Find Socratic's Method Violated Tutoring Pact

By HOWARD MEGDAL

A tutoring service hired by the Department of Education allowed employees in India without background checks to communicate with city schoolchildren, a violation of the company's contract with DOE, according to a report released last week by the school system's Special Commissioner of Investigation.

Despite repeated reminders by DOE that all employees needed to be fingerprinted before interacting with students, Socratic Learning, a Supplemental Educational Services provider, continued to allow its tutors overseas to perform most of the tasks outlined in its agreement with the city.

Despite a complaint in June by Betty Arce, then the No Child Left Behind Implementation Director for Supplemental Educational Services, that without Social Security numbers, employees would not be able to undergo the proper background checks, Socratic made no change in its operation, according to the report.

SCI Richard J. Condon said that it is clear "the company failed to comply with other terms and conditions of its contract with DOE."

The report recommended that DOE terminate its contract with Socratic, which the department said it would do. Mr. Condon also said the company should be banned from doing business with the city for five years, reimburse the city for any services provided by unauthorized employees, and pay for the cost of the investigation.

The report was forwarded to the Office of Legal Services and the State Education Department.