One of NCLB's first mandated interventions for "failing" schools is supplemental educational services (SES) which, in most cases, takes the form of one-on-one or group tutoring.  I think most parents intuitively believe that tutoring helps students and perhaps don't understand the underlying controversy surrounding SES. What are the main issues here?

• Funding: No dedicated funding stream exists for SES, which means that the money to pay SES providers has to come out of Title I funds.  SES limits the funds available for schools to use for instruction during the school day at those schools with the highest level of educational needs.
• Accountability: Ed Week reports that 63 percent of SES providers are private companies. What is the level of accountability for private providers? Pretty low.  The law does require states to evaluate providers' effectiveness, but in practice, it has proved to be a very weak provision.
• One size fits all: Schools are different, and low-performing schools require varying interventions to succeed.  Mandating that these schools first implement public school choice and then SES does not give them the freedom to institute proven academic interventions tailored to their schools' needs.

Some encouraging news on this front was the U.S. Department of Education's decision this summer to give Virginia a waiver to reverse the order of NCLB sanctions in four school districts.