A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Baltimore City schools to immediately begin providing tutoring to students who have waited for missed special education hours for two years.
The Baltimore City Public School System “shall, immediately, commence providing tutorial services in compliance with this order,” U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis wrote.
Baltimore City school officials still have not delivered 26,000 hours of teaching owed to special education students despite a two-year-old “emergency order” from Garbis.
The city has provided special education students with about 70,000 hours of makeup education since the court?s 2005 emergency order, but still have about 1,100 students and 26,000 hours to go.
City school officials testified Monday in court that it will take them until the end of the 2007-08 school year to provide the missed education hours for all special education students unless schools begin replacing hours of “related services” ? such as speech or occupational therapy ? with tutors.
On Wednesday, Garbis agreed to allow the city to use the tutors.
“If the court does not permit BCPSS to proceed with providing tutorial services, the vast majority of these students will receive little to no ?make up? services of any kind before the start of the next school year,” Garbis wrote.
Still, Garbis requires substitute tutoring for students owed more than 10 special education hours ?about 318 students ? shall be permitted only if the student?s teacher certifies in writing that the tutoring will, indeed, benefit the student.
