Palm Beach Post reporter Laura Green's September 4 article "Free tutoring program fails to serve most students" is not about the educational effectiveness of Supplemental Educational Services as edbizbuzz expected, but the fact that the county has more eligible students than money.

"We served as many as we could afford," said Judy Klinek, the school district's director of supplemental educational services.... "When the money ran out, we spent more money from another pot of money." This year, the pool of qualifying students has grown to 35,000 students at 69 schools.... While the federal government identifies tens of thousands of students who need tutoring, it caps the percentage of the budget a district must spend to help them catch up....  Last year, Palm Beach County's figure was $5.7 million. The district kicked in several hundred thousand more.

Observations:

• Under the Miller/McKeon discussion draft the district is unlikely to find itself required to serve so many students.

• It is interesting that the district chose to spend more money rather than ration tutoring as it coluld under the present law. Either the SES program is doing something right, or it is solving some other problem the district faces in dealing with the students eligible for tutoring - like it doesn't have a better option available. Worth a bit more digging, Ms. Green.

• Todd Isham, director of the Sylvan Learning Center in Jupiter, suggests SES is all about the hours students put in. In Palm Beach, students get between 15 and 60 hours for the federal SES per pupil payment, depending on how much providers charge per hour. "Overall, I think that it is better than not doing anything," he said. "However, I do wish they were able to (spend) a lot more money per student to allow us to do more hours."  Is there a difference in outcomes between the SES providers charging the high rates, and those charging less?