Originally Posted by MrsC:
I am a teacher. The reason I became a teacher is to spend time with my family and make a difference in the lives of children. I went to college for years and have the same amount of student loans as most other college grads but make less annually. I also pay out a lot of my income to better the lives of children who are not mine. Here is the question I have for you... do you not have more students over the summer whose parents are not teachers and who need summer care? Our daycare does not make teachers pay during the summer, but they have a set monthly rate during the school year ( IE no discounts for Christmas break or spring break.) In doing this they receive a lot of business from teachers. During the summer they fill up with school age children and still make a good salary. (Some teachers even leave their children in for some of the summer.) They have not lost money. The difference is our daycare is ran by former teachers who understand that money is tight and teachers want to spend time with their children... they are also required to pay out hundreds of dollars during the summer for school supplies and professional development. Just my thoughts.
I understand you what are saying, as other posters have said though, parents have to find a program that works for them. Some daycares cater to certain types of clients (part time employment, teachers, graveyard workers, etc) they just need to seek out the best option for them and their family. Not expecting that every daycare is going to be a fit just because of the employment they chose, no matter how noble it may be.
I get that some careers require personal development and training to be paid out of pocket. Daycare is one of them. I can't logically discount care for every bill a family has. That's kind of ridiculous to expect. It's also not fair for other families to give special treatment to teacher clients. Why are their expenses more credible than those of other clients? If I had someone come to me saying they have to buy school supplies and pay for professional development, I would just say hey me too!
I do allow families to go part time over summer if they need it. I do however let them know that if I find someone to fill the spot full time, a choice has to be made. Either pay full time for the remainder of the summer or lose the spot come fall.