Aloha All,
I believe that we can go on discussing this topic forever. Every school does things differently and has different reasons for why they do things the way they do. I came to my current school after 20 years at my former school. Both schools treat employee discounts differently.
Here in Hawaiʻi, as in many other parts of the country right now, we have a severe shortage of ECE teachers. Giving those with young children an employee discount not only helps us retain staff, but it helps with enrollment, too. 50% of one studentʻs tuition collected is more profitable than having that slot stay empty. I appreciate the viewpoint that this can be construed as discrimination, but honestly, with the extremely low pay in our profession (which means we are professionals, right?) it is a much appreciated benefit that doesnʻt bother any of our staff who do not receive it. (At this time, we only have two teachers with one child each enrolled here.) Looking at it from a benefits standpoint, we offer medical, and pay all but 1.5% of the monthly premium for those who take it, but we do not pay anything to those who decline it. We currently offer a 1% match for those who opt in to our retirement plan, but we do not pay anything to those who opt out.
I enjoyed this discussion, and I appreciate everyoneʻs thoughts and opinions. Mahalo nui loa for this forum, which opens our minds and keeps us informed on how others operate their centers. Have a wonderful weekend!
God bless you all!
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Catherine Awong
Director
Mililani Presbyterian Preschool
Mililani, HI, USA
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-26-2022 05:02 PM
From: Kari O'Connor
Subject: Discount for Enrolling Children of Staff
Hi Sara,
The Child Tax Credit and WIC play an important role in society, and they are need-based. Not everyone receives them, because not everyone needs them. Parents receive the benefits based on demonstrated need to the government. The parents' employers play no role in determining need or distributing funds as part of compensation. There is no dispute that some families need tuition assistance. Meeting financial needs through a scholarship fund that ANY student's family can apply for (especially employees with students) is the path to providing non-discriminatory assistance. Families can apply, your school board or similar committee can review the applications and determine the level of assistance. The outcome is likely the same, the employee receives tuition assistance, but the mechanism for granting the assistance is not tied to employment; it's open and available to any student's family regardless of the parents' place of employment. At my school most of our employees do not have students enrolled because their children are older than preschool age. The ones that do are welcome (and encouraged!) to apply for scholarships, but we don't assume they need assistance by automatically granting unearned income.
Of course each administrator or Head of School has a different tolerance for risk, and each is able to make their own decisions based on their level of comfort.
Kari O'Connor
Director
School for Little Children
Original Message:
Sent: 10/26/2022 4:09:00 PM
From: Sara Peters
Subject: RE: Discount for Enrolling Children of Staff
By this logic, all benefits that people with children get that people without children don't get are discriminatory. Was the child care tax credit discriminatory? Are WIC benefits discriminatory? This is really a systemwide issue, but the fact is that most childcare teachers cannot afford to send their children to the centers that they work at. I really cannot imagine anyone getting upset that their coworkers are receiving a discount for their children's tuition. Different situations call for different treatment, that is equity and true fairness.
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Sara Peters
North East MD
Original Message:
Sent: 10-24-2022 09:44 PM
From: Kari O'Connor
Subject: Discount for Enrolling Children of Staff
Hi there,
We do not offer a tuition reduction or discount to employees with children because it is a discriminatory benefit. Unless a school compensates employees who do not have children in the school the same value as the discount others receive, then employees without children in the school are the recipients of discrimination. For example using round numbers, if two teachers earn $40,000 per year and one of them has a child in the school who receives a discount of $10,000, the employee with the child is essentially earning $10,000 more than his/her peer. I'm not ok with that and neither is my school board or host church. We do waive the very modest registration fee for employees as we do for church members, active military, and other groups; employees are welcome to apply for a tuition scholarship which is reviewed and voted on by the school board.
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Kari O'Connor
Director
Bellaire United Methodist School for Little Children
Bellaire TX
Original Message:
Sent: 10-23-2022 07:33 AM
From: Stacie Clayton
Subject: Discount for Enrolling Children of Staff
Does anyone offer teachers or other staff a discount for enrolling their children? If so, would you share how much please?
Thanks
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Stacie Clayton
Head of School
Kingdom Rock Children's Village
Somerville MA
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