Love the Teachers But Don’t Want to Pay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just want them to restructure it into a donation so I can deduct on my taxes. I've emailed our non-profit daycare center's executive board and they have not responded with an acknowledgement.

They are expecting payment but this seems like an easy way to lessen the burden on all parties. I want them to get paid, but give me something in return. I'll let my accountant figure out the legality.

Sorry, pp, but that is not a donation. Donations are gifts where you get nothing of value in return, so if it is used to hold your spot or offset tuition due in the future, or whatever benefit you would want, then it doesn't work as a donation. I feel your pain, I really do. I think OP is completely oblivious of the lives most of us are living.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how can you say you love the teachers and support them all throughout the year, but once adversity hits your school you quibble over a few hundred dollars to ensure they get paid? I understand if someone is in true financial distress, but if you are still working, how can you do that?

A few hundred?! OP, we are currently paying FULL tuition, 1,800 a month PLUS paying our nanny generously to watch two children instead of one. It is most definitely tough on our finances. We have paid for March and will be paying for April, and are happy our teachers are getting paid, but don't make it sound like just it's that easy.

The elites rage on.

I know you comfort yourself but thinking that... not sure where you read rage into my reply, but you have got to take a breath. We're pretty solidly middle class (or what DCUM calls poor... HHI under 200K). We are just living very frugally and not saving anything during the kid years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how can you say you love the teachers and support them all throughout the year, but once adversity hits your school you quibble over a few hundred dollars to ensure they get paid? I understand if someone is in true financial distress, but if you are still working, how can you do that?

A few hundred?! OP, we are currently paying FULL tuition, 1,800 a month PLUS paying our nanny generously to watch two children instead of one. It is most definitely tough on our finances. We have paid for March and will be paying for April, and are happy our teachers are getting paid, but don't make it sound like just it's that easy.

The elites rage on.

I know you comfort yourself but thinking that... not sure where you read rage into my reply, but you have got to take a breath. We're pretty solidly middle class (or what DCUM calls poor... HHI under 200K). We are just living very frugally and not saving anything during the kid years.

We’re under 100k. Perspective.

[Anonymous]

We at 97k and we ain’t pay on h

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people have a hard time remembering this is a business relationship. I would not be happy being asked to pay thousands of dollars for a service I am not receiving. It has nothing to do with how much you like your teacher.

+1. Not to mention the flip side: How long would they let you stay in the daycare if you had a financial hardship and were unable to pay? My guess is they're not going to. Or will they watch the kids for free while you go for a job interview? Doubt it.

[Anonymous]

At this point, any daycare/preschool needs to be furloughing its staff, who can all get generous unemployment. Then reduce the monthly tuition to the bare minimum necessary to keep the doors open. I probably would not continue to pay past this week if they didn't do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At this point, any daycare/preschool needs to be furloughing its staff, who can all get generous unemployment. Then reduce the monthly tuition to the bare minimum necessary to keep the doors open. I probably would not continue to pay past this week if they didn't do so.

Seriously. There is a generous unemployment offering right now and it’s done in a way where employees are allowed to continue receiving healthcare coverage. So bill me the absolute minimum to pay necessary bills (am honestly the business should be dipping into reserves a bit during this time), then set up a go fund me for any teachers in financial need even after receiving unemployment. Do NOT come asking families for money when you haven’t exhausted all options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At this point, any daycare/preschool needs to be furloughing its staff, who can all get generous unemployment. Then reduce the monthly tuition to the bare minimum necessary to keep the doors open. I probably would not continue to pay past this week if they didn't do so.

This. The unemployment benefit is probably higher than what they are getting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just want them to restructure it into a donation so I can deduct on my taxes. I've emailed our non-profit daycare center's executive board and they have not responded with an acknowledgement.

They are expecting payment but this seems like an easy way to lessen the burden on all parties. I want them to get paid, but give me something in return. I'll let my accountant figure out the legality.

Sorry, pp, but that is not a donation. Donations are gifts where you get nothing of value in return, so if it is used to hold your spot or offset tuition due in the future, or whatever benefit you would want, then it doesn't work as a donation. I feel your pain, I really do. I think OP is completely oblivious of the lives most of us are living.

I was hoping for this too. We are really getting nothing in return for ours. 2 kids at a school that we aren't returning to next year. So it feels a lot like $5K+ donation to me that I can't write off. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Your anger is misguided, OP. We love our teachers, but why do you think you or the teachers are entitled/expected to receive free money for non-rendered services?

The amount is in thousands (March, April, and May tuitions), not hundreds, and in this uncertain time, we have to take care our children and family first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just want them to restructure it into a donation so I can deduct on my taxes. I've emailed our non-profit daycare center's executive board and they have not responded with an acknowledgement.

They are expecting payment but this seems like an easy way to lessen the burden on all parties. I want them to get paid, but give me something in return. I'll let my accountant figure out the legality.

Sorry, pp, but that is not a donation. Donations are gifts where you get nothing of value in return, so if it is used to hold your spot or offset tuition due in the future, or whatever benefit you would want, then it doesn't work as a donation. I feel your pain, I really do. I think OP is completely oblivious of the lives most of us are living.

I was hoping for this too. We are really getting nothing in return for ours. 2 kids at a school that we aren't returning to next year. So it feels a lot like $5K+ donation to me that I can't write off. Ugh.

You can deduct the value that’s above the fair market value for what you’re getting. I plan to deduct my aftercare fees because I am not getting anything in return at all (there is no waitlist you can drop in anytime).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister works in a pre-K and if the additional $600/wk in unemployment is true than she’ll be better off getting laid off. Her school is trying to use tuition to continue to pay them, which is nice but I don’t think sustainable.

It depends. The teachers at my preschool get paid $14-$28, so yeah, the teacher at the $14 rate will ironically get paid more by UE than salary.

But what about the 50+ year old teacher who has been with the center 25 years to get her pay to $28/hr? She would not want to get on UE. My preschool gave us a 30 percent discount to pay teachers. So we've paid $2,200 so far for no services since mid March. But how long can certain families continue? The cost easily adds up to $6k for 4 months, for just one kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sister works in a pre-K and if the additional $600/wk in unemployment is true than she’ll be better off getting laid off. Her school is trying to use tuition to continue to pay them, which is nice but I don’t think sustainable.

It depends. The teachers at my preschool get paid $14-$28, so yeah, the teacher at the $14 rate will ironically get paid more by UE than salary.

But what about the 50+ year old teacher who has been with the center 25 years to get her pay to $28/hr? She would not want to get on UE. My preschool gave us a 30 percent discount to pay teachers. So we've paid $2,200 so far for no services since mid March. But how long can certain families continue? The cost easily adds up to $6k for 4 months, for just one kid.

And yes, we are at risk of becoming a single earner household, through furlough. We'll be getting unemployment benefits only to turn around to pay preschool. Oh what fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people have a hard time remembering this is a business relationship. I would not be happy being asked to pay thousands of dollars for a service I am not receiving. It has nothing to do with how much you like your teacher.

+1. Not to mention the flip side: How long would they let you stay in the daycare if you had a financial hardship and were unable to pay? My guess is they're not going to. Or will they watch the kids for free while you go for a job interview? Doubt it.

This!!! Thank you. It would never happen in a million years! Daycares are like any other business that just want your money. And if we let them, they will guilt trip us like OP is trying to do.

[Anonymous]

Paying for service you’re not receiving is just not smart. Period. Especially doing so without asking questions/blindly complying. If the preschool or daycare is closed but they’re still requiring payment, ask lots of questions! There’s so much stimulus money out there, they could be getting that plus tuition...and who knows if the teachers see a dime of it. Ask questions..be smart with your money!