Our daycare did offer health insurance to staff. Why? It was a non-profit with a parent board of directors and they voted to offer it as a benefit because they thought it was the right thing to do and because it helped with staff retention. It meant a slight increase in tuition. If you think this is important, contact the board of directors for your daycare and tell them that. But if they do start to offer it, expect tuition to go up.

Most teachers in traditional preschools do not work full time and this is the excuse given for not providing healthcare. Saying that people should get healthcare through their husbands is sexist and belittling. If teachers were valued as the professionals they are, they would at least be given a stipend for use towards heath care. No wonder people don’t want to work in preschools. Low pay and no benefits = people who are only settling for these jobs. Such a shame.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an expensive Jewish school! I think it is unconscionable for a religious school to be so disrespectful of it’s teachers. What can I, as a parent, do?

You can kick in a few thousand dollars more per month to cover the cost of insurance premiums for the teachers. It's all about money. Healthcare is expensive for both the institution and the employees. Most cannot afford to pay for that with the money that they take in from tuitions. In order to provide insurance, either they need to raise tuition significantly or have their workers get health insurance from the state exchanges.

As a parent, you can lobby the other parents to pay more in tuition in order to cover the cost of teachers healthcare. Let us know how that goes.....

Anonymous wrote:This is an expensive Jewish school! I think it is unconscionable for a religious school to be so disrespectful of it’s teachers. What can I, as a parent, do?

You can kick in a few thousand dollars more per month to cover the cost of insurance premiums for the teachers. It's all about money. Healthcare is expensive for both the institution and the employees. Most cannot afford to pay for that with the money that they take in from tuitions. In order to provide insurance, either they need to raise tuition significantly or have their workers get health insurance from the state exchanges.

Anonymous wrote:Are they part-time employees? Often its normal and if many are married, they get it through their husband. Offering insurance is very expensive.

When I worked at a religious school I was told to get it through my husband. When I said I wasn't married, they said I should get married as soon as possible. I taught kindergarten and made 25k a year in 2010. I have a Masters in Teaching. I took the job for one year and then left. They are still shaking their heads wondering why on earth they have such a high turnover rate.

Are they part-time employees? Often its normal and if many are married, they get it through their husband. Offering insurance is very expensive.

Few low income workers have benefits. I've worked 20 in US and never had benefits offered, only a paycheck.

It was definitely something I asked about when enrolling my kid at his preschool. Wanted a school that treated staff professionally—for many reasons.

Anonymous wrote:This is an expensive Jewish school! I think it is unconscionable for a religious school to be so disrespectful of it’s teachers. What can I, as a parent, do?

Sorry, but I'm not as shocked as you. They pay them peanuts AND offer crap for benefits

I mean, are you willing to pay more? I doubt the school is getting rich off daycare fees. Also, the employees may get big subsidies.

A lot of preschool/daycare workers don't get health care. Just because you pay a lot of money for your child to attend doesn't mean that money goes to the teachers. I'm not saying it's right, but it's certainly not rare for that to happen unfortunately.

That would make me incredibly upset.

Is there a parents' committee you could join? That would be an easy first step. If not, you could speak to the Director and share your thoughts. At my child's daycare, parents were sometimes surveyed about our priorities for school spending. I always advocated for compensating teachers more, but it never seemed like that idea got much traction.

$ issue, not respect issue. Your anger is misplaced.

This is an expensive Jewish school! I think it is unconscionable for a religious school to be so disrespectful of it’s teachers. What can I, as a parent, do?