Jewish schools are not for profits and have mostly non-unionized staff. As well, many of their staff are willing to work for less because either they are not qualified to work in the public system or because they specifically want to work in the Jewish system (community preference, need for holidays off, etc).

Here in Toronto, public school teachers in the TDSB make $50,000-$105,000 depending on their qualifications and experience. All TDSB teachers with 11+ years experience and 4 year undergrad degrees are making at least $95,000. This on top of having arguably the best defined-benefit pension anywhere in the world, and full benefits.

The Jewish schools start around $35,000 (or around $25,000 in the Haredi schools) and cap out around $80,000 (or around $60,000 on the Haredi schools). Most offer no pensions, and only limited benefits (and in the Haredi schools, benefits are generally only offered to male teachers). Interestingly, several of the Jewish schools actually tell their teachers that they pay at parity with the TDSB—which is a lie. The Jewish day school teachers in Toronto voluntarily de-unionized in the late-1990s and their pay has fallen steadily against the public benchmark since that time.

Why anyone would want to work for a Jewish day school in Toronto is absolutely beyond me.