Gavra:
I urge you to review the contracts with schools and yeshivos. I have yet to see one that spells out the responsibility of the school. All I have ever seen is the financial responsibility of the parent, and often other terms such as adhering to certain standards of tznius, not having television or internet access, etc. Nowhere in writing is there a statement by the school accepting to keep the child in a safe environment, providing the range of educational services needed (noting exceptions for special services the school may not have), and maintaining communication with the parents on any matters relating to school policy, changes, schedules, or disciplinary issues. The complete absence of all of this is what makes me suspect that the contracts might well be dismissed by a court (I’m not a lawyer).
The way yeshivos raise funds (except for tuition)is by holding themselves up to the public as communal organizations. The trouble is that our yeshivos are competing. If a talmid would need extra time and effort from the hanhala, he is likely to be considered a liability. Let the competition have that. And we have hundreds of bochurim and girls without yeshivos or schools.
I interact with mechanchim regularly, and I must say that there are some great ones out there. However, I have yet to encounter a yeshiva that can attest to all of its staff being trained, supervised, and true metzuyanim in the field. There are a few that aspire to that, but most are preoccupied with the quality of the applicants, not the quality of the staff. And that is worse than sad. Those who complain about the salaries are correct, but it is the exceptional rebbe that deserves the higher range salary. Unfortunately, no one will judge the salary by the quality of the rebbe, only by tenure, family size, and relationship to the menahel.
One rebbe noted on Simchas Torah that he met up with a former talmid of his, now married with children. He had last seen this talmid in his 5th grade class 20 some years ago. The talmid approached him and thanked him for being his rebbe way back when. The rebbe said it made his day.
Do you remember your 5th grade rebbe? If so, why? These are the questions that help us recognize the true mechanchim, not the “minimum wage” rebbe who defaulted into chinuch after years of kollel with no training for a career.