Feds to Permit Failing Schools To Do Tutoring

Feds to Permit Failing Schools To Do Tutoring

By HOWARD MEGDAL

Bowing to the realities on the ground, the U.S. Department of Education has lifted a ban that had prevented the city from providing federally-financed tutoring to students in schools designated as failing under the provisions of the "No Child Left Behind" law.

The measure did not allow schools that had failed two years in a row to tutor their own students. New York is the third city to receive a waiver of that rule from the Federal Government, after Chicago and Boston.

Teacher-Tutor Returns

The city DOE had provided tutoring services until earlier this year. However, figuring that a majority of its districts would be considered failing under the law, the city gave up the program. This waiver reopens the tutoring option to the city's Teachers.

United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten felt vindicated by the change.

"It never should have been taken away from the Teachers to begin with," she said. "Private companies think it's easy to tutor kids, that they'll be able to do more with less. But we've seen a torrent of abuses. They have no idea how to tutor kids."

The city is also pleased to have received the waiver.

"We look forward to working with the U.S. Department of Education to serve as many students as possible with high-quality tutoring services," said Kelly Devers, a spokeswoman for the DOE.

Ms. Weingarten believes this is just the beginning of necessary changes to "No Child Left Behind."

"For one thing, the Bush administration should actually give urban schools the money it promised," the UFT leader said. "AYT [Annual Yearly Testing] should also be re-evaluated. Tests have become be-alland end-all, rather than letting learning exemplify what these kids know. That's a huge problem."