InWestport, tutoring has become big business. High school level tutors often charge in excess of a hundred dollars an hour, and have no trouble finding plenty of clients.  Some of those kids really need the help to get through difficult material and enrich their learning.  Others, perhaps, don’t.

There are certainly many legitimate cases for tutoring, and those don’t bother me in the slightest– but what happens in this town does.  InWestport, today, we have the top kids in our class spending significant time with tutors– not because they struggle with material, but because three hours with a tutor will mean the difference between a 95 and a 98.  When academics become incredibly competitive at the top level, a few hundred dollars and a few hours of tutoring can really be that extra little push.

It’s not my place to say it’s morally wrong, in and of itself but it isn’t fair.  I’ve heard the term “we have the best system money can buy” used to describe American politics frequently– today, it looks more and more like that might be accurate for Staples education. 

When tutoring has crossed the line from kids who are struggling to kids who can afford it– who it can make that difference that will make them more competitive, I begin to question how morally defensible it is. Are grades really reflective of an individual if a huge contributor to them isn’t that individual, but an outside tutor?  I’m not telling anyone to stop, but this is something that needs to be addressed, by the school and by those who tutor in this town: where is the line between student and tutor– grades of an individual and of another?

With the rates that these tutors charge meaning only some can afford them, there is an ethical quandary–are kids getting top grades because they work hard, or because they can afford it?  It’s hard to say one has really earned a grade when the line is blurry.  We have reached a point inWestport. where tutors are not just a savior for kids who are struggling, but another tool for kids vying for top class rank.  Money, it seems, (in the form of exorbitant tutoring fees) can buy grades.

My point in writing this column isn’t to change anything, because I don’t know how. The inherent inequity brought on by the fact that some students can afford help that definitely makes a difference– while others can’t– is a real and pressing issue at Staples that I think deserves recognition.  I’m not sure what the solution is, but in the interest of fairness, we need to do something about it.