Why NY Lawmakers Want to Deny Tutoring for Low-Income Families?

Tutors have been crucial to help my kids catch up from the impact of school closures and mask mandates here in NYC. My oldest son had a tutor during remote learning who help him actually learn something and fill all the times that were open on his calendar (online learning really meant just a few hours per day of online instruction). Now my youngest is receiving weekly phonics instruction to compensate for the fact that almost his entire pre-school experience was behind masks.

Tutoring is very expensive. Many families (like my friend Ashara) are struggling to pay for tutoring. Only high-income families have the resources to pay for it - that is why Governor Kathy Hochul included in the state budget funds for high-impact tutoring. But unfortunately NY lawmakers decided that only rich families should have access to tutoring and rejected the Governor’s proposal.

Families for NYC is proud to join National Parents Union and other organizations in a letter asking Speaker Heastie and Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins to keep the $250 million fund for high-impact tutoring.