The International Schools Review Forum

I am willing to accept that I have to take 600 USD less a month due to recent upswing in the US economy. While I agreed to accept the amount offered to me I local currency, is there any circumstances that one should speak out. Losing 600 USD a month is a lot.

You are paid in the currency of the country in which you live, just like 99.999% of the world's population and 99% of international school teachers. You have no right to complain.

Unfortunately this is something that happens in International teaching. I used to live in a country where I was paid in the local currency and was lucky for 2 of my three years as my home currency was weak but the currency of my school's country was strong. Then the US dollar strengthened and my school's country decided to devaluate (basically cutting my wage by 40% from the highs 18 months previously).

Unfortunately - this is just something that happens and we need to take this under consideration when deciding to sign a new contract....

Well, I think that expressing how this is a hardship on you in the correct manner (i.e. privately, respectfully, to the right people) is perfectly fine, the school is not likely to do anything about it. You could let them know that this will be a factor in whether you stay around in the future and if enough teachers do this, they may change future contracts by splitting the amount paid in local currency, tying the salary to another currency etc.

On the other hand, if you were suddenly making significantly MORE due to currency fluctuation then you might feel very aggrieved if the school suddenly changed things around.

Hey, PGRASS,

"You have no right to complain"?!

What is this, Nazi Germany? Stalinist Sovier UNION? This type of cowardly, defeatist attitude by international teachers like you is the main reason why so many schools can get away with the sh_t they pull every day. "Oh, no, if I say something someone might get mad at me."

These schools exist because of teachers like us. Parents pay 20 - 50 thousand dollars every year to have their kids taught by western educators, not locals. So just because some crooked school owner is making a fortune laundering his drug or gun or whatever money and benefits by the rise and fall of currencies doesn't mean you can't go into your superintendent's office like a MAN WITH YOUR HELD HIGH and discuss the situation

Hey, man, in life you get what you put up with. Try putting fairness and your dignity first. Bullying is bullying and once you get used to accepting it, your life begins to get awfully long.

So, whether you win or lose, always have the guts to at least bring problems to the attention of whoever is in charge.

Some American and British schools compensate teachers partly in USD and GBP, respectively. When the faculty is cosmopolitan, it is difficult for schools to peg salaries to a single external currency. However, the staff could still make a representation to your school head and the Board of Trustees requesting an overview of compensation and find a practical solution.

I know teachers in Japan have been seriously impacted due to Yen's significant depreciation against western currencies.

Sorry PGrass,

I have to disagree with you on some things. Most schools charge fees in local currencies which means if the local currencies fluctuate that they don't have an extra 30% just lying around to pay their staff extra.

My last school (in a first world country) was a well respected non-profit school and pays the majority of their income (80+%) of teacher wages. They also charge in their local currency which means that if their currency devalues there is not much they can do about it.

As such - demanding extra money from the school will not get you far. However, making the board aware of the financial pressures and many staff not renewing their contract often does make a difference at many of the better schools. I also mentioned it in a previous post - we agreed to a contract and have to take the good with the bad.

Also remember that we truly are a commodity in international teaching - which sounds callous but is true. There is a excess of teachers out there which means schools can choose who they want, but lower paying schools tend to get what their pay packets dictate...

Swings and roundabouts. Take it on the chin when the USD is strong and save all that extra cash when it's weak. If you're teaching internationally long enough, it all balances out.

So, in general, would it be considered a benefit if a school paid 100% of your salary in US dollars?

It helps if you are a US citizen and want stability, but this could cost you as well. My current school in China has paid in USD but with the rising value of the RMB it has meant our buying power has decreased over the past few years.

I'm in the opposite position to Overhere. I'm in China, paid in RMB, which I am converting to dollars. The exchange rate is currently very good for us. I guess if both our salaries had been split into half local currency / half US$, then much of that fluctuation would have been smoothed out. However, nobody complains on the upside, only on the downside.

Could you suggest that the school pays through ADP (I think thats what its called)? I'm a little shocked to read that most international schools don't give you the option to choose how much you want in the local currency, and how much you want sent back to your account back home.

My school passes around slip every three months which asks how much the teacher wants in local currency, and how much the teacher wants sent back to their Canadian bank account (canadian in my case =D).

You should suggest the school looks into ADP, I think its free for the school to use, and it offers no exchange rate penalties.

Either way, though, the exchange rate is always changing. You lose and gain some.

Good luck!

I have to agree with those posters who point out that schools don't have the extra cash laying about to make up the differences due to currency fluctuation. Schools generally, though not always, pay in the currency used by parents to pay fees. If the exchange rate changes, there's not much the school can do. Their budget is set and they're not allowed to print more money.
And as has also been pointed out, no one minds when the fluctuation works in our favor.
The best course is to request that the director and board do a review of salaries with benchmarks to other similar schools and with reference to the home currency of the majority of teachers. It can get pretty complicated, but a good school will try to keep pace. Takes time though. You can't usually expect to see a board change the pay packet in response to a temporary fluctuation - they have to be convinced that it's a long-term change in the overall value of the packet.
As for deciding what percentage of the pay a teacher wants in local and home currencies, that's a different question. The pay is still the same - x% given in the local currency, and y% given in home, but x plus y will still come out to what's in the contract.

I have to essentially agree, the hit your taking is likely an equal hit your school is taking. I would bring it up with the HOS in private and leverage it as future political currency.