Schools Chancellor Joel Klein’s office has awarded a total of $10 million in funding to 27 firms to provide free English and math tutoring to thousands of struggling students stuck in 300 low-performing schools.
Parents have a right to select a provider under the new federal No Child Left Behind Act.
“Parents with kids in failing schools for the first time can go to other, private providers to receive educational services outside the public-school monopoly,” said Tom Carroll, head of The Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability.
The state-certified organizations contracted by the city Department of Education include: The After School Corporation, Children’s Aid Society, Huntington Learning Center, Kaplan Learning Services, New York University School of Education, St. John’s University, Princeton Review and Sylvan Learning Systems, among others.
In the published contractual notice, the department notes there are 300,000 students in more than 300 schools eligible to receive tutoring services. But sources said the funding available will enable the school system to serve far fewer of the worst-performing students.