Education Dept. Tutoring Rules
Leave Public Schools in a Bind

Decision Forces Federal Title I Funds to Go
to Unaccountable Private Companies, Groups

Although ESEA/NCLB does not clearly state that school districts classified as "in need of improvement" are prohibited from providing supplemental services to their students, the U.S. Department of Education has ruled that they cannot do so.

As a result, many school districts that have been providing or were planning to provide free tutoring to students are being forced to stop, creating confusion for parents and educators and raising questions about the quality of the services being offered to students.

For example, Florida school districts have raised student test scores to record levels and seen more schools than ever reach A or B status under state standards. Yet, 65 out of 67 districts fell short of federal testing benchmarks and are now ineligible to offer supplemental services. They may have to use Title I funds for students to be tutored by unaccountable private companies and community groups.

They are holding the public schools and companies to two different standards, said NEA spokesperson Denise Cardinal. "The goal isn’t to give private groups a monopoly on tutoring over an entire state.The goal of the law is to help students succeed."

Education Week reports  that state education officials in Massachusetts and Illinois are seeking exceptions from the U.S. Department of Education to allow Boston, Chicago, and 10 other Illinois school districts to provide tutoring for their students.

Chicago public schools began an $11 million tutoring program for 37,000 students on October 18 with the U.S. Department of Education’s support, but is now being told by the Department that it will have to dismantle the program or fund it locally if found "in need of improvement" again. 

Schools CEO Arne Duncan said that if the district has to shift the students to more expensive private tutors, only about 9,000 could be served.  "We're not going to let 30,000 kids lose desperately needed programming…If this is what federal bureaucrats want, that shows how far out of touch they are with reality," he said.

According to Education Week , "The Massachusetts education department is appealing to federal officials to allow the program because the district met its test-score goals, but missed the mark for attendance—92 percent—by two-tenths of a percent. The district tutored about 2,700 students last year."

And in Prince George’s County, Maryland, the school system also announced that it would compete with private companies by offering after-school and Saturday instruction.  But Prince George’s has been notified that it cannot use federal money for that purpose, forcing parents to scramble to find other tutors, many of whom work at private learning centers and do not provide school-based tutoring.

01/05