I have watched this forum but not until today did I register. I am retired in BA, and a retired High School English (and other subjects including business, a MBA, and law a JD, but never practiced) teacher. I am fully credentialed in 3 States. My dilemma is as follows.
I arrived here 4 months ago. I thought I could just leave it all behind and be comfortable "retired". I can't. I have sought and received various teaching offers, mostly through craigslist. My question is this, "Is there any such thing as a legitimate English school/institute/business in BA"?
I accepted 3 offers to teach so far and both have gone poorly. I would categorize them as somewhere between deceptive and outright BS/fraud. All the principals were not "locals", one an ex-pats and I definitely got the sense that they're objective is to publicize that they have well skilled, well trained, well educated native speaking teachers and nothing more, and then once they get you a student(s), they treat you like crap, make apologies to the student, and then throw a local "native level" speaker at the student. I do not mean to be offensive, and please take none if you are a "local", but reality is there is a great expanse between someone who has "lived" English all his life, and someone who has "learned" English for a part of it.
In the first case, I am still arguing for the money owed me. I am told that because the student is a month in arrears with the school, I must wait for my cash. I have a feeling I may be waiting quite some time!
In the second case, I was told that while the school pays a basic rate of AR$200 per hour, there are premiums paid for group classes and specialized classes. It seems however, that 2 or 3 people do not qualify for as a "group" although each pays a separate fee for a total well in excess of the individual fee. Post facto, I was told that a "group" is 4 or more people and pays a premium of only AR$50 per hour more, despite having determined for a group of 3 the "school" collects 250% of the individual fee in total. I saw no premium! It seems that they always find a way to justify that the class is a "routine" class and that 2 or 3 do not constitute group.
In the third case, I was told that the hourly rate is a factor of the amount the student pays. Essentially, we form a partnership and split the fee 65/35, going to 70/30 after 3 months, with a minimum of AR$200 per hour. Made sense to me on the surface. As it turns out I was given a series of "special travel and meeting preparation" classes, a series of 6, 3 hour sessions. When I was told that my 65% cut netted out to be (after transportation which was supposed to be paid by the student, and was not) below AR$150 per hour, this was justified by the quantity of hours and the fact that this was a "long time student". This case, by the way, is an experience of a U.S. Ex-pat running a side business. It is not an insitute or school. Subsequently, having met a teacher who does a weekly group class, I was told that she has a group of six and receives the same AR$200 (2 hour session, a total of AR$400) nonetheless, although the students pay AR$150 to attend the group class (a total of AR$900 received by the "school owner")
What I am doing is three fold. One, a little bit of venting, admittedly. Two, I am curious to know if there are such things as "reputable, honest, sincere, and teacher friendly schools and "class brokers" in BA? If so please, PM me or whatever one does on this site. Three, is there a board or forum where people who have been "screwed over" by such disreputable and unethical tactics and treatments can post the names of the perpetrators? If there is not, perhaps we could/should start a forum or thread for that here as well.
I arrived here 4 months ago. I thought I could just leave it all behind and be comfortable "retired". I can't. I have sought and received various teaching offers, mostly through craigslist. My question is this, "Is there any such thing as a legitimate English school/institute/business in BA"?
I accepted 3 offers to teach so far and both have gone poorly. I would categorize them as somewhere between deceptive and outright BS/fraud. All the principals were not "locals", one an ex-pats and I definitely got the sense that they're objective is to publicize that they have well skilled, well trained, well educated native speaking teachers and nothing more, and then once they get you a student(s), they treat you like crap, make apologies to the student, and then throw a local "native level" speaker at the student. I do not mean to be offensive, and please take none if you are a "local", but reality is there is a great expanse between someone who has "lived" English all his life, and someone who has "learned" English for a part of it.
In the first case, I am still arguing for the money owed me. I am told that because the student is a month in arrears with the school, I must wait for my cash. I have a feeling I may be waiting quite some time!
In the second case, I was told that while the school pays a basic rate of AR$200 per hour, there are premiums paid for group classes and specialized classes. It seems however, that 2 or 3 people do not qualify for as a "group" although each pays a separate fee for a total well in excess of the individual fee. Post facto, I was told that a "group" is 4 or more people and pays a premium of only AR$50 per hour more, despite having determined for a group of 3 the "school" collects 250% of the individual fee in total. I saw no premium! It seems that they always find a way to justify that the class is a "routine" class and that 2 or 3 do not constitute group.
In the third case, I was told that the hourly rate is a factor of the amount the student pays. Essentially, we form a partnership and split the fee 65/35, going to 70/30 after 3 months, with a minimum of AR$200 per hour. Made sense to me on the surface. As it turns out I was given a series of "special travel and meeting preparation" classes, a series of 6, 3 hour sessions. When I was told that my 65% cut netted out to be (after transportation which was supposed to be paid by the student, and was not) below AR$150 per hour, this was justified by the quantity of hours and the fact that this was a "long time student". This case, by the way, is an experience of a U.S. Ex-pat running a side business. It is not an insitute or school. Subsequently, having met a teacher who does a weekly group class, I was told that she has a group of six and receives the same AR$200 (2 hour session, a total of AR$400) nonetheless, although the students pay AR$150 to attend the group class (a total of AR$900 received by the "school owner")
What I am doing is three fold. One, a little bit of venting, admittedly. Two, I am curious to know if there are such things as "reputable, honest, sincere, and teacher friendly schools and "class brokers" in BA? If so please, PM me or whatever one does on this site. Three, is there a board or forum where people who have been "screwed over" by such disreputable and unethical tactics and treatments can post the names of the perpetrators? If there is not, perhaps we could/should start a forum or thread for that here as well.
