I had a teacher call me up yesterday. She usually works 4 days a week for a few hours. Her workload has been reduced to 1 day for a few hours. She hasn't been paid since Purim time. Putting food on the table has always been a struggle, but now she's close to her breaking point.
She called her school to verify that she's furloughed so that she can apply for partial unemployment and receive $600+ (a windfall for her). The school: you're not furloughed. We don't know if/when we'll be able to pay you.
My pain comes more from the fact that a few large institutions have not reviewed these options from the teachers perspective, to see how they can best benefit those poor struggling employees- who btw give a lot more than they get on a regular basis- and are instead using this to grab what they can. I understand that they feel like they're benefiting the teachers by hopefully (?) paying them backwages in a few months time, after they've received a few mil in funding, but from those hardworking souls experiencing this nightmare, that's not the case.
Assuming they are not up to par currently in collecting full tuition for these same reasons, where are they supposed to get the funding to pay them? These grants are specifically designed to help them because of their financial shortfalls. You think schools are being malicious?
Forgive me, I simply don’t understand what you’re upset about. Teachers, like unfortunately many workers in the current climate, are behind on their wages because of the situation. Luckily, they will hopefully get paid back in full, continue to get paid, and get to keep their jobs with no interruption.
Where is a school at fault? Because they may be getting a grant in the future to help them cover their payroll?
ETA: A million dollars sounds like a lot but in a school with 1,000 students that’s $1K per student. Anywhere between 7-20% of regular annual tuition. Schools have very large budgets with many expenses and workers.