---
title: Some Private School Teachers Are Cleaning up on Christmas Gifts
description: Parents of children attending private school in New York City have shelled out hundreds of dollars on gifts for their kids' teachers.
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published: '2016-12-19T16:11:01.000Z'
modified: '2024-04-17T04:50:10.000Z'
section: Education
tags:
  - holiday gifts
  - onetime
  - Rolex
  - Teachers
word_count: 340
canonical: https://money.com/christmas-gifts-private-school-teachers/
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![Baselworld Annual Watch Fair 2012](https://img.money.com/2016/12/gettyimages-140914510.jpg)
*Some New York City private school teachers are receiving lavish holiday gifts like Rolex watches.*

Gone are the days when parents gifted teachers with shiny red apples.

Now, some one-percent parents are shelling out, sometimes against their better judgment, for [lavish holiday gifts](https://time.com/4598805/most-expensive-gifts-2016/) like Rolex watches, gift cards for plastic surgery and Hermès scarves, [the New York *Post* reported](http://nypost.com/2016/12/18/tiffany-hermes-rolex-teachers-are-getting-ridiculous-gifts-from-one-percent-parents/). However, some parents aren't giving generous gifts out of the goodness of their hearts, according to an early childhood educator named Sarah. "Most teachers \[at my school\] expect a nice gift, and if they don't get it, they remember who did and who didn't give," she told the *Post*.

Over the years, Sarah herself has received a $250 gift card to pricy Brooklyn steakhouse Peter Luger and a Michael Kors watch valued at $500. One plastic surgeon on the Upper East Side told the *Post* his office sells about a dozen gift cards—with values ranging from $2,500 to $5,000—for teachers.

Other parents told the *Post* that they're tipping their children's teachers generously simply out of fear of retribution. "If \[teachers\] don't get \[tips\], they get resentful," said Leah, a mom of two from Brooklyn.

The expectation of over-the-top gifting has annoyed those who already shell out tens of thousands each year in tuition. Lauren, a Lower East Side mom, told the *Post* she was forced to chip in $100 to buy her 2-year-old's teacher an Hermès scarf, typically $400 to $1,000. "I would never buy that \[scarf\] for myself," Lauren said.

She's not the only outraged parent. Heather Grabin, a mom of a 4-year-old in Jersey City, N.J., was angered to receive an email from her daughter's preschool asking for holiday tips for teachers.

"I think they're trying to palm \[holding gifting\] off \[on\] the parents," Grabin told the *Post*. "They should treat their employees just like Goldman Sachs does. If you do your job well, you'll get a bonus."

Other parents, however, see the gifts as making up for teachers' low salaries. "These poor teachers, how much do they make a year — $50,000? These poor people," Laura, an Upper East Side mother, said to the *Post*.

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