Debate Emerges Over Proposed Rules on SES, Choice

Industry group, school officials differ over plan to better inform parents

If the Bush administration has its way, school districts will be required to take a series of actions to ensure that parents and students know about their rights to free tutoring and school choice under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Depending on whom you ask, the proposed requirements are either reasonable steps to ensure that parents are informed of their options under the law or extra burdens that interfere with district officials’ ability to manage federal programs effectively and efficiently.

The proposed requirements to aggressively court parents and keep enrollment periods open “are best practices that have been documented widely,” said Steve Pines, the executive director of the Education Industry Association, a trade group based in Rockville, Md., whose membership includes providers of tutoring services under the law....