Education

Wealthy Parents Give Teachers INSANE Gifts This Christmas Season

Key & Peele substitute teacher YouTube screenshot/Comedy Central

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Robert Donachie Capitol Hill and Health Care Reporter
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Teachers in New York are getting some incredibly expensive gifts from their most wealthy students this Christmas season, including jewelry and cash tips.

The nation’s wealthiest families are bringing teacher appreciation and holiday cheer to an entirely new level this year. Parents feel compelled to give better, more pricey gifts in order to possibly give their child an edge in the classroom.

New York City mothers report buying scarfs from Hermes (which range from $400 to $1,000), Rolex watches (which go for $4,500 to $12,000, or more), and other expensive gifts for their child’s teacher, the New York Post reports.

It may seem ridiculous parents are shelling out this much after paying up to $30,000 a year for tuition, but parents say that some teachers remember who gave what and who did not. If you fail to give a gift, “they’ll treat a parent differently, colder,” says Sarah, a teacher in the wealthy North Shore neighborhood of Long Island, according to the New York Post. One mother of a preschool student even recalls getting emails from her child’s teacher asking for cash.

A plastic surgeon in Manhattan says that he has gift receipts from recent years for up to $5,000 in plastic surgery for teachers, the Post reports.

Teachers in Manhattan are not complaining, “We’re paid horribly, even though the tuition is so high. The reality is we don’t make a lot of money, and these are nice perks,” Sarah tells reporters.

The craze in New York City area is definitely not one that holds true throughout the U.S. The median value of parents gifts to teachers throughout the nation was just $20 in 2013.

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