This Is Why I Don't Like Teachers
In June I had a current client refer someone to me for September. We had the interview. The dcm is a teacher and they asked about holidays and summers. They were not happy that they had to pay for those times and I would not hold a spot. But they signed the contract.
Fast forward to today...I get notice that they are giving their 2 weeks notice, dcg will be home with dcm over Christmas, and starting somewhere new after the 1st. :rolleyes: They have zero care for how many daycares dcg has been in. It is so not fair to her. She clings to her blanket and hat and everything she brings with her with hands of steel...no wonder! On the bright side...I kind of saw this coming. I scheduled them in on my calendar as an "extra" client while I was waiting for another current dcm to give birth. She gave birth 2 weeks ago, and baby will be here in 10 more weeks, taking teacher dcg's place. So I suppose in 10 weeks I would have done the same to them, but seriously, I could smell this move on them coming from a mile away. |
Originally Posted by midaycare: |
Originally Posted by Annalee: |
That completely sucks but now you avoid having to term them when the new baby comes and it is the middle of the semester for dcm. Poor child.
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My SIL is a teacher and my niece is in my dc. She teaches summer school so I have her half days for 6 of the 11 weeks of summer and I charge her full price but I do not charge at all when she is not here. I told her Friday night that I’m not going to be able to afford that when she has another (she’s not pregnant yet but talking about trying again). She said she understood and said that’s even more motivation to quit teaching and get a year round job. She has a masters degree she isn’t currently using. Time will tell.
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Originally Posted by CityGarden: I say this as someone who was a teacher :ouch: |
Originally Posted by midaycare: I have had four calls this week looking for care starting Monday (schools out 2 weeks, most daycares here align with school calendar). :rolleyes: I have not returned a single call. |
Originally Posted by midaycare: I have a grandma that picks up and is a teacher. She seems to be annoyed each time I tell her they have to pay no matter what.:rolleyes: She asked at the interview and kind of expected it yet asked at thanksgiving and now for Christmas. Be lucky that im taking my vacation week during Christmas and not another time. You have to pay for even more time off.:D |
I DO NOT like teacher families, either.
I give them TWO contract options. One is a higher daily rate by $5. This lets them take off ONE week for Christmas, ONE week for spring break "free" or pay the regular rate. I ALWAYS receive notice for summers from them. They pull for UPK/free. |
Originally Posted by amberrose3dg: I only took dcg because I was holding a spot for an infant for months (about 6 months, from the time dcf told me). They were paying for it, but I found dcg to "hold" the spot instead. I'd rather have someone here than an empty spot, if possible. It's all good, I mean I knew it would happen :ouch: Still, how about not hitting me up on the day I have a raging sinus infection... |
Originally Posted by daycarediva: I generally have a "no teachers" rule, but this family was referred by my very favorite dcf. Going forward, I'm going to ask on the telephone is either parent is a teacher. If so, they are not getting through my front door for an interview. Ha! |
Originally Posted by midaycare: Right? I feel badly for your dcg though. Her parents don't value consistent caregivers enough to pay for time off. That's insane to me. They KNOW it's bad for their child, as teachers themselves. Also- teachers have some of the worst behaved kids (ime) they're like nurses- who NEVER have a sick kid. :p |
I am someone that caters to teachers children BUT I only work part time and I like having lots of time off. I also provide my vacation for free. I do this because there is no way people will take time off and pay. In a sense it helps me retain clients and I get lots of time off. I have both of my own kids at home during the holidays and would prefer kids stay home...but if I charge we all know where they would be...with me :/
I completely understand why this doesn’t work for some providers but why aren’t these teachers seeking out care with people that cater to their needs. It is ridiculous to just quit every time a holiday comes up because you don’t want to pay. Unreal :mad: And sorry about your sinus infection. That sucks. |
I know where I am there are only a handful of decent providers. We have a problem with quality daycare. With that said this time last year I received notice from two families over a couple of days closed. I don't get parents trying to save a few bucks and end up with crappy care.
I will not interview or take on new people this time of year. |
I have a couple teacher parents but they have been with me so long that they aren't an issue. I do however, have a policy that says notice periods can not include ANY vacation days or closed days. This might be unfair but I also have a 6 week notice period for teachers. Others must provide a minimum of 2 weeks per child. This helps a bit so you don't get shafted right before the holidays or summer vacay.
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Originally Posted by Blackcat31: |
I used to despise those looking for "teacher friendly schedules". If they email me, I usually won't even reply. Mainly because I don't like enrolling families who feel their entitled to "special" because of their vocation.
But, if they simply tell me they're teachers, give me their hours for a quote, and don't push for "special", I have no problem offering them my school year only contract if they want it. It's much higher that my standard full year contract (which I don't divulge) but gives them the option of taking off winter and spring break for 1/2 rate as long as they're gone the entire break. Plus, it has a definite end date in June. It's not guaranteed to start back up in September unless I have availability. It's more of a win for me than them. |
I have a teacher schedule daycare, as it is is a great fit for my family. Where I get baffled is the school support staff interviews I have had. There are 10 weeks a year my clients do not have to pay. Works for me, and a pretty awesome deal for them I would think. The rest of the year is the typical if you are contracted for it, you need to pay whether your child is here or not.
I have had support staff say that they do not have to attend the professional development days, and will be wanting to spend that time with their child of course. They argue they should not have to pay those days. When I point out they will need to pay, they scoff and say they will be sending their child then! They also argue the week before school starts that I am open. They do not have a class to set up, so don't need it. One even pushed for me to operate illegally and go over in numbers, saying it would be okay as their kid was easy. I have not enrolled any school support staff so far. |
I've had teachers before and never worried about the summers/vacations because I always filled that time with older dcks. The current teacher dcf pays for the breaks during the school year and if they want to come back in the fall, they need to give me a nonrefundable holding fee before they leave for the summer.
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I have a love/hate relationship with teachers. I have a separate teacher contract and they all choose the "teacher special" which saves them money and gives me more time off. But then it comes to vacation time and they are asking me if I'll be open for them so they get "me" time. Um no, YOU chose the teacher special. You don't have that option.
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I really like the six week notice posted earlier.....that is a wonderful idea. I have one parent teacher and she has been here four years. I can't imagine a parent taking a child out of a daycare every christmas break and summer. Poor kid! These parents:confused:
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I recently started catering to teachers more because my kids still count in my ratio when they're home from school so I really have to close for all school breaks for right now. I take 10 weeks out of my typical yearly tuition and spread it evenly over the entire year so I get paid the same every week. So they are getting a big discount but I get guaranteed time off and pretty great hours. The stipulations are that when they are on breaks during the school year, they must keep their kids home, and they can use up to2 days a week in the summer with at least 48 hours notice. That gives quite a lot of time off with a guaranteed paycheck and no questions about paying over time off because they get that their time off is built in to their tuition. Haven't quite figured out if this screws me over if they leave mid year, but so far I haven't come across that.
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I have two teacher families. One is a non issue and understands I am running a business. The other one of them started in August and has already tried push my vacation policy. I allow parents two, non consecutive weeks of vacation per year where they only have to pay half the normal tuition rate. They first tried to break their weeks up into individual days. No. Then they tried to use their weeks consecutively for the last two weeks of the year. No. On top of that they wanted a slightly lower rate for the week of Christmas since I’m already closed one of those days. No.
So next year, new policy is that teachers can drop to part time (I normally only do full time) of 2, set days per week for 8 weeks in the summer but cannot have vacation rates any other time of the year. And they have to let me know by January 2nd if they plan to do this. I’m announcing this on Monday and I’m sure they won’t like it since they’ve already told me they want spring break off but I feel it’s more than generous on my part. They also have the option of leaving care completely for the summer but I will not hold their spot and it may or may not be there when they need it at the end of summer. (It won’t) |
Here, teachers get paid year round too, so it REALLY bugs me when they dicker over breaks.
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Originally Posted by hwichlaz: |
Originally Posted by amberrose3dg: |
Originally Posted by storybookending: They are still paid a YEARLY salary. A salary they agreed to when they accepted the job. ;) I refuse to lose money due to someone else's career choice. If I did that (gave discounts etc) Id have to do the same for all the loggers and other professions in our area that also work seasonally. |
Originally Posted by Blackcat31: |
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