Posted on 06/04/2006 8:45:44 PM PDT by bd476
In what is an elite tweak on home schooling — and a throwback to the gilded days of education by governess or tutor — growing numbers of families are choosing the ultimate in private school: hiring teachers to educate their children in their own homes.
Unlike the more familiar home-schoolers of recent years, these families are not trying to get more religion into their children's lives, or escape what some consider the tyranny of the government's hand in schools. In fact, many say they have no argument with ordinary education — it just does not fit their lifestyles.
Lisa Mazzoni's family splits its time between Marina del Rey, Calif., and Delray Beach, Fla. Lisa has her algebra and history lessons delivered poolside sometimes or on her condominium's rooftop, where she and her teacher enjoy the sun and have a view of the Pacific Ocean south of Santa Monica.
"For someone who travels a lot or has a parent who travels and wants to keep the family together, it's an excellent choice," said Lisa's mother, Trish Mazzoni, who with her husband owns a speedboat company.
The cost for such teachers generally runs $70 to $110 an hour. And depending on how many hours a teacher works, and how many teachers are involved, the price can equal or surpass tuition in the upper echelon of private schools in New York City or Los Angeles, where $30,000 a year is not unheard of.
Other parents say the model works for children who are sick, for children who are in show business or for those with learning disabilities.
"It's a hidden group of folks, but it's growing enormously," said Luis Huerta, a professor of public policy and education ... Columbia University...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Oh terrific. Now there are homeschoolers who have gilded lifestyles.
They oughta take away the right to homeschool from those kinda people because
it isn't fair to the common person. /Sarcasm in the extreme
Those teachers must be the best of the best, because your average schoolteacher doesn't make half that... a starting salary for a teacher in most places is the equivalent of $15/hr or less.
HOMESCHOOL PING
I hope all those teachers who are stuck in unions look toward that pay rate as something to strive for.
If a teacher is earning $70 to $110 an hour, that teacher can probably afford to hire a private teacher for their own children. What a queer thing, but it's true.
Don't knock this system. I know 3 doctorate candidates who make their living doing this around NYC suburbs. They have a yahoo group for networking that is very impressive, want to have your kid learn marine biology, hire a 30 year veteran marine biologist who retired to the Jersey Shore. Need a math tutor, grab a math masters student from Princeton or Rutgers.
Think of it this way, in 20 to 30 years many of the "gilded homeschooled" will be leaders in this country and some of the best proponents for homeschooling in the country.
At $110/hr, figuring that they'll work 3/4 of the year, getting paid for an average of 40 hr/week, is the equivalent of a $165,000 salary. Why do I think that this is a far less common practice than the article makes it out to be?
In my opinion, the point of the article is not about the pay of the private teachers, nor is it about the relatively small group of people who are willing and able to pay the high wages of private tutors.
The article is a weak attempt to affix a new label of elitism onto the homeschooling community.
That is the general rule in my area. Doctorate students go to specialized placement agencies to try to get in on this gravy train. Works well for one tutor I know, she has a child in 1st grade, so mom returned to the workplace, can tutor a few hours a week to supplement husband's income while she's writing her thesis.
You just
- hit a homerun out of the park,
- the nail on the head
- etc. :-)
Maybe one reason school teachers get $15/hour and these people get $70 to $110 per hour is that these people don't waste their time on Whole Language Reading, Fuzzy Math, or Recycling, as is done throughout the public school system today, and, unfortunately, to a large extent in private schools.
The bottom line is that there is are still some ways to get your kid educated today, but you have to pay through your teeth - or do it yourself (and it's not so hard, by the way).
In the working class area of Northern Colorado Springs called Gleneagle, I hired a tutor to help my 16 year old daughter in High School Physics. He had a Masters in the subject from DU.
After an hour with my daughter he told me: "I should be paying you for Physics lessons from your daughter".
But her public HS has a physics teacher who was a former engineer at HP and he is super hard.
*gilded* lifestyles.
It is beyond my comprehension that someone would have that kind of money. I KNOW it exists out there, but never has been part of my experience.
Me? I'd just like to be able to buy a house that we didn't have to fix up right away.
Well, in the towns and nabes where the NY Times staff and editors live, private music lesson cost $120+ an hour. Private one on one voice lessons costs more. I'm not sure many tutors are working even 3/4 of the year if broken down by hours worked per year though.
Thank God - that's a relief! (/sarc)
... or escape what some consider the tyranny of the government's hand in schools
Try instead: The longest standing monopoly in the history of our country
In fact, many say they have no argument with ordinary education
Sure, as long as their kids aren't in public schools; liberalism at its finest.
Does anybody believe this drivel?
So I guess there IS a group of homeschoolers of which the NY Times approves.
JerseyHighlander wrote: "Don't knock this system..."
Please note then read my comments written in red:
| In the News/Activism forum, on a thread titled In Gilded Age of Home Schooling, Students Have Private Teachers, bd476 wrote: |
Oh terrific. Now there are homeschoolers who have gilded lifestyles. |
Buying an older house that has some historic value (a nice Victorian or anything before that) and fixing it up can actually be a relatively "elite" activity. It can certainly be considered classier than most of the new McMansions.
So I've heard. Ours is nowhere near as *romantic* sounding.
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