Private School Teacher's Discount on school fees

[PJUK]

There is an old thread on this but years old so starting anew.

My kids are in an independent school and just found out the discount on fees for teachers kids is around 75%.

I am sure there’s mixed feelings on this but I’m sick about it. Why should I be subsiding others when I pay in full just because they work there?

Bursaries are another matter and justified.

I can’t think of another industry or business where the ‘employee discount’ is so substantial.

Anticipate other’s views.

Are you sure the discount is 75% and not 75% off the normal fees, e.g. 25%?

jealousy is not a good look. Maybe you could retrain and work there.

You typically get less to work in a private school than you would an equivalent role in a state school. The staff discount goes some way to address that, and also ensures continuity of staffing whilst the staff member has their child in school.
Retrain if it bothers you that much, or send your kids to state school.

What exactly makes you sick about it? Your child having povvo classmates?

It's part of the employment package, I'm sure youd be paying more overall if the school started paying wages more in line with state schools to staff (which tend to be higher). You also get higher priority in state schools by the way if a parent has been a teacher for 2 years, I have friends who even though they live a reasonable distance from work in a decent school their children got places.

• it entices the best staff in the sector. Independent schools require very long hours & frequent 6 days weeks, it often means relocating for a role and that’s only going to work if it works for their family

• If your children were at the school you teach in, would you not have a very vested interest in every decision made by that school being in the children’s interest? It’s sticking your colours to the mast and making your own family part of the school community

• It would concern me far more of teachers with school age children in the independent sector chose not to place their children there

Sounds like you don’t your children to mix with the staff? Nice attitude!! Do you actually want the children of the people you trust to educate your dcs to go to less good schools? Having staff member’s children in school retains staff and is part of the ‘family feel’ that lots of schools aim for. Private schools also gave difficult hours in term time (parents evenings etc) so having their children onsite makes it doable for some teachers - boarding house parents can’t be doing a school run and being on duty.

Private school teacher-parent here (in case the name didn't give it away). 50% discount at my place (for all staff, not just teachers; we've had cleaners combine that with a bursary in the past, not quite sure how that worked).

Of my colleagues who have kids, roughly 50% of them come to our school. The discount is attractive, but it's still expensive, and there can be awkwardness with having your parents around and possibly involved in disciplinary matters etc. It's about the same split with our SLT-with-kids. Our Head's children are both at the school... but so are the children of the Head of our closest competitor!!

Lots of reasons, OP.

Firstly, teachers earn between about 25K and 38K a year, depending on experience, if they are normal classroom teachers without added responsibilities. I'm pretty sure that isn't enough for private school fees, so it's a way to recruit and retain good teachers who like the convenience of everyone going to the same place in the morning!
Secondly, it's a vote of confidence in the school from people with inside knowledge, so it's good for marketing, but also reassuring for parents to know that the school's own teachers want their kids educated there as opposed to other local options.
I teach in a private school and I live too far away to have considered sending my own kids to my school. It would have meant very early mornings and late evenings for them, there was no real need as they were doing OK in the state sector anyway, and even with the discount I could not have afforded two sets of fees on my and my partner's salary. However, lots of my colleagues have kids in our school and I can totally see why, and I think other parents see that they are effectively putting their money where their mouth is.
I have on occasion been spoken to quite rudely by a parent who has the attitude that they are paying my salary so I should just take whatever flak they want to dish out. It has caused me to reflect that money can buy you privilege but it can't buy you class. Rather than begrudging the teachers' kids at your children's school the discount, how about being grateful you're in a position to afford the fees in the first place, while those working extremely hard to give your children the very best teaching they can (and doubtless many trips for which the staff are not paid?) often still cannot?

When private school teachers earn about £30-45k a year, it seems fair to let them access the facilities at a discount when full fees are at least a quarter of their salary per child. Private nurseries do similar. Would you rather the school paid all the teachers an extra £10-20,000 a year instead and that this came out of your fees? Or would you rather the teachers quit teaching and got jobs in finance etc so they could afford fees, at which point who teaches the children? To attract top-notch teachers you need a damn good package.

Hold onto your hats but at one school I worked at they gave up to 2 places that were 100% free. That's common at international schools.

The people who should really be outraged are those who are opposed to private schools in general. Unless teachers are taxed on these fee discounts as "benefits in kind", they're getting this effective compensation tax free. So general taxpayers are subsidizing private teacher compensation and private school expenses.

Logistically it's often easier for someone who works in a school to have their dc at the same school.
I don't see it as subsiding they, it likely helps attract other good quality candidates.

Often private schools have less generous pension schemes so it's one way to be competitive

Teacher pay tops out at about 50lk, so they would never be able to pay full fees.

Our school and others are starting to reduce the incentive (it’s now 10% which is the equivalent max scholarship amount). Bursaries are obv are worth more and my blood is more likely to boil at the number of those who are very financially savvy who play that system (tie up all their cash in the business and pay themselves a meagre salary whilst expensing the rest of life). I would much rather the bursaries went to those genuinely who require it!! And some of you need to revisit how much you think many staff earn - a good few of ours are on almost six figures and some are over that (you can check it out via charity status because they have to declare those being paid over a certain amount…)

It makes for loyal staff with a vested interest in the school.

How many teachers are taking advantage of it?

I work in a very sought-after school with a similar discount. It makes a massive difference to staff recruitment and retention. It's also a way (along with bursaries) of ensuring a more healthily mixed and down to earth student body - it adds a layer of middle income families alongside wealthier (can afford full fees) and poorer (bursary), which is good for the schools a whole.

My local outstanding over subscribed school does this and it's state.

Children of teachers automatically get a place regardless of catchment. Presumably for the same reasons - to attract and keep quality staff.

The reason we chose the school ours are it is partly because it has a very well regarded head teacher. His children are the same ages as ours and younger, so we’re fairly confident he will see us out!
We have a mix of young and keen staff who mostly stay 3-5 years. The older ones who had/have children at the school seem to stay decades.
Can’t see a problem myself - perk of the job.

I'm assuming, BTW, that it's a taxable benefit?

It's normal. My dh used to work in a nursery and we got a 50% discount for ds1.

When I first had such a discount I was assured it wasn't a taxable benefit. I was surprised so I did some digging! (Not that I wanted to bite the hand...)

Apparently, if a class of, say, 20 has 1 staff kid added, the teacher could in theory be taxed on the marginal cost to add that one extra child (which is likely to be trivial as the teacher is already in place) but in practice HMRC just classes all fee discounts up to around 85% as non-taxable. It makes no sense to me, but that does seems to be the case. (Very willing to be corrected by someone who knows more!)

It's completely normal in the private sector and it's not just the teaching staff, its the support staff too so you can get a great HR person, IT manager, compliance manager or bursar on a lower salary without bonuses than if they worked in a similar role in the private non educational sector.

In addition to things others have said, I'd also say it's a positive sign for parents. It shows the teachers have confidence enough in the school that they'd send their own children there (and, trust me, this isn't always the case!). Secondly, it may be a coincidence, but in the schools where I've worked, the teachers' kids have been some of the brightest- so they've been a positive influence (possibly because they also always had to be on their best behaviour as their parents were there).

I see the OP posted and ran. I guess she’s either a journalist or doesn’t like the responses.