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Unfortunately hiring a private teacher to teach a small group of similarly-aged kids is reasonably affordable for families (less than half the price of private

Unfortunately hiring a private teacher to teach a small group of similarly-aged kids is reasonably affordable for families (less than half the price of private school), gives them a better education than public school (1:5 or 1:6 instead of 1:20), and takes a good qualified teacher out of the public school system (also while paying them more for working fewer hours). We've always supported public schools but as a Florida resident, a private teacher is looking more and more like the better alternative.

debacle 4y ago
Many states have made this model (teacher "pods") illegal, which is terrible because I believe it is the future of education.
- ndriscoll 4y ago
  Sounds like a good life lesson for children: if you want to live freely, don't tell the state what you're doing.
rayiner 4y ago
That sounds like “fortunately” not “unfortunately.” For everyone involved, including the teacher.
- sovnade 4y ago
  Yep. Unfortunate is for the public schools though as there are now fewer teachers available to hire. There's teacher shortages in almost every state in the country.
xyzzyz 4y ago
Why is it unfortunate? If the government organized government funded meals for children in government funded restaurants, ran by government employees, would you also find it unfortunate if regular people were able to afford feeding their own kids outside of the system, without depending on what government thinks is appropriate to feed to children? If the regular people can opt out of the system, and instead pick what their like at their own expense, why is it bad?
- ziddoap 4y ago
  >Why is it unfortunate? Because it's a strictly zero-sum situation. Removing one teacher from public teaching in favor of teaching 5 kids privately means those 15 other kids still in public school need to find another teacher. Since there's already a shortage of teachers, it seems unfortunate that the "smart move" on the individual level is to exacerbate the collective issue even more. It might be great for your kid, sure, but overall it's pretty unfortunate.
  - xyzzyz 4y ago
    This is not a "zero-sum situation". There's no such thing as a fixed pool of teachers that everyone is competing against. The number of teachers, who count as a teacher etc, it all depends. For example, public schools typically demand very specific credentials before they employ someone in a teaching position. Individuals or private institutions might have different demands here. I certainly know personally a lot of people who I'd gladly hire to teach my kids, but who do not fulfill the requirements the public schools set upon teachers. Second, there's no such thing as "shortage" in absolute terms. There is only shortage at a given price point. If government finds it hard to hire people, tough shit, maybe it should pay more, or demand less at the current wages? Government is not entitled to artificially cheap labor, and if it finds itself unable to compete for the workers, who are poached by the private sector, maybe it should just outsource the entire enterprise to organization more capable at the task?
    - ziddoap 4y ago
      >"There's no such thing as a fixed pool of teachers that everyone is competing against." Maybe the definition of zero-sum, in the economic sense, is the wrong phrase. But there's still only so many people who can be (or are willing to be, qualified to be, whatever) teaching class in a public school tomorrow. >I certainly know personally a lot of people who I'd gladly hire to teach my kids, but who do not fulfill the requirements the public schools set upon teachers. Cool. If that was the case for all of the private teaching pods, my opinion would probably be different. >Second, there's no such thing as "shortage" in absolute terms. There is only shortage at a given price point. [...] Yeah, I agree, and I have no idea why the rest of the paragraph is written as if I wouldn't agree. Teachers should get paid more (and/or reduced workload) given their importance. Whatever lets to largest amount of kids grow up with a good education. I don't think going private with 5 kid pods is going to give the largest amount of kids a good education, and I think that's unfortunate, because that seems to be the best route for teacher's who are trying to live a decent life.
hotpotamus 4y ago
I'd be curious to hear the numbers on that because 6 students doesn't sound like enough to cover one teacher unless maybe they're paying near $20K each or so.
- ndriscoll 4y ago
  120k/yr seems like it'd be more than teachers make almost anywhere. $10k/kid seems closer to average. You could also get access to a larger pool of potential teachers (with STEM backgrounds even!): I don't think I'd ever consider teaching public school for any pay level at this point, but I could see myself teaching some of my neighbors' kids with mine in a few years for cheap/free if there were interest.
  - hotpotamus 4y ago
    I assume most public teachers total compensation would near $120k/yr when you factor in health insurance and pension benefits, and senior teachers with lots of time in in decent states are probably doing a bit better than that. I don't know how self employment tax works either other than it adds costs too.
    - ShroudedNight 4y ago
      I don't know how reliable the data is, but the median total comp for a US based public school teacher is allegedly ~78k: https://www.salary.com/tools/salary-calculator/public-school-teacher-benefits https://www.salary.com/tools/salary-calculator/public-school...
    - ndriscoll 4y ago
      I thought teachers in the US mostly have 403b now (which as far as I know works like 401k), but I don't really know. A solo 401k would actually be more attractive if so, but probably not until above 60k gross income. Depending on state, family situation, and tax planning ability, they could also potentially get free or heavily subsidized Obamacare. The small "class" sizes and much greater autonomy would be big non-tangible benefits though. And of course these arrangements can have more... flexible tax reporting.

debacle 4y ago

Many states have made this model (teacher "pods") illegal, which is terrible because I believe it is the future of education.

ndriscoll 4y ago
Sounds like a good life lesson for children: if you want to live freely, don't tell the state what you're doing.

rayiner 4y ago

That sounds like “fortunately” not “unfortunately.” For everyone involved, including the teacher.

sovnade 4y ago
Yep. Unfortunate is for the public schools though as there are now fewer teachers available to hire. There's teacher shortages in almost every state in the country.

xyzzyz 4y ago

Why is it unfortunate? If the government organized government funded meals for children in government funded restaurants, ran by government employees, would you also find it unfortunate if regular people were able to afford feeding their own kids outside of the system, without depending on what government thinks is appropriate to feed to children? If the regular people can opt out of the system, and instead pick what their like at their own expense, why is it bad?

ziddoap 4y ago
>Why is it unfortunate? Because it's a strictly zero-sum situation. Removing one teacher from public teaching in favor of teaching 5 kids privately means those 15 other kids still in public school need to find another teacher. Since there's already a shortage of teachers, it seems unfortunate that the "smart move" on the individual level is to exacerbate the collective issue even more. It might be great for your kid, sure, but overall it's pretty unfortunate.
- xyzzyz 4y ago
  This is not a "zero-sum situation". There's no such thing as a fixed pool of teachers that everyone is competing against. The number of teachers, who count as a teacher etc, it all depends. For example, public schools typically demand very specific credentials before they employ someone in a teaching position. Individuals or private institutions might have different demands here. I certainly know personally a lot of people who I'd gladly hire to teach my kids, but who do not fulfill the requirements the public schools set upon teachers. Second, there's no such thing as "shortage" in absolute terms. There is only shortage at a given price point. If government finds it hard to hire people, tough shit, maybe it should pay more, or demand less at the current wages? Government is not entitled to artificially cheap labor, and if it finds itself unable to compete for the workers, who are poached by the private sector, maybe it should just outsource the entire enterprise to organization more capable at the task?
  - ziddoap 4y ago
    >"There's no such thing as a fixed pool of teachers that everyone is competing against." Maybe the definition of zero-sum, in the economic sense, is the wrong phrase. But there's still only so many people who can be (or are willing to be, qualified to be, whatever) teaching class in a public school tomorrow. >I certainly know personally a lot of people who I'd gladly hire to teach my kids, but who do not fulfill the requirements the public schools set upon teachers. Cool. If that was the case for all of the private teaching pods, my opinion would probably be different. >Second, there's no such thing as "shortage" in absolute terms. There is only shortage at a given price point. [...] Yeah, I agree, and I have no idea why the rest of the paragraph is written as if I wouldn't agree. Teachers should get paid more (and/or reduced workload) given their importance. Whatever lets to largest amount of kids grow up with a good education. I don't think going private with 5 kid pods is going to give the largest amount of kids a good education, and I think that's unfortunate, because that seems to be the best route for teacher's who are trying to live a decent life.

hotpotamus 4y ago

I'd be curious to hear the numbers on that because 6 students doesn't sound like enough to cover one teacher unless maybe they're paying near $20K each or so.

ndriscoll 4y ago
120k/yr seems like it'd be more than teachers make almost anywhere. $10k/kid seems closer to average. You could also get access to a larger pool of potential teachers (with STEM backgrounds even!): I don't think I'd ever consider teaching public school for any pay level at this point, but I could see myself teaching some of my neighbors' kids with mine in a few years for cheap/free if there were interest.
- hotpotamus 4y ago
  I assume most public teachers total compensation would near $120k/yr when you factor in health insurance and pension benefits, and senior teachers with lots of time in in decent states are probably doing a bit better than that. I don't know how self employment tax works either other than it adds costs too.
  - ShroudedNight 4y ago
    I don't know how reliable the data is, but the median total comp for a US based public school teacher is allegedly ~78k: https://www.salary.com/tools/salary-calculator/public-school-teacher-benefits https://www.salary.com/tools/salary-calculator/public-school...
  - ndriscoll 4y ago
    I thought teachers in the US mostly have 403b now (which as far as I know works like 401k), but I don't really know. A solo 401k would actually be more attractive if so, but probably not until above 60k gross income. Depending on state, family situation, and tax planning ability, they could also potentially get free or heavily subsidized Obamacare. The small "class" sizes and much greater autonomy would be big non-tangible benefits though. And of course these arrangements can have more... flexible tax reporting.