Crazy solution to Tuition

amother

OP ↓

Today at 7:14 am

Did you know that tuition is free in the public schools? The government pays it all.

What would happen if one year in September all Jewish and religious kids request to attend public school? This would have to be done in an organized way with the Rabbonim and Shomrim etc.

Don't you think the government would decide to rather help out the schools and yeshivas a lot more financially, than have additional thousands of kids added to each public school? They would need to pay for more teachers, more buildings, etc. AND have another thousands of kids on their head...

It would definitely be more worthwhile for the government to help out our educations a lot more financially.

amother

Oxfordblue

Today at 7:16 am

This has been discussed so many times. If the kids register for PS instead of private school then the private schools will lose whatever funding they do get. For textbooks, special ed, security, technology etc etc. There's no way to change everyone's registration without having it backfire.

amother

Gray

Today at 7:25 am

I think every luxury store (restaurants, high end home goods, etc) should add an extra 1% tax to make a community tuition fund that's dispersed to each school by enrollment to lower prices across the board, not application based

amother

Linen

Today at 7:26 am

The public school system would be thrilled. The more students enrolled the more funding they get. They might be overcrowded for a year or two at most, but they'd get money to build and set up new schools. These schools would be high achieving with bright kids from stable homes, so the high test scores would make them look great. Which would make the government happy, elected officials would proudly tout the high statistics for their local and state districts.

amother

Smokey ↓

Today at 7:32 am

There would be no way to successfully do that. The government doesn't care and you'd lose.

Years ago I heard talk (I was a teenager so don't know details) of a school that was trying to be a charter school or something (not quite public but similar) but the frum board decided against it because they wouldn't be able to turn away non jews and parents didn't want non jews in classes with their kids.

So OP unless your ready to throw your frum kids into a public school environment without kodesh with maybe a handful of frum kids in their class (bc they'd mix the classes and keep kids back etc)

This wouldn't work

amother

↑ Smokey

Today at 7:35 am

amother Brass wrote:

I've been saying this for years
The public schools cannot suddenly add another 20K+ students. They'll come to some kind of agreement

Public school will add trailers. No single public school is getting more than 200 kids. There are districts and if they need to bus kids out to a smaller school.
(This has been done with other public schools when a whole school closed)

amother

Snowflake

Today at 7:37 am

You know that many of us have parents and grandparents who did go to public school. Day school was not always such a big phenomenon in the US, particularly when people were immigrants. Most of the boys went to cheder after school. My mother’s entire elementary school in Brooklyn was Jewish. She barely encountered non Jews until Brooklyn College.

amother

Crocus ↓

Today at 7:42 am

The only real response to this tuition crisis is to stop demanding personalized education for each child. Class sizes should be the way it used to be, thirty kids in a class.

Also, the staff to child ratio has to come down.

amother

↑ OP

Today at 8:14 am

amother Clear wrote:

You don’t want the government to dictate what your kids learn or don’t learn

I would never let my kids learn long term in a public school.
Just making aware that all this extra funding the schools would get from the government should really go to our schools and yeshivas, as we are the ones saving the government so much money, even if we would pay partial tuition.

Btw, I do think that public schools have more expenses than Jewish schools. Major security, bigger lunch menus etc. It might be worthwhile to add kids from one additional school, but not ALL religious kids from New York State.

teachkids

Today at 8:15 am

amother Crocus wrote:

I don’t know where you live, but where I live it is 30 kids in some classes. And it’s a disaster. The fact is that kids are falling through the cracks in big classes and those are the kids most likely to go off the derech.

amother

↑ Crocus

Today at 8:26 am

teachkids wrote:

Are there other schools in your area? What are the stats there?

From what I've seen, the otd stats are the same in both type of schools.

amother

Coral ↓

Today at 8:46 am

amother OP wrote:

It doesn't matter if it's feasible or not. It doesn't matter if it's sensible or not. There are two key points that will ensure it never happens.

1. The government will dictate the curriculum
2. The schools will have to accept everyone. They will never give up their power to control society. Dictators never let go of their reigns.

amother

Ginger

Today at 8:54 am

They would just mix them all together and give a s-x ed class and we would not send back

Honestly, the government being involved in funding schools means they are invited to have a say in what we teach, which can only backfire in the liberal environment we live in ( look what happened in England, where the government funding was pulled away from the schools if they didn't teach the LGBTQIA+++ agenda)

The idea of vouchers as a credit actually makes sense - the property taxes are going for education, and they would give it back in form of vouchers to fund private schools.

Someone mentioned back in the day people went to public schools, and the OTD and Intermarriage rate was very very high. My grandfather says that out of his 90% jewish public school in brooklyn, 50% where shomer shabbos family's, and he is the only one frum today. I don't think we want to back to that....

keym

Today at 9:01 am

This would actually be the ideal situation for Lakewood, Jackson, etc for the politicians.
Currently the funding formula is such that the state gives individual towns education money based on how many public school students there are, but then the funding has to be used for the private school bussing, textbooks, special ed, etc.
Meaning Lakewood is only getting funding from the state for 6000 children (maybe less) but has to stretch it to cover full public education for those 6000 PLUS bussing, textbooks, special ed, pull out, P3 for an additional 30000. And the money isn't there.
Lakewood is borrowing heavily.

If all 30000 kids enrolled in public school, they'd muddle but they'd have the money. They'll send half the kids to Jackson, but the far Jackson near Six Flags. They'd rent or buy the yeshiva school buildings and put classes in there (like they did on Calvary on County Line).
They would be happy for us to join. It would take a few weeks to sort out.
But end of the day, my kids will be bussed with some friends and be sent to join a regular public school in Jackson, or Toms River or in Lakewood but not Jewish only classes.

amother

Camellia

Today at 9:26 am

The solution would be to cut down on the frivolous spending cut back on the fancy buildings on supplies and the papers and the endless stuff they come home with cut back on the parties and celebrations I understand that all that makes it a happy place and makes kids want to go to school but you can’t cut back on staff at the expense of the children’s growth. More than 20/25 kids in a class is too much how can all the children grow healthily when half of them are barely noticed

The schools need to be real with their donors some donors only care for their name to be displayed on the entrance but don’t care about the upkeep that’s wrong they need to check their ego give the money where it’s needed not just to publicize their wealth

amother

↑ Coral

Today at 9:40 am

amother Camellia wrote:

Fully agree that the schools need to cut back, but I think it needs to go further. We ALL need to cut back collectively.

Cut back on:
- simchas
- kallah/choson gifts
- Sheva brochos
- seminaries
- yeshiva in Israel
- costly clothing/shoes
- YT expenses
- camps
- Chol Hamoed Trips
- etc...

This will help everyone and will make life more affordable for us.