tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post6243499953323968600..comments2024-03-24T05:22:27.179-04:00Comments on Orthonomics: The Next Big Idea or a Bunch of Old Ideas Put Together?Orthonomicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07892074485262548496noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-890279318181567652011-03-25T17:03:25.731-04:002011-03-25T17:03:25.731-04:00Bad plan. Good people (in most likelyhood)Bad plan. Good people (in most likelyhood)Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11169148764438565562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-63962461678365414192011-03-23T17:21:59.548-04:002011-03-23T17:21:59.548-04:00Al,
It's worse than that. In the NY area, no...Al,<br /><br />It's worse than that. In the NY area, no one makes a move without seeking broad communal and rabbinic support. Consider the 5 or so yeshivas in Bergen County. No one school can act independently even if it wanted to because it is too deeply intertwined with all of the other schools, communal institutions, rabbis, etc. So, if you want anything to get done, you need about 20 different organizations and "leaders" to sign on to the effort. So, you need to get the board members, the trustees, the shul rabbis, the RCBC, the YU, the YU's University-School group, the OU, their School group, JEFG, NJJKIDS, and the guy who owns the local bagel shop to all sign on. It's complete insanity.JSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-3421297247028095962011-03-23T17:12:40.043-04:002011-03-23T17:12:40.043-04:00Create a communal fund that contributes $8000/stud...Create a communal fund that contributes $8000/student as a voucher, and I'll show you a school budget at $24,000/student, less an $8,000 voucher.<br /><br />The schools price to "profit maximize," only instead of profits, it's bloated budgets, raises for "underpaid teachers" (underpaid they are not, they are choosing to work there, clearly they are better at the school then elsewhere, across the board raises are stupid), and other nonsense.<br /><br />JS, part of the problem is that nobody makes a move elsewhere in the country without considering what happens in NY. People refused to consider how to respond to Ben Gamla's opening because "they tried it in NY and it failed," and other nonsense. Anything that happens in NY ripples out here in Jewish land.Miami Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02977503720972852329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-24418929816164693972011-03-23T17:01:18.234-04:002011-03-23T17:01:18.234-04:00JS-It isn't just Modern Orthodox Schools. In ...JS-It isn't just Modern Orthodox Schools. In 2006 Toras Emes (Los Angeles) tuition was $12,000. See this post: http://orthonomics.blogspot.com/2006/08/minimum-tuition-debate-fall-57662005.htmlOrthonomicshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07892074485262548496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21976303.post-22941803772887646932011-03-23T16:50:27.660-04:002011-03-23T16:50:27.660-04:00Glad to see you commenting on this.
I won't r...Glad to see you commenting on this.<br /><br />I won't repeat the comments I made on ProfK's blog, but say a few different things:<br /><br />1) I know LA isn't the "sticks" but it's pretty striking that it seems every Jewish community across the country has tuition for "pro-Israel Zionistic schools" set at the same level. It's really a national problem and not a local or regional one. It also begs the question of how every Jewish community can uniformly be so darn stupid in creating the exact same problem everywhere.<br /><br />2) I'm becoming more and more convinced that there won't be any cure-all solution or that the schools or communities will propose any meaningful solution. Ideas are too entrenched, too many people make too much money off the current system, and too many people attach a sense of "kedusha" to the current model (even though day school is maybe 50 years old and ridiculously overpriced schools are maybe 10).<br /><br />3) The best thing the community can do is to STOP throwing money at the problem. Every time there's economic pressure that could lead to meaningful solutions, someone pops up with another plan that infuses money into the situation. It seems the latest proposal in the Teaneck area is to give scholarships/grants to "middle income" families that currently don't qualify for scholarships (read people making over $200k are now "middle class"). We just keep pushing the can down the street.<br /><br />4) The schools don't differentiate themselves on price, they do it on hearsay and rumors that one is "better" than the other or that "certain" people go to one yeshiva over another. This allows each school to charge as much as the others. There's no downward economic pressure at all. A real communal solution would involve forcing the schools to differentiate or throwing support behind a new school that does differentiate.<br /><br />5) It seems the social pressure that existed and prevented parents from seeking out public school (or charters) is slowly crumbling. People should embrace this even though it may seem bad in the short term, in the long term it's likely to force the schools to compete on things that actually matter such as quality and cost.<br /><br />6) In the end, the only real solution to the crisis is to do what's best for your family because it's going to take a LONG time before this sorts itself out on a communal level.JSnoreply@blogger.com