Private tutor system falters under No Child Left Behind
OLYMPIA, Wash. —
About 1,000 students who need extra help in Seattle and Tacoma school districts are not getting the tutors they signed up for.
Since Washington became the only state in the nation to lose its waiver for the No Child Left Behind policy, schools have had to come into compliance with the controversial federal standards.
The loss of the waiver centered around the state Legislature’s unwillingness to sign a bill requiring standardized test scores to be part of teacher evaluations.
The No Child Left Behind standards include having all children performing at grade level. Most schools in the state, even high-performing ones, do not meet that goal and are thus labeled “failing.”
The greatest effect falls on Title I schools, where there are many students in poverty. Some federal funds designated for low-income students are no longer in local districts’ control.
Instead, some of the money must be used on third-party, private tutors, rather than in-school staff.
Becky Padilla signed up her son for tutoring in Tacoma.
“I filled out the paperwork, hadn’t heard anything by January, so I called the district. They said to call the tutoring company that I chose, and I did. They said there was this backlog of background checks,” Padilla said.
She called the situation a nightmare.
She and a couple dozen parents rallied in front of the Washington Education Association office in Olympia Tuesday. They delivered thousands of signatures to them, and to state lawmakers, hoping Senate Bill 5748 would help regain the state’s waiver.
A House committee on education will hear the issue next Monday.
The bill, similar to one that failed last year, would implement test scores into teacher evaluations.
Rich Wood, a spokesperson for the Washington Education Association, called the rally a “stunt,” focusing on a bill that does not help students.
As for test scores, Wood said, “There’s a tremendous backlash, and this bill and the groups that are supporting it are just part of that problem. Again, they’re drawing the attention away from the small class sizes and the fully funded schools our kids deserve here in Washington.”
Meanwhile, KIRO 7 called several school districts in the area to see how the loss of the No Child Left Behind waiver has affected their programs.
A Seattle Public Schools spokesperson said 450 students out of the 881 who signed up for private tutoring are still waiting to receive services.
A Tacoma Public Schools spokesperson said 500 out of 1,065 students who signed up for tutoring have not yet gotten a tutor. The fear last spring of losing preschools and staff has been avoided, by redirecting other, local tax dollars.
At Everett Public Schools, a spokesperson there said some private tutors were unreliable and Private tutor system falters under No Child Left Behind | www.kirotv.com:
SES IS A MESS: Impacts of Title I Supplemental Educational Services on Student Achievement http://bit.ly/1ijuvGD
