Florida's new education commissioner says changes will be coming to state-funded tutorial programs after a Tampa Bay Times investigation uncovered abuse and fraud in the system.
From the Times report:
After nearly a decade, Florida last year won a waiver from the federal law that requires private tutoring. The state was set to shut down the program when lobbyists for the tutoring industry stepped in. They convinced state lawmakers to keep the money flowing. Florida has spent $192 million on private tutoring firms in the past two years. The companies are paid at a dramatically higher rate than conventional public schools. In the 2009-10 school year, the most recent period for which numbers are available, the state spent $9,981 per student — about $11 an hour. Florida spent $58 an hour, more than five times as much, on private tutoring.
According to the Times, some of the firms contracting with the state are run by felons, engage in fraud and have conflicts of interest. The private tutoring, called "Supplemental Education Services", was required in failing public schools by the federal No Child Left Behind law. Last year Florida lawmakers added it to state law when Florida won approval by the federal government to waive the NCLB requirements.
The Times investigation has prompted this response from new Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett:
“We must demand the highest levels of accountability and integrity from supplemental educational services (SES) providers. We must hold the businesses and their leaders responsible for proving that the dollars directed to tutoring economically disadvantaged, academically struggling students produce the results intended. Our students deserve nothing less. “The Department of Education will explore all avenues to make sure that students enrolled in SES programs will receive quality tutoring by professionals who are dedicated and committed to the educational success of each student. “To do this we will focus on four areas. We will work to ensure that SES providers offer a safe learning environment, which includes requiring owners to pass background checks. We will work with the legislature to reduce costs so that they are appropriate for the actual services provided. The department will move forward to establish benchmarks to guarantee that each child is learning what they need to be successful in the classroom. We should know that our investment in our students is producing a return. And we will work to identify and eliminate fraud and pursue recovery of misused state resources. The department has zero tolerance for fraud.“Supporting students whose families cannot afford the tutoring services their children need to do well in school helps ensure that all students in Florida have the kind of education that prepares them for success in college, career, and life.”
