Jeremy 馃嚙馃嚪馃嚭馃嚫As a language teacher, pros of working with a school:
路 fewer payment headaches
路 no need to be a salesperson
Cons:
路 retention comes before the interest of the students ("This is a business!")
路 the customer is always right ("They won't do homework. Don't ask them to practice outside of class, you'll only irritate them.")
路 the owner is always right ("Do YOU think you dictate how we teach??")
Also, the tasks of initial assessments, free trial classes, periodic evaluations, lesson planning and feedback generally fall to the teacher. Free trial classes are on the teacher's time and not compensated by the school.
The school takes its percentage, which I've seen at 50% and 70%, indefinitely, for having done the initial work of finding and then merely billing thereafter. It's as if a headhunter received half of an employee's salary for their entire term with an employer.