraid the free market will do its job and more kids will be enrolled in public schools.Orthonomicshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07892074485262548496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-38549237136279568552009-07-28T21:49:55.736-04:002009-07-28T21:49:55.736-04:00Where are the local orthodox rabbis and community ...Where are the local orthodox rabbis and community "leaders" in all this?<br /><br />Why does this go on year after year, decade after decade, with no end in sight?<br /><br />The answer is ....(drumroll, please)<br /><br />THERE IS NO ANSWER!<br /><br />The Yeshiva system is too expensive to be self-supported within the community.<br /><br />We can quibble over yeshiva budgets, etc., at the end of day it does costs thousands of dollars per student to run a Yeshiva.<br /><br />I submit, once again as I did about two years ago, there is only one solution, albeit a very difficult obstacle to overcome, get the Government of the United States of America to pay its fair share.<br /><br />Our children are taught secular studies for a good three-four hours a day.<br /><br />There is NO VALID REASON why the Government should not be responsible for covering the costs associated with that portion of the school day.<br /><br />Yes, there's Separation of Church and State, the ACLU, and every other reason under the sun as to why this is difficult.<br /><br />Nevertheless, this is the ONLY viable solution.<br /><br />We as a community will never have the pockets deep enough to carry this burden on our own.<br /><br />We are entitled to a Government funded secular education for our children just like all tax paying families in the US.<br /><br />Let's get the message out to all NOW!!!<br /><br />The quicker we start, the closer we get.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08429860519425999235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-82632449246333100862009-07-01T12:09:23.530-04:002009-07-01T12:09:23.530-04:00I graduated the Yeshiva of Flatbush HS in 1978--if...I graduated the Yeshiva of Flatbush HS in 1978--if memory serves, the tuition was $2000. An inflation calculator I looked at puts the present value of that sum at approximately $6600, but what is the actual tuition now--$20,000?<br /><br />My wife and I have a combined income in the $130k- $140k range; if prices had stayed the same adjusted for inflation, we'd probably have kept the (4) kids in Yeshivah. We all know that in the first half of the 20th century the large majority of religious kids in America went to public school, and came out fine. As others have written, a community cannot sustain a model where one has to be wealthy in order to pay your bills. Whether people open up charter schools, or organize better after school Yeshivot, or find some other solution, it cannot go on as it is.<br /><br />Partly because of my strong background, I am able to learn with my kids, the boys wear kippot to school, and I am very happy with their overall progress and midot. I hope that a better system will be in place for their kids, or they'll look into private tutors as an alternative.Shalom, Cherry Hillnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-69941713492463996112009-07-01T07:33:17.712-04:002009-07-01T07:33:17.712-04:00Anonymous July1 makes good points. For many profe...Anonymous July1 makes good points. For many professionals, there are part-time options and telecommuting that can help. When chosing a firm or company to join, consider what types of part-time or flex time options they have. Keep in mind, however, that for many professionals, part-time often means 30 hours/week instead of 60.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-44425587833647312852009-07-01T06:53:03.583-04:002009-07-01T06:53:03.583-04:00One more point: although the writer and his wife a...One more point: although the writer and his wife are clear that they don't take their earning power for granted, there are pitfalls they might not have considered. As the family size grows, it is hard for the mother to keep up her earning power, unless she is extremely career driven. There are times when a mother realizes she is hardly ever at school performances, hardly ever at a doctor's appointment, hardly ever there for an adolescent who needs to ask tough questions. (A lot of parents of young children don't realize that while toddlers need more physical care, older children need a lot of time and parental attention). When the number of children grows from 2 to 4, 5, or 6, the mother may decide to cut back her work to part time or even take a few years off. This will impact her earning power.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, I'm in awe of a family where both can earn so much, still have time for their toddlers, give a lot to tzedaka, etc. But all my friends who are doctors and lawyers are burned out after 15-20 years full time in their careers, especially those who are mothers.<br /><br />So the family should plan their future financial decisions even more carefully.Anonymous July1noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-1245691715404608552009-07-01T04:24:53.376-04:002009-07-01T04:24:53.376-04:00What the orthodox community needs is elected leade...What the orthodox community needs is elected leadership. If we had leaders that had to run for election, we'd be hearing all kinds of ideas of how to relieve the "crisis", but not from smart people who read a great blog, but from people in a position to actually do something. <br /><br />We hear anecdotal evidence that people are suffering economic hardship, and that X amount of tzedakah dollars are flowing out of the community, and other interesting things, but if someone had to actually run a campaign, they would be hiring pollsters to find out what's really going on out there.<br /><br />Of course it would have to be a leadership that is vested with real power. A real "Congress" of sorts and I can't imagine how anything like that could come about.<br /><br />Avi, I can sooo relate to your last posting about how hard you and your wife work and you can't even afford a decent new-ish car. The car I have, but I don't do take-out and there is no vacation for us on the horizon. Every time I go to buy tomato seedlings for my garden, I find there's no extra money even for this little thing!<br /><br />As Mark says, it's tough to be a yid...tdrnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-47778620868298940362009-07-01T00:52:38.473-04:002009-07-01T00:52:38.473-04:00you can be chasidish or chareidi and be frum and p...<i>you can be chasidish or chareidi and be frum and poor or middle class in the usa you can even be rz or mo in israel and be poor or middle class - in the usa - you must be rich to be MO - modern orthodoxy in the usa is a religion for the rich only - those that can not afford this expensive religion make aliya, become chareidi (passaic style)</i><br /><br />Mostly true. However, both systems are rapidly reaching the point of instability.<br /><br />The MO system is unstable because too few (I mean the donors and the people paying full tuition plus) are subsidizing too many, and as soon as some of those few opt out, the system comes tumbling down.<br /><br />The Charedi system has a similar problem in that too many want to delay working for too long. Even now, there are kollels that are refusing entry to people that they would have admitted without a problem 3 or 4 years ago (and there are rumors of some kollels simply shutting down - all those bochurim are going to have to find something to do very quickly!).<br /><br />MarkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-31622733751001259712009-06-30T23:08:03.811-04:002009-06-30T23:08:03.811-04:00you can be chasidish or chareidi and be frum and p...you can be chasidish or chareidi and be frum and poor or middle class in the usa you can even be rz or mo in israel and be poor or middle class - in the usa - you must be rich to be MO - modern orthodoxy in the usa is a religion for the rich only - those that can not afford this expensive religion make aliya, become chareidi (passaic style), or leave judaismAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-20641878360658176672009-06-30T21:36:07.352-04:002009-06-30T21:36:07.352-04:00Anon 9:17, the lower earners have the hope of scho...Anon 9:17, the lower earners have the hope of scholarships. Those in the high income brackets don't, plus their tuitions are inflating annually to cover the scholarships of the lower earners.<br /><br />The suggestion of a "full tuition only" school really appeals to me, simply because I know my outlay would be lower than it is today.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-29067145430890693542009-06-30T21:17:56.971-04:002009-06-30T21:17:56.971-04:00I just wanted to commend the original poster and t...I just wanted to commend the original poster and those commenters who also are in upper income brackets for acknowledging how fortunate they are and for living modest, thoughtful lives.<br /><br />This post and the comments are the scariest yet on Orthonomics. If families earning in the top 3-5% percent are squeezed, what does that mean for everyone else?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-15428087643685553432009-06-30T20:18:40.668-04:002009-06-30T20:18:40.668-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-22391384819457580122009-06-30T20:15:21.064-04:002009-06-30T20:15:21.064-04:00Not having read any comments, I'm just going t...Not having read any comments, I'm just going to say something I've been saying for a long time: To be an orthodox Jew living in a Jewish area, regardless of geographic location (we don't live anywhere near the Tri-State area and tuition here is quite expensive as well, though not as expensive as in the Tri-State area - on the other hand, people here don't earn as much as they do in the Tri-State area; even high paying jobs are less-paying here since it costs less to live here) you simply have to be rich. That's it. It's the bottom line. To live as an Orthodox Jew and give your children a good or at least decent, Jewish and secular education, you simply have to be rich.Am Kshe Oref - A Stiff-Necked Peoplehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06244053147685734300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-61668700842777951602009-06-30T19:29:56.042-04:002009-06-30T19:29:56.042-04:00Avi, Ist schver tzu zein a yid ...
... but the Ol...Avi, Ist schver tzu zein a yid ...<br /><br />... but the Olam Habah makes it worth it!<br /><br />Mark<br /><br />PS - I wish I had a solution to rising costs and falling income, but there aren't any (other than Mashiach coming, so let's do our best to make that happen)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-38052926455369850772009-06-30T19:18:04.682-04:002009-06-30T19:18:04.682-04:00@Mark,
Yes, I know. But with the exception of pri...@Mark,<br /><br />Yes, I know. But with the exception of private school and a few things bought before the tuitions started kicking in, we don't live anywhere remotely close to approaching a point near our income level - because we can't. Private school is expensive, I get it. It is its own luxury, fine. And I don't expect to get private schools AND be able to buy a $50,000 BMW, but I would like to be able to buy a new car instead of trying to eke out another year (I hope) by putting $1,000 into the 11 year old Ford. That was today's fun decision. Yesterday, it was dropping down to the cheapest possible cellphone plan - the one T-Mobile doesn't even advertise because they don't want anyone to take it. We basically never take vacations, both because we can't afford to from a monetary perspective, and because we use up all our vacation time on chaggim, and providing childcare on the days before chaggim, the day after chaggim, and teacher service days. Our savings rate isn't what it should be. While I'd probably be working just as hard without the pressure of tuition, there are business travel opportunities I would love to pass on (but don't), and my wife would prefer not to work at all, never mind the number of hours she's putting in both during the day and at night.<br /><br />I feel terrible for my friends with lower family incomes than ours - they have much harder decisions to make. All in all, we live well. We still buy premium toilet paper. We can afford takeout (cheap Chinese or pizza) every once in a while. Through a combination of hashgacha and some of our own good decisions we ended up with a nice small house, expanded kitchen, and a non-expanded mortgage. But we're already in the top 3% of incomes, and between taxes and tuition we have nothing left. My salary is getting cut, yet my tuitions aren't, and I can plot on a graph exactly when the numbers go from black to red: the day my oldest enters high school. It's never fun to hear rich people kvetch - but when rich people are kvetching you'd better listen.Avi Greengarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14267040237664555562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-16214194871746573042009-06-30T15:59:13.195-04:002009-06-30T15:59:13.195-04:00Excellent points Mark.
Although OJ's view pri...Excellent points Mark.<br /><br />Although OJ's view private school as a necessity, and maybe it is to keep kids jewish, with very few exceptions, the rest of America's middle class and even many upper class make do with public schools.<br /><br />Most middle class people also can't give 35K/year to charity and I suspect that this couple is putting far more into their retirement accounts than most middle class couples.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-66339440122581622492009-06-30T13:48:38.979-04:002009-06-30T13:48:38.979-04:00Avi - I earn enough for our President to call me r...<i>Avi - I earn enough for our President to call me rich, why am I living like I'm barely middle class?</i><br /><br />Avi, you aren't "barely middle class" because middle class don't send their kids to expensive private schools! That's upper middle class or upper class. It's all a matter of choices, we choose to send our kids to expensive day schools, others choose fancy new cars, vacations, cutting edge electronics, bigger homes, etc.<br /><br /><i>LOZ - i was talking to a friend recently, and his main objection to public school came down to the fact that it would be stabbing his father in the heart. his father snuck his family out of Hungary in the 80s so they could live in freedom (as Jews and in general). not to go to public school.</i><br /><br />This is an excellent point! One of the reasons why my wife and I are so afraid to put our kids in public school is that the likelihood of some of them ending up OTD would be much higher (at least in the case of our family).<br /><br />MarkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-54826211252823539772009-06-30T13:15:26.427-04:002009-06-30T13:15:26.427-04:00AVI:
"it would be more of an issue of kibbud...AVI:<br /><br />"it would be more of an issue of kibbud av v'aim"<br /><br />i was talking to a friend recently, and his main objection to public school came down to the fact that it would be stabbing his father in the heart. his father snuck his family out of hungary in the 80s so they could live in freedom (as jews and in general). not to go to public school.<br /><br />i suspect my wife (also an iron curtain refugee) opposes public school in part for the same reason. her mother cleaned floors and her grandfather begged for tuition help so she could go to a day school. who are we to send our son to public school?Lion of Zionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10342299133387602141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-73971886623032615192009-06-30T13:11:56.523-04:002009-06-30T13:11:56.523-04:00What I appreciate about what the guest poster is s...What I appreciate about what the guest poster is saying here is that:<br /><br />There is no transparency in the cost or business structure of yeshivah education & tuition. That is what makes the subsidization aspect to tuition frustrating to those of us trying to follow the letter & spirit of tzeddakah giving.<br /><br />There are markets in which we expect everyone to pay the same amount, and there are markets in which pricing is more variable.<br /><br />When I go to buy Cheerios at the supermarket, it doesn't cost me more dollars per box because another shopper is able to get Cheerios for free or on sale. To the extent I subsidize Cheerios, the discount doesn't come from the supermarket. It comes from my taxes, which then supports food stamp programs. Without getting into a complicated and tangential post about efficiencies in our welfare state, I'm generally "ok" knowing how it goes. And if I have problems with how the government redistributes wealth, it has nothing to do with the supermarket or General Mills!<br /><br />When I purchase airline tickets, I know that very few other passengers will have paid the same amount per seat. Some people will have paid more for their tickets, effectively "subsidizing" the fuel costs for those who have paid less. Again, without getting into details about efficiencies in airline travel, I'm ok knowing that this is how the system works.<br /><br />The problem with yeshivah tuition is that it pretends to be the former system like the supermarket & treats the ideas of scholarships or financial aid as though it was a separate "government-like" system of food stamps, but in reality it winds up being more like the latter one of airlines.<br /><br />The two problems, though, are that we're noticing that the price of Cheerios has gone up way more than can be explained by inflation or the cost in farming/processing oats, and the reality is that we're in a situation where many people simply can not afford to fly at all.<br /><br />I, for one, would prefer a system of transparency in which the price of Cheerios or a plane ticket was related to its actual cost, with options for people who want lower and higher cost alternatives (e.g., organic Cheerios vs. regular or first-class vs. coach). At the same time, a scholarship fund/tzeddakah could be created to provide for some people who can't afford Cheerios or flying otherwise. And I could choose whether to give to that tzeddakah, as compared to other tzeddakah options available, based on that charity demonstrating it is well-run & worthwhile.<br /><br />JS - I think "fortunate" is a good word, not that it should diminish hard work and investment in one's future. I also use that term, and I mean it in a Rawlesian sense. I feel fortunate in terms of the nature/nuture of genetic lottery that I have certain natural abilities & that I was born and raised in a family that placed a premium on education, hard work, and using my abilities/talents for my own good and that of others.<br /><br />FWIW, my car is 14 years old, but I "married into" a much newer car last year. Hehe.Offwingernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-51731187595768051452009-06-30T12:53:04.322-04:002009-06-30T12:53:04.322-04:00JS, I'd like to take a stab at this, too. We d...JS, I'd like to take a stab at this, too. We don't earn nearly as much as our letter writer, but face many of the same issues.<br /><br />1) Yes. I'd happily give to a separate scholarship fund - and, actually we do, on top of paying full tuition. But I object to scholarships being built into tuition because a) it pushes many people who could afford tuition into asking for scholarships, so it's simply counterproductive, and b) we work awfully hard and have lower quality of life (dual income, long hours, frequent travel) to be able to pay full tuition, while we end up subsidizing people who live better than we do. The goal should be that everyone pays full tuition, and that goal seems farther off every year.<br /><br />2) Yes. This really bothers me because I freely admit that I'm materialistic. I earn enough for our President to call me rich, why am I living like I'm barely middle class? I beat both of you on the car - mine is 11 years old - though we do have basic cable (channels 2 - 13).<br /><br />3) A little. We can't give as much to Chai Lifeline and YACHAD as we did in the past because we're giving more to the schools. OTOH, there are always more tzedakas to give to, and local Jewish education is certainly a noble cause. <br /><br />4) No. I actually feel like the school we send our kids to is a good value. There are some things I would change academically, but we chose it in large part because of the character of the parents who send their kids there, which reflects in their children, which reflects in their middot.<br /><br /><i>I'm also curious if there's anything that would make you consider a non-yeshiva approach</i><br /><br />While I might actually be OK cycling my kids (or at least some of them, some of the time) through public school, my parents would step in and demand to pay for day school, even though it would mean that they wouldn't have enough to eat or be saving for retirement. Since they don't actually have enough money to do that for more that a tuition or two (and I have four kids), it would be more of an issue of kibbud av v'aim. So pure public school is out. And I do value the yeshiva education - assuming it was affordable, that would be my preference regardless. Since it's not, I'd certainly be open to a charter school + after school learning (+ religious home environment).Avi Greengarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14267040237664555562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-69589125965007194392009-06-30T12:27:52.570-04:002009-06-30T12:27:52.570-04:00ANON POSTER:
i'm very impressed with this ver...ANON POSTER:<br /><br />i'm very impressed with this very healthy answer that you gave to JS:<br /><br />"Not that much, as long as it’s a decent education. Living in NY we get ripped off on everything on a daily basis."<br /><br />personally, i would like to switch my son to public/charter school (not that we're really considering it) because i feel like we're getting ripped off. i'm sure i'd have complaints with a public school as well, but at least then every complaint would not be followed by "i can't beleive this is what i'm sacrificing [fill in the blank] for"Lion of Zionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10342299133387602141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-59497475200450923622009-06-30T11:01:05.398-04:002009-06-30T11:01:05.398-04:00A SMART board is one of these new digital whiteboa...A SMART board is one of these new digital whiteboards that allows for full interactivity - it's like a huge touchscreen monitor that you can write on and save and pull up content. Nice to have, but necessary? It's these types of frills that bother me. It's just wrong, imo, to buy expensive technology when a significant portion of the parent body can't afford tuition. More needs to be done to stop these ridiculous purchases and redirect donors to give to more worthwhile causes.<br /><br />Definitely agree that administrators are out of touch. They see nothing wrong with a cost of $22k for high school and don't care if 1/3 or more of the student body is on a scholarship as long as there are enough people to pay full tuition and enough people to donate. This is such a foolish model and I really hope (as horrible as this is to say) that the economy stays down long enough for these people to really hurt and get the message this model is not sustainable.<br /><br />Lastly, I find it interesting you use the word "fortunate" to describe your and your wife's income. While there is of course some "luck" and of course all parnasa comes from Hashem, it seems you're diminishing how hard you and your wife have worked and how you've had to sacrifice and plan and be diligent to get to this point. Obviously not everyone can be earning 6 figures, but I see over and over again that most parents aren't even willing to try. They'd rather have an easier life and don't care about being reliant on parents and scholarships (maybe this is part of the problem in that we have a type of welfare state). A lot of people never consider graduate school or never even think that there might be another related job that pays more. My wife and I work very long hours and many of our friends and community members think we're crazy. We also have you beat in that we drive a used car that's more than 10 years old. We also don't have cable, we have an antenna. Again, think this is odd or just strange. So while I don't mean to criticize your use of "fortunate" necessarily, maybe you're just being modest - I think a lot of other people do think it's just luck and don't see how their actions have led them to where they are now.JSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-41266001340706459682009-06-30T10:38:02.294-04:002009-06-30T10:38:02.294-04:00Hi,
I’m the original letter writer back to respon...Hi,<br /><br />I’m the original letter writer back to respond to a reader’s question.<br /><br />To JS @ 9:57 am: There are a number of related things that bother me about the tuition situation, so let me comment on your points, 1-4.<br /><br />1) To the extent that we are so fortunate I can’t begrudge subsidizing other parents who aren’t as fortunate to a reasonable degree (whatever that is). I do begrudge that schools will look at us and similar families as cash cows to the exclusion of getting their own houses in order. After all, if you’re running a school and can just hit up the wealthier parents for more and more money each and every year, you don’t have incentive to be very exacting with the parents’ money. <br /><br />2) Being budget conscious hardly bothers me. Our lifestyle is extremely no frills as I’ve pointed out earlier. As I said we drive a seven year old used car, we don’t take fancy or expensive vacations or have expensive clothes. The only time we really eat meat during the week is if it’s left over from Shabbos. What does concern me is that although we’re hardly on a shoestring budget, God forbid, if something were to happen to us we’d have lots of problems, most specifically a $60,000 annual tuition bill and mortgage. Maybe our cushion is greater than most but it’s not enormous. Most of us are just a small step from disaster and only exist through God’s mercy. <br /><br />3) Having our tzedaka contributions go down bothers me. I think I may have earlier that last year we gave $35,000+ to tzedaka. I don’t say this to gloat: its just reality. Also and trust me on this one, we get no recognition from any charities: no plaques, honors, dinners etc., and that’s the way I prefer it. We’ve got so many people who are lacking basic necessities that for us to spend so much on tuition to the exclusion of tzdeaka really bothers me.<br /><br />4) Not that much, as long as it’s a decent education. Living in NY we get ripped off on everything on a daily basis.<br /><br />Overall what bothers me most is how schools are not being exacting with parents’ money (which probably has some aspects of 1-3 above). If a principal were to say to me that it costs $20,000+ to educate each child and tuition is a bargain at only $15,000, I would say anytime you’ve set up a system where an average family can’t afford to pay tuition for three kids we’ve got a big problem. And as I pointed out earlier, the way in which costs have risen over 25+ years really demonstrate how out of touch some of these schools are. I'd feel the same way if I were earning $1 million per year.<br /><br />Regarding your question about a non-yeshiva approach to education, I’d be open to it. Honestly I haven’t thought enough about it. I don’t know under what circumstances it would be appropriate, but certainly it could work. My first inclination though would be the lower cost no frills school.<br /><br />PS: What in the world is a SMART board?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-68288701644165647542009-06-30T09:57:42.109-04:002009-06-30T09:57:42.109-04:00Question for the original poster:
I'm curious...Question for the original poster:<br /><br />I'm curious what bothers you most about the tuition situation:<br /><br />1) That you're being asked to subsidize other parents.<br /><br />2) The fact that even though you're making so much money, you have to be very budget conscious (such as with the purchase of a home).<br /><br />3) The fact that your tzedaka contributions will likely have to go down (unless you consider subsidizing others to be tzedaka).<br /><br />4) The fact that you don't feel the school is worth that much money<br /><br />5) Something else.<br /><br />I'm also curious if there's anything that would make you consider a non-yeshiva approach to your kids education.JSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-89227293047484702322009-06-30T09:44:35.197-04:002009-06-30T09:44:35.197-04:00Anonymous 4:24 PM is correct. Tuition keeps risin...Anonymous 4:24 PM is correct. Tuition keeps rising exponentially because so many folks are on scholarships. So the price for those who can pay needs to rise at a significant rate to cover those who can’t afford to pay. I understand the concept, but what are you going to do, keep increasing tuition every year at a rapid clip? Tuition is somewhat like healthcare in that those who are paying, end up paying high rates to subsidize those who can’t afford to pay.<br />Anonymous 10:43 PM is also correct. Healthcare costs could easily be 15-20% of payroll. So health costs are certainly part of the problem, but the bigger problem is the inability of most people to pay.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com