John Hettler thought he'd help out kids and make a decent living at the same time…. He was right on the first account…. But the co-owner of Sarasota-based The Reading Station says that helping at-risk children as designated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act presents many hurdles for private tutoring providers…. “[T]he hurdle was specifically that Manatee wanted you to have a policy that covered you against sexual molestation claims. That turned out to be something that was very, very difficult to get written. It's expensive, too. This policy is several thousand dollars."…

"By far, the largest hurdle has really been facilities… Manatee County allows the providers to come in and use their facilities and they really don't charge them anything to do that. The only problem was the hours were real limited. Most schools only allow about two or three hours a week. It presents a challenge of hiring staff. If they don't already work at the school, now you're asking for somebody to drive to that school, work an hour and then come home."… Currently, Hettler's program has about 30 students who qualify for Supplemental Education Services under the act. He pays his tutors $25 an hour…. The Reading Station bills its $55-an-hour tutoring costs to the school district for federal reimbursement.…

Contrast The Reading Station program with Manatee Stars, a nonprofit Supplemental Education Services program administered through Braden River Elementary that has roughly 750 students and pays tutors $80 per one-hour session - $85 if they have a National Board Certification….  (Doug Wagner, director for adult, career and technical education for the Manatee County School District) "From a business point of view, the beauty of Manatee Stars is that the money really flows back to benefit the students…. Not one penny is being taken out for district indirect costs. One-hundred percent of the funds go back to benefit the students and the teachers."…
Manatee Stars' insurance is covered under the district's policy….

One of the nation's largest providers of No Child Left Behind-related private tutoring is Educate Inc., which owns the well-known Sylvan Learning Centers…. Educate grew its tutoring base as a direct result of the act from 2,900 students in the 2002-03 school year to more than 20,000 students in 2004-05…. The company took in $22.1 million in revenues from No Child Left Behind-related services in 2004, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents.

Michigan-based ATS Project Success approaches tutoring in a unique way…. "We're an online provider," said company spokeswoman Renee Weaver-Wright. "We ship a computer to the kids and they receive online service from us. At the end of the program, the kids ship the computers back."… The company now works with 1,500 children in 25 states….
 
Brian Neill, Bradenton Herald (FL), March 11.