Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Tipping in the public schools

This was a total shock for me when I started teaching in the NYC public schools.  I had no idea about tipping.  Being from out of state, I had never tipped a mail carrier, a newspaper delivery person, or my landlord for that matter, but I quickly learned that in New York City, these people expect to be tipped during the holidays.  This crazy tipping is also common in the public schools.  Teachers tip janitors, recess aides, secretaries, etc. during the holiday season.  We also tip the bus drivers that take us on field trips.  It's pretty incredible considering that all of these people are CITY employees, but it's just the way things are done here.  How much do we tip you might be wondering?  Well, I usually go in on the janitor's tip with my grade level (we give a $50 gift card to our regular janitor only).  I tip my recess aide $25.  The secretaries get $10 gift cards each to Starbucks.   The bus drivers get $10 cash from me and whoever I'm sharing the bus with on that particular trip.  It really adds up.  

2 comments:

Ms. M said...

We give the same to our janitors and secretaries around the holidays but I never considered it "tipping" just a holiday gift from the staff. Granted each of the teachers doesn't get a similar gift but I just thought it to be in the spirit of giving. As for field trips I can't say because I don't really go out on many being a pull-out teacher.

Teacher said...

Wow! I had no idea... I'll have to find out what the expectations are at my school for these kind of "tips".