VA Public Schools: Don’t Hire Private Tutors (Some Kids Can’t Afford Them)

In a message to parents this week, the woke bureaucrats who are taking increasing control over our public school sent a message to the parents of Fairfax County, Virginia. In it, they urged wealthy (or, at least, ones with a few dollars to spare for their children’s education) to avoid the temptation of setting their kids up with private tutors. This, they said, would give their children an unfair, privileged advantage over students in the district whose families cannot afford the extravagance.

“Across the country, many parents are joining together to engage private tutors (who are often school teachers) to provide tutoring or home instruction for small groups of children. While there is no systematic way to track these private efforts, it’s clear that a number of ‘pandemic pods’ or tutoring pods are being established in Fairfax County,” the letter said, quite disapprovingly.

“We are aware of these tutoring pods, as well as some accompanying community concerns. To be clear, these instructional efforts are not supported by or in any way controlled by FCPS,” they continued. “While FCPS doesn’t and can’t control these private tutoring groups, we do have concerns that they may widen the gap in educational access and equity for all students. Many parents cannot afford private instruction. Many working families can’t provide transportation to and from a tutoring pod, even if they could afford to pay for the service.”

The district’s primary message appears to be to inform parents that they can’t get involved with this private tutoring scheme, but the secondary message is unmistakable. Well-to-do parents of Fairfax County should consider their privilege before purchasing private lessons for their kids. After all, what if these lessons do exactly what they’re intended to do? What if they give these kids an advantage next year? What if they set them up to get good grades and ultimately get into a good college? When are these parents going to stop thinking of their own children and start thinking about those poor kids on the other side of the tracks?

We’ve never seen something so absurd, and we’ve seen quite a lot from pro-government leftists over the years. Do these bureaucrats really believe their own hype? Do they really think a single parent in their right mind would deny their children extra help because other kids can’t afford it?

Why is the left’s only tool in the fight for equality to bring everyone down to the same level?