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Aida Vega鈥檚 daughter ended middle school last year with two D鈥檚 鈥� grades that left her feeling discouraged and self-conscious about being an English learner.

When her daughter entered Huntington Park High School in Los Angeles this fall, Vega asked if tutoring was available, but was told only students with F鈥檚 or a teacher鈥檚 referral were eligible.

Vega picked up extra shifts cleaning offices on nights and weekends to pay the $470 a month to get a private tutor. She wonders, however, why that was necessary: The Los Angeles Unified School District is receiving in federal relief funds through the American Rescue Plan 鈥� 20 percent of which has to be spent to address learning loss, according to the law. 

鈥淭he district is really …concentrating on people getting their vaccines,鈥� Vega said in Spanish through an interpreter. “Let鈥檚 let doctors and pediatricians do their job and focus on that. The district needs to focus on learning loss and getting to a good academic level.鈥�

Under the law, tutoring is just one way districts can address learning disruption caused by the pandemic. But with research showing that so-called can provide struggling students the academic boost they need, both parents and policymakers expected to see districts use relief funds on such programs.

Thus far, however, the enthusiasm over tutoring has not translated into widespread adoption. A from Burbio, which tracks schools鈥� responses to the pandemic, shows that out of 1,037 districts nationally, only about a third are spending federal relief funds on tutoring. The Center on Reinventing Public Education鈥檚 ongoing review shows that while 62 out of 100 large districts offer tutoring, most don鈥檛 provide details on their programs and how many students they serve. 

Some districts have addressed learning loss by lengthening the school day or providing small group instruction. Others that have launched tutoring programs either restrict services to specific students or limit the number of sessions available. A shortage of available tutors has only exacerbated the problem.

鈥淭here is good research that high-dosage tutoring has really transformative potential and it’s also true that school systems are struggling mightily to meet the demand,鈥� said Mike Magee, CEO of Chiefs for Change.

In October, another Los Angeles Unified parent, Ada Mendoza, was offered tutoring for her two youngest children twice-a-week at Manchester Avenue Elementary School. One hitch: It only lasted a month.

She signed them up, but had doubts that a month would be enough to make up for a year of distance learning. Eight-year-old Juan Jose was beginning to read when schools shifted to remote instruction, but now struggles with words of three or more syllables, reading comprehension and writing complete sentences.

Her children got the flu in October and missed some sessions. She said Juan Jose鈥檚 teacher told her he is still reading far below grade-level. 鈥淭hey lost a lot of learning, and they need a lot of help,鈥� she said in Spanish through an interpreter.

According to the district, tutoring is available for children with disabilities, long-term English learners in grades three through eight, and foster, homeless and low-income students 鈥渂ased on performance indicators as identified by school sites.鈥�

Mendoza said she can鈥檛 afford a private tutor, but some parents have gone that route. October from the U.S. Census Bureau showed that 3 in 10 families with at least one school-age child had spent their first three monthly child tax credit payments on school-related expenses, including tutoring and afterschool programs.

鈥淕uess we鈥檙e not all spending it on getting our nails done and filet mignon,鈥� quipped Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, an advocacy organization. The group鈥檚 recent polling showed that more than a third of parents consider not having enough tutoring or to be a major or moderate problem.

The union has launched 鈥� or EPIC 鈥� a 鈥渨atchdog campaign鈥� to follow the $122 billion K-12 schools are receiving through the relief bill. And in Los Angeles, Vega has joined other Los Angeles parents taking part in the nonprofit , which monitors how the district is using relief money to help students get back on grade level.  

Parent Revolution, another Los Angeles advocacy group, wants the district to create an 鈥� for every student. Even if students can get free tutoring, it鈥檚 often a 鈥渂lanket approach鈥� that might not target their needs, said Jay Artis-Wright, executive director of the organization. 

鈥淲e work with populations of families who have academic challenges that preceded COVID and now have a wider gap,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is a surplus of funds that can support them, but only if we can agree that each child’s academic recovery is unique and should be treated as such.鈥�

鈥楾his giant puzzle鈥�

Districts that have launched tutoring programs say they can鈥檛 serve everyone 鈥� especially as a tight labor market and quarantine requirements continue to fuel personnel shortages.

The Metro Nashville Public Schools, for example, has been able to sign up 500 tutors 鈥� a mix of teachers, paraprofessionals and community volunteers, said Keri Randolph, the district鈥檚 chief strategy officer. But that鈥檚 half the number they had planned to recruit, which means less than 1,000 students are receiving tutoring instead of the 2,000 the district expected to enroll through its $19 million Accelerating Scholars program.

The Delta variant, Randolph said, affected the size of the volunteer pool and she wasn鈥檛 as successful hiring retired teachers as she鈥檇 hoped. 

The program 鈥� 30-minute sessions, three times a week for 10 weeks 鈥� currently targets low-performing first- through third-graders in literacy and eighth- and ninth-graders in math. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 this giant puzzle,鈥� Randolph said, adding that tutoring is 鈥渉ot right now, but people have no idea how hard it is.鈥� 

Staff members at the 46 schools now offering tutoring manage the schedule so teachers aren鈥檛 鈥渙verburdened,鈥� she said. The district tries to schedule the tutoring sessions during the regular school day to avoid the need for extra transportation.

But there are exceptions. Kindall Maupin, who has a daughter in eighth grade at DuPont Hadley Middle School in the district, was only offered a 7:30 a.m. slot for math tutoring 鈥� a time that doesn’t work because her daughter has ADHD and can鈥檛 focus that early in the morning.

鈥淚 feel like if they can have football practice and cheerleading practice at the end of the day, why can鈥檛 we do this then,鈥� Maupin said. She added that she鈥檚 even considered refinancing her house to afford private tutoring. 鈥淚 have been there, literally sitting down to crunch the numbers to see how I could do this.鈥�

Maybe next semester

Experts said the current pressures on local districts affect whether they can pull off a new program on a large scale. 

鈥淢any educators are understandably exhausted from these past 18 months of school disruptions,鈥� said Susanna Loeb, director of the Annenberg Institute at Brown University. 鈥淚mplementing a new program 鈥� no matter how much funding is available for it or how much research supports its effectiveness 鈥� takes effort.鈥�

Jonathan Travers, a partner with Education Resource Strategies, a nonprofit that helps districts address budgeting and staffing challenges, said many districts have contracted with vendors to give students 24-hour access to online homework help.

鈥淲e are trying to be clear that that is not the same thing鈥� as high-dosage tutoring, he said, but added that with districts focusing on filling vacancies and managing quarantines, some are only now shifting to 鈥渁ctually putting canoes out in the pond around accelerating learning.鈥� 

That doesn鈥檛 stop districts from adding tutoring programs next semester, he said. And he added that some who are frustrated with the pace of implementation may push for districts to reimburse parents spending their own money on tutoring.

Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University鈥檚 Edunomics Lab, alluded to Travers鈥檚 idea in an this week, suggesting that districts share some of those federal funds with parents who are spending their own time and money helping students catch up. 

鈥淕iven all the labor shortages, and the willingness to pay parents for , it is interesting that districts haven鈥檛 done more to go the route of paying parents to tutor their kids,鈥� she said in an interview. 鈥淲e thought we鈥檇 see some by now.鈥�

Randolph, in Nashville, said she thinks her district needs to do a better job of communicating the other ways the district is to address learning loss, such as funding $18 million for summer school and $6 million for computer-based literacy and math programs.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just tutoring or nothing,鈥� she said.

Still, she said leaders plan to continue tutoring beyond this period of recovery. That鈥檚 one reason why the district decided to build the program in-house, instead of contracting with a private provider, which can cost per student for a year. That鈥檚 not a sustainable solution, Randolph said. The district is spending $400 per student for the 10-week period.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 think tutoring is just for a COVID response,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 the right thing to do now, it鈥檚 the right thing to do later.鈥�

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