U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan last week said he doesn’t understand why Florida passed a law requiring districts to continue offering free tutoring to students in struggling schools.
Florida is one of 11 states that got a waiver from many of the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. That means districts no longer have to put aside 20 percent of their Title I money for tutoring and school choice.
But state lawmakers passed a law requiring districts to set aside 15 percent of their Title I funding for disadvantaged children for the program. The law takes effect in July.
At a meeting of Florida business leaders, Mr. Duncan questioned the wisdom of the policy. He pointed to a recent federal study, which found that there wasn’t a substantial difference in achievement between the students who got tutoring and those who didn’t.
