The Florida Department of Education has reversed an earlier decision allowing school district divisions, affiliates, or related entities to serve as federally financed tutoring providers in failing districts.
In an Oct. 14 letter to the state’s local superintendents, the department said it was in the process of rescinding the state approval given to such entities.
Guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Education clarified that organizations affiliated with a district deemed to be “in need of improvement” under the federal No Child Left Behind law may not serve as tutoring providers.
The state’s action affects several districts in Florida where divisions or related entities had been approved as tutoring providers. Hillsborough County’s adult and community education department, for example, had been offering tutoring, as had Brevard County’s after-school child-care program, according to the St. Petersburg Times.
The state department instructed districts to inform the state how they will ensure that parents who have chosen programs run by such providers will get a chance to enroll their children in other providers’ programs.
