The clock?s ticking to pass the state tests, so students, meet your private tutors. The nearly 6,000 Baltimore City public school students who are at risk of not graduating because of their failure to pass the High School Assessments will soon have tutors from private companies to help them prepare.

The school system is doling out money to the poorest schools so they can hire outside companies that will offer tutoring, group sessions and other interventions to students who have failed at least one High School Assessment, under a plan unveiled Tuesday.