Posted on: Thursday, November 20, 2003

EDITORIAL
'No Child' tutoring bill will be large

Local school officials have long complained that the federal No Child Left Behind education law shortchanges the states when it comes to paying for the program.

From retraining of school workers through transporting students from struggling schools, the costs are inevitably much greater than the amount of money Washington has chosen to share.

And now one of the most expensive parts of the new law is about to hit with a vengeance. As education writer Derrick DePledge reported, families of some 30,000 Hawai'i students will soon be notified that their children are eligible for free tutoring.

The tutoring option was available last year, but relatively few families took advantage of it. The numbers are bound to go up substantially this year.

And the tutoring is not cheap. One group, College Connections, charges $45 an hour for tutoring. Other vendors charge around $80 a month.

What makes this particularly difficult is that these are not optional programs; they are entitlements under federal law.

We have long argued that the federal government should pay a larger share of the costs of No Child. That still stands, but it is unlikely to happen any time soon.

This puts the ball squarely in the hands of local legislators and the Lingle administration. In the short run, the Department of Education has a cushion since few families took advantage of free transfer and tutoring activities last year. That money will be rolled into this year's program.

But inevitably, school leaders will show up asking for more money to meet the demands of No Child. The response should be generous.

While No Child Left Behind has its share of flaws, the ultimate goal of bringing every student in every school up to his or her full potential is more than worth the costs.