really, how much for elem school teachers (public) and prek (private) (NOVA)

[Anonymous]

DCUM, please help. I hear such wide ranges for what is acceptable/appropriate. I want to be in the middle of appropriate. Title 1 public school. Private pk. What do you usually do? Is it $20 for specials teachers? $50 for classroom teachers? $40 for pk teachers?? I am at a loss. I am not from here and honestly don't know the norms. (I am doing cash/gift cards, no gifts, no baking etc.)
Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I don’t know what others do. I think maybe $50-100 for the private is norm. If there’s a pool we give $100 but that’s for three K room teachers. If everyone did that they’d get around $400-$500 each which is not bad.

[Anonymous]

Here's what I'm doing. Also title 1 and a private preK (which is really daycare + preschool)

Daycare PreK- $75 each. There are 3 teachers
1st grade- $25. $20 is actually the limit from the school board, but I think $25 will pass.

[Anonymous]

Classroom teachers $20-25 each.

Specials: $10 each (or many people skip these all together

[Anonymous]

I give $25 for all. I did this for our private preschool and now our public elementary. I don’t know if it matters but our preschool is a private school feeder so lots of $.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I give $25 for all. I did this for our private preschool and now our public elementary. I don’t know if it matters but our preschool is a private school feeder so lots of $.

This is also how much I give/spend on birthday gifts.

[Anonymous]

I am giving $10 gift cards to the public elementary classroom teacher. If the teacher gets from 2/3, that’s $200+ which seems an exceedingly generous amount. I teach secondary and generally get $10 total, so the huge gifts in elementary are mind boggling to me.

Specials are getting $5 cards.

I am also giving to the counselor who has worked with our DC a lot this past month (again, $10). It’s a token acknowledgment, not a major gift. To gift large sums to anyone currently teaching/guiding your child makes me uncomfortable.

[Anonymous]

I am generally uncomfortable with essentially "tipping" public school teachers. I understand private pk because the teachers are often underpaid and this is a way to say thank you. And also because when we had a nanny we would give our nanny a bonus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am generally uncomfortable with essentially "tipping" public school teachers. I understand private pk because the teachers are often underpaid and this is a way to say thank you. And also because when we had a nanny we would give our nanny a bonus.

I think public school teachers are underpaid here. Most of my kids' teachers have had a second job, in addition to teaching, which is already more than a 40 hour/week job. Maybe not as massively underpaid as daycare teachers, but underpaid nonetheless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's what I'm doing. Also title 1 and a private preK (which is really daycare + preschool)

Daycare PreK- $75 each. There are 3 teachers
1st grade- $25. $20 is actually the limit from the school board, but I think $25 will pass.

No NOVA School Boards have limits on gift card amounts to teachers. What are you talking about?

[Anonymous]

I give $40 for the class gift for my elementary teachers at a NOVA public school. I gave $50-75 for my private preschool. We give $50 to the after care director and assistant director as well as DC's group leaders and $25 to the other staff at aftercare. I give the admin teams a big box of snacks (Kind bars, fruit snacks, trail mix (allowed at our school), fancy chocolate, chips, popcorn, granola bars, cereal bars, coffee drinks, energy drinks, tea, coffee pods, soda, fizzy water).

[Anonymous]

Does anyone else find this gift giving to teachers so bizarre? I can't believe there aren't more limits. As a social worker we have ethical rules about this kind of thing (and it basically amounts to no gift giving or very little). This is because there are power dynamics at play. I realize teaching is different and has different boundaries, different power issues but I still find it so strange that there is an expectation to give really significant gifts. I completely agree that teachers are underpaid, but I don't think holiday gifts are somehow leveling that field. But it certainly puts families who earn more and less on unequal footing and just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don't want to be a cheapskate so I try to give a gift but just sharing my internal feelings about it because.. I guess that's what dcum is for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else find this gift giving to teachers so bizarre? I can't believe there aren't more limits. As a social worker we have ethical rules about this kind of thing (and it basically amounts to no gift giving or very little). This is because there are power dynamics at play. I realize teaching is different and has different boundaries, different power issues but I still find it so strange that there is an expectation to give really significant gifts. I completely agree that teachers are underpaid, but I don't think holiday gifts are somehow leveling that field. But it certainly puts families who earn more and less on unequal footing and just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don't want to be a cheapskate so I try to give a gift but just sharing my internal feelings about it because.. I guess that's what dcum is for.

Here's my take on it. My kids attend a Title 1 School. These teachers bust their butts every day to take care of their kids. They are not only teachers but de facto parents in my ways and they pay out of pocket for so much. Because I know that most parents will be giving no presents, I go somewhat big for Christmas presents. If I knew that a lot of other parents were gifting the teachers, I wouldn't give as much. But that's how it works in Title 1 schools: the smaller percentage of parents that are able to donate/give do the lion's share. I am not looking to get my kids special treatment and its Elementary School - who cares about grades! I am just trying to give something back to the teachers who give so much and let them know that they are appreciated.

[Anonymous]

It feels like a tip to me so I don’t give money/gift cards. Just a nice note. Kids at private elementary and public middle

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else find this gift giving to teachers so bizarre? I can't believe there aren't more limits. As a social worker we have ethical rules about this kind of thing (and it basically amounts to no gift giving or very little). This is because there are power dynamics at play. I realize teaching is different and has different boundaries, different power issues but I still find it so strange that there is an expectation to give really significant gifts. I completely agree that teachers are underpaid, but I don't think holiday gifts are somehow leveling that field. But it certainly puts families who earn more and less on unequal footing and just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don't want to be a cheapskate so I try to give a gift but just sharing my internal feelings about it because.. I guess that's what dcum is for.

I agree with this. I do give gift certificates to day care teachers but I think salaried public school teachers are a different story.