Ed. Dept. Allows Chicago to Provide NCLB Tutoring

The U.S. Department of Education will allow the Chicago school district to provide tutoring under the No Child Left Behind Act, a reversal signaling more flexibility for districts in complying with the increasingly tough mandates of the law.

Similar deals were said to be in the works to enable nine other large urban school districts to run their own tutoring programs, even if they have failed to meet state academic goals, a factor that normally bars them from being providers. As in Chicago’s arrangement, the other cities were expected to be permitted to serve as federally financed tutoring providers in exchange for agreeing to specified conditions.

The Sept. 1 announcement marked the second time in one week that Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings enabled more flexibility around tutoring. She revealed on Aug. 25 that four districts in Virginia will be allowed to reverse the law’s normal procedure by offering tutoring to low-income students in struggling schools the year before they can transfer to higher-performing schools. ( "NCLB Waiver Lets Virginia Offer Tutoring Before Choice," ...