Tutoring on the dark side...

Push for A’s at Private Schools Is Keeping Costly Tutors Busy

"Private SAT tutors have been de rigueur at elite New York private schools for a generation, but the proliferation of subject-matter tutors for students angling for A’s is a newer phenomenon that is beginning to incite a backlash. Interviews with parents, students, teachers, administrators, tutors and consultants suggest that more than half of the students at the city’s top-tier schools hire tutors, an open secret that the schools seem unable to stop." (Anderson, Jenny. June 7, 2011.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/education/08tutors.html?src=me&ref=general (accessed June 8, 2011).

I can barely keep my head on.  

Unable to write coherent sentence.

Just read the article.  There are tutors in NYC charging $195-$795 per hour...nay...per 50 minutes. 

One the one hand, we get a sense of sweet freedom...a beckoning, a reminder of a distant bright possible future....of buying a gorgeous condo from the tutoring fees for one class alone....

On the other hand, it feels skeevy and wrong.

But to be fair, these companies also provide pro bono services, so the rich offset tutoring for poor kids.

There is so much to discuss here.  Why does Riverside high school discourage tutoring--that alone is enough for a Phd thesis.  Why is there a need to evaluate kids based only on the information disseminated to them whilst in your presence?  If we want to test or grade them only on what they could have possibly learned in your classroom, then forbid them from reading the newspaper, from trolling the internet, from visiting the library.


Why is a mother paying SIX FIGURES to tutor her child through high school?  What high school is that hard?  For six figures, those tutors had better be cloning themselves, getting face transplants to look like the student, and taking the tests themselves.


Also...does it make you as a student feel dumb when it takes $100,000 for you to get "A's"?


One sentence pops out at me:


"Michael Michelson, director of academic studies at Riverdale, said the school’s policy was to discourage tutors, and to make teachers accessible for extra help."


Um...at first this seems innocuous...but the word "make" clangs in my brain.  I'm sure they do "make"--as in "force"--the teachers to be available for extra help.  


I sincerely hope these teachers leave work promptly at 3 pm or whenever their work day officially ends...and make their way speedily to a tutoring center not terribly close to their own primary place of employment...and charges 500 bucks an hour for their services (oh, had I read the entire article FIRST..I would have seen that they are doing this!  SCORE!  NYC private school teachers... you make me proud...)


One almost feels tempted to barter a solution.  All the parents band together and pay the teacher(s) to make the class(es) less difficult.  If you were going to spend $10,000 on tutoring for ONE CLASS...wow...that teacher could stand to make millions!  I feel a dystopian novella coming on...


But to me, the saddest part of the story is how people feel unable to exercise their free speech rights: more than one parent in the story seems to feel squeamish about speaking to the press because the schools which their children attend discourage open communication.






(Thanks to L for this head-up.)  

Selling Lesson Plans (hiatus over)

Selling Lessons Online Raises Cash and Questions


To me this is entirely non-controversial.

Do you sell cookies you have made at home (occasionally)
Do you sell private music lessons?
Do you sell your expertise on your off-hours in such endeavors as plumbing, yardwork, painting houses, how to do algebra, et cetera, times a million?

Then why in a million universes would you not be allowed to sell lesson plans?* 

I commented:

"I'll tell you who doesn't own my intellectual proerty--the school system. And as soon as schools begin laying claim to this intellectual property, teachers need to demand 1) higher salaries, 2)profit sharing in the materials developed...or they need to WALK. Teachers need to think seriously about the implications of this--what if you write a book about your classroom experiences--something unobjectionable, uplifting, non-defamatory. Perhaps that book might even land you on Oprah--you could become rich. Does the school system own the copyright?

All of this needs to be spelled out to teachers BEFORE they sign their yearly contracts. College professors know precisely what their intellectual property rights are and avail themselves of multiple opportunities to profit off of their expertise, on the lecture circuit and through publishing."

Dear Readers: forgive my typos--I was in an apoplectic fit!

***
So, finally, after weeks if not months of promising, I will begin to compile where and how you can increase your hourly wage.  Thanks to the NY Times, I have found these two websites:

weareteachers.com
teacherspayteachers.com

Soon I will be posting how to earn money delivering instruction online; however, I personally have found this terrifically difficult to break into.

Most radical--starting one's own private school, charter school, home school, tutoring company-whatever you want to call it. 

"Unschooling-inspired commune slash ashram."

More to come.


***

*Obvious reasons why (not):

• you did not write the lesson plans--this is called plagiarism--DOI!!
• you co-wrote them with other colleagues--hey--split the profit!  Get their permission first!
• the school system paid you to write them - still unclear--a newspaper may pay you to write an article, yet you STILL OWN THE COPYRIGHT!!!!  It's called an anthology--I writemusic criticism, and do plan one day tocollect these and other writing togather for publication.  I'd like the newspapers to try to stop me.

Should you visit a student's home?

How about "no?" [short answer--long answer below...]
***

Time = Money

Insurers Fight Speech-Impairment Remedy
By ASHLEE VANCE
Published: September 15, 2009
Devices like iPhones and netbook PCs that can help the speech-impaired are not covered by Medicare or insurers.
***
This story has a lot of meat. Wherever you fall on the insurance/health care debate, there are interesting issues here.

But because of my current interest-some-would-say-obsession with one thing and one thing only, here's what popped out at me:


"Doctors must still bring a patient into their offices instead of, say, inspecting an e-mailed photo of a rash if they want most insurers to pay for the consultation. Digitizing medical records is such a vast undertaking that the government is now spending billions of dollars to jump-start it."

Hmm? What? What...are you referring to? Why...why did this jump out at you. This has nothing to do with teaching, aside from the fact that everything has to do with everything in our interconnected universe Om Shanti....
***
Doctors would charge for e-mail consults if they could, and perhaps they already do, except insurers won't reimburse; so, patients are free to request e-mail consults from those doctors interested in providing that service, as long as they (the patients) know they won't be reimbursed.

Now to be fair, my newest specialist actually answered an e-mail from me [for free], and I almost fell on the floor. Actually, I almost fell on the floor when he provided an e-mail address.

But that is extremely rare. In 40+ years of living, this is the first doctor to respond to an e-mail question, and it was about a matter of some importance--not life-threatening, but very important.
***
How can I articulate my thoughts without exploding into a rant?

When anyone e-mails you and requires more than a terse, one sentence reply; when parents e-mail you repeatedly, badgering, hounding, even though your answer will not change; or, even in the best of circumstances when people e-mail you requesting specialized knowledge possessed only by a chemistry teacher, early childhood specialist, Spanish teacher, choral director, professional writer and editor (English teachers, that's what you are)....

Your response should be:

"I am so happy to assist you in this matter. My fee for after hours consultations is $50.00 per hour."
This may seem outrageous to you? Silly? Another doctor I have charges for certain paperwork. And, to be quite honest, I didn't blink. That didn't peeve me off. It never occurred to me that this person should not be paid for the time it takes to provide me a service. Just because they are friendly, provide a nurturing, important, vital service to society, does not mean that the secretaries, copyists, plebotomists, doctors, nurses, clerks, and technicians should not be paid. Why? They are workers, not volunteers. Their offices are not a chapter of the Red Cross.
***
Phone time: A friend of mine paid a service provider for an hour long discussion on the phone.
Let that marinate.
How many hours have you spent on the phone with parents? After work hours....
Would you say, perhaps an hour a week? That might be high--let's say an hour a month, which is probably a tad low. Some teachers never call, some teachers call every parent once a month or more. Let's say you've been teaching 10 years:
10 years x 10 months x 1hour per month= 100 hours

At $50 dollars an hour.
That's 5,000 dollars. Could you use 5,000 dollars? I know I could. I could use that a lot.*

So, it's ridiculous to think that parents or the school system would pay for your time after work hours. Fine. Then withdraw your labor, and use that time after work to get a second job, play with your children, walk your dog, keep house, and enjoy your hobbies. Or volunteer--elsewhere. Make yourself unavailable. As one self-help guru observed in a flash of non-stupidity,
You teach people how to treat you.

You are good teachers. Get to teaching.




*A script you can use:

OVERWORKED TEACHER: I am so happy to assist you in this matter. My fee for after hours consultations is $50.00 per hour."
PARENT: Are you kidding me?
OT: No--I know that sounds strange, and I do not mean to be rude. But I have a second job [carpentry, installing drywall, teaching violin lessons, coaching soccer, after school child-care], and if I spend time after school hours on the phone, I will lose money that I so desperately need to pay my bills. I do not mean to be offensive, but these are the facts on the ground."

P.S. You shouldn't have to explain why you are requesting, nay, requiring, money for your labor...but such are the times--we are still operating under a Victorian model of teacher compensation.
***
It cracks us up so much when Parents Who Are Doctors or Lawyers demand the most time for conferences, phone consults, etc. Also "humorous": the insistence that they take your planning time, or that you meet them before or after school--or that you get another teacher to cover your class so that you can meet with them--you know this happens. "How about I come to court and interrupt your trial? But why not? Oh...is it because you are working?'

Perhaps place a placard on your wall--"I cannot be held accountable for student test scores because I am pulled out of class to meet with parents and other stakeholders. If performance pay is in effect, I have documented the hours I am pulled off task."