N.C. can allow schools to provide tutoring

RALEIGH -- U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced today that North Carolina has won the right to allow failing schools to provide tutoring services before letting families transfer out.

Beginning this upcoming school year, schools that will be punished for falling short of the No Child Left Behind program for the first time can choose to provide paid tutoring services to low-income students. They wouldn't have to give families the right to transfer out unless they fell short again.

The waiver applies to all school district in the state. But for the 2008-09 school year, it's only open to school districts which requested permission to take part.

State officials say 34 of North Carolina’s 115 school districts have signed up to use the waiver this year. In the Triangle, only Durham applied.

Go to the N.C. Public Schools Web site for a list of school districts that want to use the waiver.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind program, schools must evaluate students in groups according to race, family income, English proficiency and other factors. If any group doesn't measure up on state reading and math tests, the entire school is considered deficient.

Schools that receive funding from the federal Title I program, which helps low-income students, face punishment if they fall short under No Child Left Behind.

Title I schools that fall short normally must first offer transfer choices before providing tutoring. But the State Board of Education asked in July for federal permission to allow schools to reverse the order of the options.

Due to higher math standards this year, the number of schools falling short this year has increased statewide.