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Monday, January 15, 2007
Tutoring Scandal: Just The Tip Of The Iceberg?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last week, State Board of Education members barred a local tutoring company from working with public schools after education officials found Get Smart Inc. had cheated the Clayton County school system out of more than $18,000 for tutorials that never took place.
Kids were being paid to forge parents’ signatures on applications and attendance sheets, which were then being used to bill the school system. State and local investigators said tutors even created fake test scores and student evaluations to perpetuate the fraud.
Under No Child Left Behind, poorly rated public schools must pay for private tutoring for students, an acknowledgement that struggling pupils need help while their campuses try to improve. A handful of other tutoring services have been kicked off the official state-approved list of providers since the program began, mainly for not following proper procedures.
Over the years, millions of tax dollars have flowed to private academic tutors, including such recognizable companies as Sylvan Learning, through the law’s “Supplemental Educational Services” provision. State officials said this latest problem in the tutoring program was the most serious they’ve found. But after I learned that company officials trying to get on the state list of approved providers aren’t given criminal background checks, I had to wonder: How many problems have not yet been discovered?
