Q: Can a private music teacher force one to continue paying for lessons if one decides to discontinue the lessons?
My son was encouraged to take these lessons. They take place during the day at school and are given by a grad student not employed by the district. We signed a paper stating we would contine the lessons until May, but we are not pleased with the lessons and wish to find our own instructor. The student instructor is insisting that if we quit, we still have to pay her.
A:
As with all contract questions, the answer to this depends on what is written on the contract. If the contract states that you must pay for 10 lessons and the student quits after 5, you will most likely be responsible to pay for the remaining 5 unless the contract itself has a clause that permits the parties to cancel the contract upon some sort of notice.
However, in this case you should check with the school district. If they have employed a poor teacher, there may be a way out of the contract. In all likelihood, the teacher has a separate contract with the district which may have additional language that permits cancellation of the contract.
You can also contact the Teachers school and complain to the music department or other administrator or professor of the grad students conduct. They may be able to put some pressure on her to agree to cancel the remainder of the contract
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